BELMONT, N.Y. (CBS) - I'll Have Another, the horse that won the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness Stakes, won't run in today's third leg of the Triple Crown at Belmont Park.
The 3-year-old chestnut colt looked fine walking outside his barn yesterday afternoon, but the appearance was deceiving. His left front tendon was swollen, a freak injury that convinced his owner and trainer to scratch I'll Have Another from the Belmont Stakes and retire him.
Trainer Doug O'Neill says the horse could run and compete, but it wouldn't be in his best interest.
It's a sad finish for a horse poised to write racing history.
He came from nowhere, a 15-1 shot, to win at Churchill Downs. Two weeks later, he electrified the racing world winning the Preakness by a nose, making I'll Have Another the prohibitive favorite to win the first Triple Crown since the Jimmy Carter administration.
Billy Turner trained Triple Crown winner Seattle Slew. Nothing thoroughbred racing's declining popularity in recent years, he was rooting for I'll Have Another. Turner says, "Every sport needs a superstar, and we haven't had one in a while."
