Trainer for I’ll Have Another in swing

O’neill sports Mets cap after Santana’s no-no. He’s trying to keep ‘positive mojo’ for horse going after Triple Crown.

barn gave him the cap Saturday morning, and O’Neill popped it right on his head.

“A good friend of mine, Keith, gave it to me,” said O’Neill, who lives in southern California. “He was pumped up. It’s a historical event. Their first no-hitter. The Kings are trying to win their first Stanley Cup and there’s this 34-year deal (without a Triple Crown winner). I’ll do anything that keeps the positive mojo going.”

O’Neill said I’ll Have Another went through his normal routine of a half-mile jog, one-mile gallop over a sloppy track at Belmont Park, which received 1½ inches of rain overnight.

“We were on a very nice, safe, fresh track, and I’ll Have Another galloped like a champ over it,” he said.

The Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner will attempt to become racing’s 12th Triple Crown winner in the Belmont Stakes on June 9. The last horse to sweep the Derby, Preakness and Belmont was Affirmed in 1978.

Before today’s gallop, O’Neill plans to have I’ll Haver Another walk from his barn through the tunnel leading to the paddock area, where the horses will be saddled before the 1½mile Belmont. Mario Gutierrez, the colt’s jockey who has never been to the track and may get a chance to ride in a race Friday over the same Belmont distance.

O’Neill’s Boxer Des Rues might run in the Brooklyn Handicap. A trip over the track could be helpful to a rider who is new to big-time racing.