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Triple Crown 2012: Bodemeister Will Not Run In Belmont Stakes

Bodemeister will not be making the trip to the Belmont Stakes on June 9.

HOT SPRINGS, AR - APRIL 14:   Jockey Mike Smith rides Bodemeister to win the Arkansas Derby at Oaklawn Park during the Racing Festival of The South on April 14, 2012 in Hot Springs, Arkansas.    (Photo by Wesley Hitt/Getty Images)
HOT SPRINGS, AR - APRIL 14: Jockey Mike Smith rides Bodemeister to win the Arkansas Derby at Oaklawn Park during the Racing Festival of The South on April 14, 2012 in Hot Springs, Arkansas. (Photo by Wesley Hitt/Getty Images)
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Although I'll Have Another was able to win both the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness Stakes, the horse received a lot of competition from Bodemeister. Shortly after Saturday's race, however, Bodemeister's trainer Bob Baffert announced after the race that the horse will not make the trip to the Belmont Stakes on June 9.

Baffert said the decision was made well before Saturday's Preakness in which the horse led for most of the race before being edged by I'll Have Another in the last moments at Pimlico.

"I wasn't going to go, win lose or draw," he said. "I've run him pretty hard."

For more on the Preakness Stakes and the race for the Triple Crown, stay with this StoryStream and check out SB Nation's horse racing blog And Down The Stretch They Come. There, you'll also find a A Beginner's Guide To Following Horse Racing and a glossary of horse racing terms.

Photographs by cstreet.us, thelastminute, turtlemom nancy , fesek, kthypryn, justinwright, sue_elias, pointnshoot, and scrapstothefuture used in background montage under Creative Commons. Thank you.