Horse Racing: 138th Preakness Stakes Exhibit: Portraits by Boris Chaliapin Festival: Dragon Boat Festival Lecture: Khaled Hosseini Fundraiser: Ryan Zimmerman's Night at the Park
HORSE RACING: Secretariat film screening and benefit COCKTAILS: D.C. toasts the Black Mixology Club HORTICULTURE: World Bonsai Day CONCERT: Mary Lou Williams Women in Jazz Festival GALA: ZooFari
Trainer Graham Motion has been there before, making the impossibly tough choice not to run a horse dealing with an injury. It was "devastating" for him to hear of I'll Have Another being scratched from the Belmont Stakes with a tendon injury that robbed fans of a Triple Crown bid.
It wasn't the send-off anyone wanted for I'll Have Another. Led in circles around the paddock and then to the winner's circle at Belmont Park, the retired champion was cheered at every turn. This was a ceremony and one final chance to pay tribute to the horse who captured the Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes and was scratched from the Belmont Stakes with tendonitis in his left front leg.
The world was primed to see I'll Have Another turn the corner at Belmont Park on Saturday evening with the Triple Crown on the line. But as the other horses in the Belmont Stakes make that run, the colt who captured the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes will not be with them.
There's nothing in sports quite like the roar and electricity as horses turn for home in the Belmont Stakes with a Triple Crown on the line.
No one quite knows how fast the Belmont Stakes will be, but Paynter and Unstoppable U figure to be on the lead, at least in the early stages. I'll Have Another shouldn't be too far behind.
A drive from Veracruz, Mexico, to Belmont Park would take almost two full days and cover 1,992 miles. Throw in a detour to tiny Hastings Park in Vancouver and stops at race courses in California, and you get an idea of what Mario Gutierrez has gone through since 2006.
Capturing the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes brought plenty spoils of victory for Doug O'Neill, the trainer of I'll Have Another. He got to throw out first pitches, attend the Stanley Cup Final and enjoy the spotlight.
