The last week has unfortunately seen a slight dark cloud appear over the camp of the potential Triple Crown Champion I’ll Have Another.
IHA’s trainer, Doug O’Neill has been handed a conditional 45-day sentence and a $15,000 fine as the result of a horse in his care racing in 2010. The violation was a elevated level of TCO2 which is a Class 3 offense, the hearing officer found that O’Neill was not guilty of giving the horse in question an illegal “Milkshake”, a procedure where an illicit concoction of baking soda bicarbonate and /or other alkaline substances is administered to a horse shortly before it races. The officer determined that there were no suspicious betting patterns in the race and also further determined that there was no evidence of any intentional acts by O’Neill in connection with the incident.