BackTrack: I'll Have Another Game in Santa Anita Derby

No matter how much noise the crowd at Churchill Downs throws at I'll Have Another  on the first Saturday in May, it won't faze him. The colt showed that when he calmly walked into the complete mayhem of the winner's circle after the April 7 Santa Anita Derby (G1). If he can do that, nothing in Kentucky will bother him.

Paul Reddam, who owns I'll Have Another as well as the CashCall loan company, brought 400 of his employees from Anaheim to Santa Anita for the Derby. "We had six buses coming from the office," said Reddam. "One bus was the sober bus, and one bus was the sloppy drunks bus. I thought all the other buses were in between, but apparently we had five sloppy drunks buses."

After I'll Have Another gamely defeated favored Creative Cause  in the Derby, many of those 400 people followed Reddam to the winner's circle. There they met exuberant trainer Doug O'Neill, O'Neill's brother Dennis, Doug's longtime friend and new Santa Anita CEO Mark Verge, and just about everyone else the O'Neills know.

Several girls sat on the shoulders of some of the guys, and Steve Rothblum led the crowd in a cheer of "Viva O'Neill." Another man raised a beer and began to chant "CashCall, CashCall," which the group immediately picked up.

Into all this, I'll Have Another calmly followed Dennis O'Neill on the shank with young jockey Mario Gutierrez on his back. Even though he'd only stood in a winner's circle twice before in his life, the colt acted like an old pro with years of experience instead of a 3-year-old who had started just four times previously.

I'll Have Another has resided in the O'Neill barn for less than a year. During that time expectations have ebbed and flowed, certainly never beginning with the thought that the colt could be one of the major contenders for the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (G1).

On April 19, 2011, Dennis O'Neill successfully bid $35,000 for the Kentucky-bred son of Flower Alley—Arch's Gal Edith, by Arch, at the Ocala Breeders' Sales Co. spring 2-year-old sale.

"It's a big sale—about 1,200-1,300 horses," said Dennis. "When you get that many, there are some who just fall through the cracks and he was one of them."

About three months after the purchase, Dennis and Reddam were playing golf. During their game Doug called his brother to tell him about a good work I'll Have Another had turned in that morning.

After the Santa Anita Derby, Dennis ruefully recalled his subsequent conversation with Reddam.

"I turned to Paul and I said, 'That Flower Alley just worked really good. I think for maiden $32,000 or maiden $40,000, we're going to be in really good shape.' Paul was not happy with that."

I'll Have Another quickly showed enough promise that Reddam and the O'Neills never seriously considered entering him for a tag. In against straight maidens at Hollywood Park July 3, he won by three-quarters of a length.

The team bypassed his conditions to run I'll Have Another next in the Aug. 7 Best Pal Stakes (G2) at Del Mar, where he met another impressive maiden winner named Creative Cause. That day, Creative Cause defeated I'll Have Another by 1 3⁄4 lengths, and the two wouldn't meet again until the Santa Anita Derby.

Creative Cause continued through a successful Southern California campaign, placing in the Del Mar Futurity (G1) and winning the Norfolk Stakes (G1). He finished the year by running a good third behind Hansen and Union Rags  in the Grey Goose Breeders' Cup Juvenile (G1).

I'll Have Another traveled a different path, one that at first looked like it might derail him. Sent to Saratoga for the Three Chimneys Hopeful Stakes (G1), he finished sixth on a sloppy track and came out of the race with sore shins.

"Having the shins out of the Saratoga race really turned out to be a blessing in disguise," said Doug. "We gave him a bunch of time. Paul said, 'Don't bring him back till he's right.' He's one of those few 2-year-olds who showed a lot of ability as a 2-year-old and progressed into a really, really nice 3-year-old."

