NAGGING INJURY: Trainer Doug O’Neill brings out I’ll Have Another yesterday at Belmont after tendinitis ruined his Triple Crown dream. (
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Opportunistic fans looking to cash in on I’ll Have Another’s run for the Triple Crown were the biggest losers yesterday when the horse was scratched from the Belmont Stakes with a leg injury.
The 3-year-old colt was diagnosed with tendinitis after a morning workout, forcing him out of today’s race and costing fans thousands of dollars. General-admission tickets — which have a face value of $10 — soared to $80 after Another’s Preakness win on May 19. But after yesterday’s news, they plummeted to just $9.
Box seats that were going for as much as $600 could be had for just $260 — though there weren’t many takers.
“My phone has gone cold,” said Bob, a race fan in Louisville, Ky., who was selling four seats for $2,400 on Craigslist.
“I had a few good offers but after [the announcement] my phone stopped ringing. I had a guy who was ready to fly into New York from Louisville, but he bailed out afterwards.”
Liz Hobin, 29, of Brooklyn was supposed to hit the track today with her father, Mike Hobin, 53 — but he scrapped plans to fly in from Los Angeles.
“Since the horse got scratched, he’s not coming anymore,” said Hobin, who was trying to unload her tickets for $120 each online — but had no takers.
“He was so upset. He just wanted to go to the race,” she said. “He saw the last time the Triple Crown happened.”
Ticket brokers were stuck with thousands of unsold seats.
“I’ve never seen anything like this before,” said Chris Matcovich an official at TiqIQ, a secondary ticket market Web site.
On StubHub, the race became the top-selling Belmont Stakes in the company’s 12-year history before the announcement, with the cheapest ticket going for $122.
By late afternoon, those same seats were being offered for $9.99.
Meanwhile, officials estimate that as many as 30,000 racing fans will probably stay away from the track — but they hoped it wouldn’t have too big an impact on local businesses.
“If we don’t get 100,000 people, we’ll probably still get to close to 70,000 people — the impact I’m sure is going to be greater on the track than it is on the surrounding business,” said Paul Sapienza, president of the Elmont Chamber of Commerce of the eateries.
“The voltage of the electricity in the air will come down a bit, but it won’t be as bad.”
Nobody was more disappointed yesterday than I’ll Have Another’s trainer, Doug O’Neill.
“It’s a bummer. It’s a real bummer,” he told The Post. The injury came at “a horrible time, and as disappointing as it is, I’ll Have Another will retire on top.
“I think we all feel so blessed to have been a part of him and wished it had lasted longer, but sports is sports.”
Market crash
The price of tickets to today’s Belmont Stakes plummeted yesterday after I’ll Have Another scratched.
Box seats
Before $600
After $260
Grandstand
Before $122
After $9
General admission
Before $80 After $9