re: Shall I dare say that I'll Have Another is going to win the Triple Crown?

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Last summer, I'll Have Another's trainer Doug O'Neill was formally sanctioned after one of his racehorses at Hollywood Park in California tested positive for illegal drugs. A year before, in 2010, O'Neill was punished for administering an illegal performance-enhancing concoction to a horse he ran in the prestigious Illinois Derby -- the third time he had been accused of giving a horse what is known as a milkshake. Four months later, he was accused again of giving a milkshake to a horse in California.

Over 14 years and in four different states, O'Neill received more than a dozen violations for giving his horses improper drugs. O'Neill's horses also have had a tendency to break down. According to an analysis by The New York Times, the horses he trains break down or show signs of injury at more than twice the rate of the national average.

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Nationally, thoroughbred horses break down or show signs of injury at a rate of 5.1 per thousand starts, according to the Times's analysis of more than 150,000 races over the past three years. In more than 2,300 starts, horses trained by O'Neill show a breakdown or injury frequency more than double that rate, at 12.0 per thousand starts.

"It's a horrible statistic to be associated with," O'Neill said.

In comparison, horses in the care of Motion -- one of the trainers without a single drug violation and who will race Went the Day Well in the Preakness Stakes next Saturday -- have started nearly 1,900 races and broken down or showed signs of injury in just 0.5 per thousand starts.

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