“I’ll Have Another” did indeed have another, just last Saturday.
Canadian-owned horse, “I’ll Have Another” (yes, that’s its name) won the 137th Preakness Stakes.
Blazing down the stretch, “I’ll Have Another” pushed hard with each powerful stride to cross the finish line first — winning by only the length of its neck. It was a very close and exciting finish. The horse was jockeyed by Mario Gutierrez. The jockey is the person who rides and directs the horse in the race.
The Preakness Stakes, held in Baltimore, Maryland, is the second of three major annual horse races. The first one is The Kentucky Derby and the third one is The Belmont Stakes. Those three races make up the United States’ Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing – commonly known as the Triple Crown. (There are other Triple Crowns in some other countries.)
Triple Crown races are run by three-year-old horses. They started in the late 1800s.
If a horse wins all three of the major races (the Preakness, the Kentucky Derby and the Belmont) it is said to have won the Triple Crown. That is a major accomplishment — only 11 horses have ever won the Triple Crown.
“I’ll Have Another” has already won The Kentucky Derby. Now that it has won the Preakness, it could go on to win the Triple Crown. The last horse to win all three Triple Crown races was a horse named “Affirmed,” in 1978.
The next big race is The Belmont Stakes. It normally happens on the third Saturday following the Preakness. This year’s race will be on June 9.
“I’ll Have Another” enters that race with a chance to have another – another victory that is.
And if “I’ll Have Another” does win, it will be the first horse in 33 years to win the Triple Crown.
CURRICULUM CONNECTIONS
By Jonathan Tilly
Writing/Discussion Prompt
In order for “I’ll Have Another” to win the Triple Crown, he’ll have to win The Belmont Stakes. Do you think “I’ll Have Another” will feel the extra pressure before this race? Do you think that animals feel stress like humans? Use your own experiences to support your answer.
Reading Prompt: Reading Fluently
Fluency describes how smoothly words and sentences are read. Reread today’s article to a friend or adult and pretend you are in one of the following roles to explore how differently fluency can sound:
Someone who is on a telephone with a bad connection
Someone trying to beat a world record for speed reading
A news reporter
Primary
Read appropriate texts at a sufficient rate and with sufficient expression to convey the sense of the text readily to the reader and an audience (OME, Reading: 3.3).
Junior
Read appropriate texts with expression and confidence, adjusting reading
strategies and reading rate to match the form and purpose (OME, Reading: 3.3).
Intermediate
Read appropriate texts with expression and confidence, adjusting reading
strategies and reading rate to match the form and purpose(OME, Reading: 3.3).
Grammar Feature: Subjects and Predicates
Sentences contain two basic parts: the complete subject and the complete predicate. The complete subject includes all the words of the sentence that tell who or what the sentence is about. For example,
Canadian-owned horse, “I’ll Have Another”… won the 137th Preakness Stakes.
The complete predicate contains all the words that tell the action or condition of the subject.
Canadian-owned horse, “I’ll Have Another”… won the 137th Preakness Stakes.
Circle the complete subject and underline the predicate in each example below.
1. Mariano Rivera is a pitcher who strikes fear in his opponents!
2. New Orleans Saints quarterback, Drew Brees, set a new record for passing yards last season.
3. Everyone at the party shouted when Dee Brown beat Shawn Kemp during the Slamdunk competition!
4. The Los Angeles Kings surprised the hockey world with their playoff success.
5. The logo of Tottenham Hotspur F.C. is a rooster standing on a soccer ball.
