In less than three weeks, a 34-year long drought can potentially end when the thoroughbred I’ll Have Another heads to his post at the Belmont Stakes with a Triple Crown in sight.

Last Saturday, at the Preakness Stakes, I’ll Have Another did just that – he had another, recording his second Triple Crown victory in three weeks as he narrowly out-galloped Bodemeister once again in the final leg of the race.

Now, only Belmont stands in his way towards racing glory.

The 3-year-old colt finds himself in company with 11 other horses, including 2008’s Big Brown and 2004’s Smarty Jones, that have gone on to win the first two legs of the Triple Crown since 1978, only to fall short at Belmont, a race-track known for its length (2.4 kilometers, 1.5 miles).

I’ll Have Another gave viewers a sense of dCB)jCB vu as he paced himself throughout the race similarly to how he did in the Kentucky Derby, allowing Bodemeister to jump out to a large lead before tracking him down in the pulsating final seconds.

With Bodemeister dropping out of competition for the Belmont Stakes on June 9, I’ll Have Another will have to find another opponent to use as motivation. Regardless of what happens, though, the two horses will be cemented in history together.

While I’ll Have Another’s quest to become the 12th horse ever to capture a Triple Crown deservingly draws the most attention, the outcomes of the first two races, and just how close they were, shouldn’t be left as an afterthought; rather, this year’s Kentucky Derby and Preakness should be remembered for years to come as two of the better back-to-back races in Triple Crown history.

At the derby, I’ll Have Another won by 1 B= lengths; at the Preakness, he won by a neck – the same margin Affirmed, who was the last horse to claim a Triple Crown, used 34 years ago to beat Alydar.

The yet-to-be favored horse will certainly be at the top come Belmont in three weeks. Despite slow starts, I’ll Have Another has been able to find an unmatched speed under young jockey Mario Gutierrez, creating a closing gap speed that is almost unprecedented.

Before the Derby and the Preakness, the horse won the Santa Anita Derby by a nose over Creative Cause, which has caused owner Paul Reddam to expect big finishes out of his horse.

“I didn’t feel confident we were going to get there until 10 yards from the wire,” Reddam said. “I wasn’t sure that we would get there, but I knew that our horse had a lot of heart and a lot of fight.”

Gutierrez, a 25-year-old jockey from Mexico, believes I’ll Have Another isn’t done with his demands as he attempts to defy the remaining doubters on his way to horse racing history. Similar to Reddam, he sees an unrivaled spirit in his horse, a thoroughbred who refuses to quit and runs his hardest when it matters most.

“It’s not me, it’s him. It’s all about the horse,” Gutierrez said. “He just keeps proving people wrong. He has a tremendous kick in the end.”