With only four days until the running of the Belmont Stakes and I’ll Have Another’s shot at becoming the first horse to win the Triple Crown since Affirmed in 1978, Kerry Thomas and Calvin Carter—co-authors of the new book HORSE PROFILING: THE SECRET TO MOTIVATING EQUINE ATHLETES—took a few minutes to review I’ll Have Another’s chances with us.
Twenty-nine horses have been eligible to win the Triple Crown coming into the Belmont Stakes, but of those only eleven have succeeded. In six recent runnings, horses that won the Kentucky Derby and Preakness, just as I’ll Have Another has, could not find the win in the last of the three-race series: Silver Charm in 1997, Real Quiet in 1998, Charismatic in 1999, War Emblem in 2002, Funny Cide in 2003, and Smarty Jones in 2004.
Does I’ll Have Another have that something extra, that little something that in humans we’d call “grit,” “determination,” and the “will to win”? This is the question Kerry Thomas asks himself of all the horses he profiles, and it was this characteristic that made Kerry tap I’ll Have Another in the Derby back in May.
“If I’ll Have Another is healthy and sound as he has been, mentally and physically (the race for sure will be a battle of herd motion as it always is), I see nothing that would indicate this horse has anything internally that would inhibit his making history,” says Kerry. “His patterns of motion have been consistent and seem to be getting stronger, and though I won’t have the opportunity to study the field for the Belmont as closely as I did the Derby, I’ll Have Another has incredible mental soundness. His Emotional Conformation and Herd Dynamic is second to none.”
“I liked both I’ll Have Another and Bodemeister in the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes,” adds Kerry’s co-author Calvin Carter. “While I especially liked the pedigree of Bodemeister, Kerry ranked I’ll Have Another higher than Bodemeister in his behavioral analysis of the Kentucky Derby contenders for the online magazine Kentucky Confidential. That’s important to note that while a horse may have a good pedigree or physical conformation, his behavior or Emotional Conformation is the final piece of the breeding puzzle, which is necessary to determine if the horse has the heart and mind to be an equine champion. While I haven’t seen the list of other competitors, I’ll Have Another has the right Emotional Conformation Profile as well as the breeding and pedigree to win the Belmont Stakes and become the twelfth Triple Crown winner—the first since Affirmed last won it in 1978.”
You can learn more about Kerry’s Thomas Herding Technique and his method of Emotional Conformation Profiling in the new book HORSE PROFILING, available from the TSB online bookstore, where shipping in the US is always FREE.
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