Canadian-owned I’ll Have Another was a favourite to win the Belmont Stakes horse race this year.
The race was held last Saturday.
If he’d won, he would also have won all three of the major horse races and become the U.S. Triple Crown winner, every horse-owner’s dream.
However, it wasn’t to be.
Just before the big race, his trainer announced that the horse had tendonitis in his left front leg and would not be able to race. The owner decided to retire the colt from racing.
The good news is that I’ll Have Another will recover from his injury and will be fine. It’s likely that the horse will become a stud, which means that he will father other colts which may go on to become excellent race horses themselves. In that way, I’ll Have Another’s legacy will live on.
I’ll Have Another’s absence was felt at this year’s Belmont. The horse was brought out before the race and his saddle ceremoniously removed, to signify that he had been retired from racing.
An hour later, the exciting Belmont Stakes race was run and a horse called Union Rags went on to win by just a neck-length. The prize (or “purse” as it’s called in horse racing) for winning was $620,000. In total, $1 million was given to the first five horses to cross the finish line.
The Belmont Stakes is a 1.5-mile race on a dirt track and is raced by three-year-old horses.
Related links
Here is a recent TKN story about I’ll Have Another.
This Belmont Stakes website includes information about racing and the history of the Belmont.
CURRICULUM CONNECTIONS
By Kathleen Tilly
Writing/Discussion Prompt
A lot of thought would have gone into the owner’s decision to retire I’ll Have Another. Why do you think the owner decided to retire him instead of having him just miss the Belmont Stakes race?
Reading Prompt: Extending Understanding
If I’ll Have Another becomes a stud, people believe that his colts will grow up to be excellent race horses.
Many of us inherit traits from our family members. For example, a child might be musical because his/her parents are musicians. What character traits and/or talents do you think you inherited from your family? Which characteristics/talents are unique to you?
Primary
Extend understanding of texts by connecting the ideas in them to there own knowledge and experience, to other familiar texts, and to the world around them (OME, Reading: 1.6).
Junior
Extend understanding of texts by connecting the ideas in them to their own knowledge, experience, and insights, to other familiar texts, and to the world around them (OME, Reading: 1.6).
Intermediate
Extend understanding of texts, including increasingly complex or difficult texts, by connecting the ideas in them to their own knowledge, experience, and insights, to other familiar texts, and to the world around them (OME, Reading: 1.6).
Grammar Feature: Baby animal names
As the article explains, a male baby horse is called a colt.
What are the following animals called when they are babies? (You may need to use a book or the Internet to help you).
1. Kangaroo
2. Dog
3. Lion
4. Duck
5. Otter
6. Panda
7. Dolphin
8. Shark
9. Skunk
10. Toad