Reddam named the colt I'll Have Another for the phrase he uses whenever his wife, Zillah, offers him cookies. The owner has also played a central role in the colt's development. Not only did he urge O'Neill to rest the colt at 2, he suggested the Feb. 4 Robert B. Lewis Stakes (G2) as his 3-year-old debut with 25-year-old Gutierrez as the jockey.

"We were thinking of a down-the-hill (turf) allowance race," said Doug.

Reddam urged O'Neill to try the Lewis to see where the colt fit among Triple Crown hopefuls. He fit just fine, winning the Lewis by 2 3⁄4 lengths under a flawless ride by Gutierrez.

With $151,000 in graded earnings and several rich prep races still to come, I'll Have Another probably needed to win or run second in the Santa Anita Derby to get into the Kentucky Derby field. Creative Cause was in good shape, with $686,000 in graded earnings, as was 2011 CashCall Futurity (G1) winner Liaison  with $393,000.

The rest of the Santa Anita Derby field also likely needed a big payday to get to Kentucky. Oddly enough, the horse with the next largest amount of graded earnings was a maiden, Brother Francis, who had finished third in the CashCall Futurity.

Creative Cause began his 3-year-old season running third in the seven-furlong San Vicente Stakes (G2). That tuned him up perfectly for his victory in the March 10 San Felipe Stakes (G2) at 1 1⁄16 miles. Stretching out to 1 1⁄8 miles in the Santa Anita Derby en route to the 1 1⁄4 miles of the Kentucky Derby, Creative Cause went off as the 9-10 favorite.

Second choice at 4-1, I'll Have Another entered the Santa Anita Derby not having raced since the Lewis.

"He ran so well in the Bob Lewis that we had to take advantage of the nine-week break in our own backyard in the Santa Anita Derby," said Doug O'Neill.

O'Neill trains across town at Hollywood Park, and I'll Have Another had to van over earlier on race day than on most mornings because of road closures for Santa Anita's traditional 5K run. Hollywood management opened the track a half-hour early so that I'll Have Another could gallop before the van ride.

I'll Have Another's pony and good friend, Lava Man, an earner of $5,268,706 during his own racing career, accompanied the colt on the van and onto the track. While the other starters each had one pony, I'll Have Another had two—or rather Lava Man ponied I'll Have Another and the regular pony ponied Lava Man.

"At about 11 o'clock we went to the backside to check on I'll Have Another," said Dennis. "We had four runners, and they were all in their stalls nice and calm. Lava Man was pawing and pawing. He thought he was running today."

But it was the younger colt's time to shine. When the gate opened, longshot Blueskiesnrainbows , one of trainer Bob Baffert's three entries, set the pace, while Gutierrez and I'll Have Another tucked into second around the first turn.

"It did look like Baffert's horse might have got on a loose lead, and that was a little worrisome," said Doug. "But I could tell the way Mario was riding and I had enough confidence in my horse that I knew we had the Baffert horse."

As expected, it wasn't Blueskiesnrainbows who posed the threat, despite his two-length lead. The long-striding Creative Cause, racing without blinkers for the first time, unleashed his move on the rail in the second turn. At the top of the stretch, the favorite looked poised to catch the longshot en route to Derby glory.

Instead, I'll Have Another launched his bid outside of the two leaders. The trio surged for the wire together, and Blueskiesnrainbows blinked first. I'll Have Another and Creative Cause hit the finish a nose apart, with Reddam's horse edging the favorite in 1:47.88. Blueskiesnrainbows finished a half-length back in third, followed by Paynter , Brother Francis, Liaison, Midnight Transfer, Senor Rain, and Longview Drive.

Mike Harrington, trainer of Creative Cause, was naturally disappointed to lose but felt his horse "ran a helluva race. This will set him up. He's still got a lot left in him."

I'll Have Another and Creative Cause could both improve off of the Santa Anita Derby. And I'll Have Another has an extra advantage of being battle-toughened by large, noisy crowds.

"He handled everything," said Doug O'Neill. "He's a very mature horse."