Doug O'Neill's Saturday Night Notes

Doug O'Neill, the trainer of "I'll Have Another", is a controversial figure in horse racing and is accused of having a checkered past. Three of his previous horses have failed tests for having too high of a carbon dioxide level. According to regulators, this is evidence of "milkshaking"--the process of running a tube (filled with baking soda, sugar, and electrolytes) from the nose to the stomach of a horse, which apparently is a performance enhancer. This is what Doug has to say about these allegations, according to the New York Daily News:

“It’s been a distraction but we play by the rules. I’m vigorously fighting the previous allegations and once everything is settled I’d love to have you guys over for a cocktail and share a lot of stuff, but I’ll Have Another and every horse in our barn go through a real intense physical exam and blood and urine exams. We run pure horses."

Doug had this to say to the Washington Post:

“We had some people in charge of California racing I think didn’t like a few of us that were doing well. Anyway, it’s all being heard by the courts and I’m very confident everything will be fine.”

And after Doug's horse won the second leg of the Triple Crown this afternoon, taking the Preakness Stakes, he talked about being a "C" student in high school and wanting to buy a swimming pool with his winnings. I'm not sure if Doug O'Neill is guilty of anything or not, but nevertheless, he's a very entertaining and likeable guy. Let's hope that Doug is cleared of any wrongdoing and in three weeks we can all celebrate "I'll Have Another" after a successful quest for the Triple Crown, while Pete Thamel conducts interviews with horses who have been trained by O'Neill. If you missed today's race, you missed a thriller. You can watch it again right here: Now, let's move on to some more late night notes: --UK softball stayed alive this afternoon with a victory over Valparaiso. Their reward: a nationally televised contest with Louisville this evening. Despite being no-hit through 4 innings against the Cards, UK fought back and made it a 3-2 game, but fell short in the end. Congrats to the softball team on another successful season. You'll hear from a Louisville fan bragging about Softball in 3...2...1... --UK baseball ended the 2nd best regular season in school-history in an extremely disappointing fashion, going 0-4 in a 4-game road-trip that started Tuesday at Murray State, before the team traveled to Starkville for a 3-game series with Mississippi State that concluded with an 11-3 loss this afternoon. With South Carolina and Florida losing today, UK was playing for a #1 seed in the SEC Tournament and a share of what would have been only the 2nd SEC title in school history. Instead, they will head to Hoover, AL as a #4 seed and will face Ole Miss at 10:30 a.m. on Tuesday morning. --On a related note, UK 2-sport star Brian Adams has announced he will not play football next season so that he can concentrate on baseball. Adams, who struggled getting his swing back after last football season, has found himself back into UK's starting lineup and has played very well of late. Based on potential, Adams is expected to be drafted in this summer's MLB Draft and he could forgo his senior year at UK on the baseball field as well if he is offered a nice signing bonus to play professionally. --Basketball recruiting guru Evan Daniels tweeted that 2014 prospects Shane Hall and Davell Roby will take an unofficial visit here in Lexington tomorrow, following the Kentucky State AAU games. And last but not least, some NBA notes... --Eric Bledsoe only scored 2 points today and the young Clippers blew a 27 point lead to the veteran Spurs. San Antonio has a 3-0 lead in the series and will attempt a sweep over the Clippers tomorrow night at 10:30. Meanwhile, the Thunder are currently trying to extend their 2-1 series lead on the Lakers and you can check out the game right now on TNT. Tomorrow, former UK basketball student-manager and JV basketball player Frank Vogel will try to take a 3-1 lead over the Miami Heat at 3:30 tomorrow on ABC. Frank was one of "Bill's Boys" and I am sure Mr. Keightley is smiling down from above, very proud of Vogel's coaching job with the Pacers this season.