Triple Crown hopeful I'll Have Another scratched from Belmont Stakes

I'll Have Another, left, with exercise rider Jonny Garcia, accompanied by stablemate Lava Man, trains at Belmont Park, Friday, June 8, 2012 in Elmont, N.Y. The Triple Crown hopeful has been scratched from the Belmont Stakes.

Photograph by: Mark Lennihan , AP

SEE MORE PICTURES OF I'LL HAVE ANOTHER HERE
There was devastation at Hastings Racecourse Friday morning, upon the news that I'll Have Another was forced to pull out of the Belmont Stakes due to injury, one day before racing for the Triple Crown.
Jockey Mario Gutierrez, who was aboard I'll Have Another during victories at the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes, the first two jewels in horse racing's Triple Crown, spent six years racing at Hastings Racecourse, before finding success in the U.S. this year.
Officials at Hastings Racecourse have declined to comment for the moment.
Raj Mutti, general manager for Hastings Racecourse, said he was awaiting official comment from I'll Have Another's trainer Doug O'Neill, before issuing any kind of statement.
O'Neill told the Dan Patrick radio show that the Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner will not race in the Belmont Stakes on Saturday.
O'Neill told the show that I'll Have Another has the beginning of an injury and can't run on Saturday.
According to O'Neill, I'll Have Another is "officially out of the Belmont."
"It's not tragic, but it's a huge disappointment," O'Neill told the radio show.
I'll Have Another, owned by J. Paul Reddam of Windsor, Ont., was trying to become the first Triple Crown winner in 34 years. Mexican jockey Mario Gutierrez, who got his start in Vancouver and considers the city a second home, had hoped to ride the colt into the history books.
According to Dennis O'Neill, brother of trainer Doug O'Neill, the horse galloped Friday morning and after a veterinary scan, the horse's left front tendon seemed "kind of tender."
Dennis O'Neill told The Associated Press that, "the horse is sound and happy, but it's not worth it."
Doug O'Neill sent the horse out for a gallop in secrecy early Friday morning shortly after 5:30 a.m.
He said the decision was made to avoid congestion around the detention barn housing the 12 horses entered for the Belmont.
The colt jogged and then galloped around the 1 1/2-mile oval accompanied by stable pony Lava Man.
Mutti, describing Gutierrez as a local hero, did say that events will go on as planned on Saturday. A jumbo screen set up in the infield at Hastings that showed the Derby and Preakness will still show the Belmont Stakes.
I'll Have Another was set as the odds on favourite to win the Belmont, thus completing the coveted Triple Crown.
Affirmed was the last horse to win the Triple Crown, accomplishing the feat in 1978.