ELMONT, N.Y. -- Trainer Dale Romans is trying to do something that many horse racing fans don't want him to do – try to stop I'll Have Another from winning the Triple Crown Saturday at Belmont Park.
Romans' colt, Dullahan, is considered the top candidate to deliver the upset. Romans knows what the reaction will be if his colt wins.
"I'm sure they're going to boo me out of here," Romans said Thursday morning at the track. "But it won't bother me. Nobody is going to give it (a Triple Crown) to you."
In 2004, when trainer Nick Zito's colt, Birdstone, stopped Smarty Jones from winning the Triple Crown, Zito was initially apologetic. If Dullahan delivers, Romans said he will be gracious. Do not expect him to say that he is sorry.
"I won't have any conflicted thoughts, because they have to earn it," Romans said. "They have to earn it to be a super horse. If you're going to be listed with Seattle Slew, Affirmed, Secretariat, Citation, the great horses of our sport. Then you need to earn it."
Dullahan finished third in the Derby, behind I'll Have Another and Bodemeister. Romans said the race was lost when his colts was forced nine wide in the first turn. Dullahan skipped the Preakness, but has trained superbly at Belmont the last three weeks.
On Saturday Dullahan will start in the No. 5 position for jockey Javier Castellano.
"There's no reason to run scared," Romans said. "There's a lot of money on the line. History says it's very difficult for him to do what he's trying to do."
Copyright 2012 WDRB News. All Rights Reserved.
