I'll Have Another

Time and again, the Flower Alley colt paid dividends in his career. Victor Davila purchased I'll Have Another for $11,000 as a yearling pinhooking prospect in 2010, broke and trained him and resold him as a 2-year-old for $35,000 eight months later. The buyer was Dennis O'Neill, the brother and business partner of I'll Have Another's trainer, Doug O'Neill.

I'll Have Another, owned by J. Paul Reddam, won his debut on July 3 at Hollywood Park and finished a strong second to the well-regarded Creative Cause in the Grade 2 Best Pal Stakes at Del Mar. Reddam and the O'Neills sent him to Saratoga, where he finished sixth in the Grade 1 Hopeful over a sloppy surface and came out of the race with a minor injury.

He wasn't seen again until February 4 when he won the Grade 2 Robert B. Lewis by 2 ¾ lengths at 43-1. Reddam pushed Doug O'Neill to bring him back in the stake and it turned out to be a brilliant decision.   

Despite being sent to post at 15-to-1 odds, I’ll Have Another proved his Santa Anita Derby victory was no fluke on May 5 when he overhauled Arkansas Derby winner Bodemeister to record a 1 ½-length win in the Kentucky Derby. The classic score provided both I’ll Have Another and his connections a career-defining victory.

I'll Have Another followed with another classic victory in the Preakness Stakes (G1), again overhauling Bodemeister late for a game win that set him up for a bid to become only the 12th U.S. Triple Crown winner. I'll Have Another's bid to become the first Triple Crown winner since Affirmed in 1978 was thwarted by a career-ending injury prior to the Belmont Stakes (G1).