Tempting history, trainer Doug O’Neill plans to send Triple Crown hopeful I’ll Have Another into the June 9 Belmont Stakes off gallops alone, with no official workouts — even though each of the last three Triple Crown winners had at least two workouts between the Preakness and the Belmont Stakes, with one of those works at a mile.

So what makes I’ll Have Another so different from Secretariat, Seattle Slew and Affirmed?

“He puts a lot of effort into his gallops,” O’Neill said yesterday at his opening press conference since arriving in New York from California. “So if all goes well, he’ll maintain that right up to the race. There will be a lot of days when I’ll Have Another, strictly galloping, will pass workers. He gallops like an average horse works.

“So the amount of energy he puts into his daily exercise is the reason why an official workout isn’t important, in my mind.”

How times have changed. Look at the schedule Secretariat — who established the gold standard for workouts — followed through his Triple Crown campaign in 1973. Three days before the Kentucky Derby, he drilled five furlongs in :58 3/5 seconds. Six days before the Preakness, he sizzled five furlongs in :57 2/5, galloping six in 1:10.

Leading up to the Belmont, “Big Red” really got serious. Eight days after the Preakness, he worked six furlongs in 1:12 1/5, galloping out seven in 1:25. Five days after that, Secretariat worked a mile in 1:34 4/5, galloping out 1 1/8 miles in 1:48 4/5. Three days before the Belmont, he blew out a half-mile in :46 2/5.

Between the Preakness and the Belmont in 1977, Seattle Slew worked a mile in 1:38 2/5, six furlongs in 1:11 3/5 and blew out three furlongs in :35 4/5. In 1978, Affirmed worked a mile in 1:40 1/5 and five furlongs in 1:01.

The last two horses to try for the Triple Crown, Smarty Jones and Big Brown, each worked just once after the Preakness. Smarty Jones lollygagged seven furlongs in 1:29 1/5, while Big Brown, whose training was set back by a quarter-crack in his hoof, went five furlongs in 1:00.

Secretariat, Seattle Slew and Affirmed were all 2-year-old champions with plenty of foundation to withstand such training.

Three colts looking to derail I’ll Have Another in the “Test of the Champion” worked out yesterday.

* Bob Baffert’s Paynter — taking the baton from stablemate Bodemeister, runner-up in the Derby and Preakness — drilled a bullet five furlongs in :59.26 over the Belmont Park training track.

Also over the training track, Alpha breezed five furlongs in 1:01.93 for Kiaran McLaughlin.

At Calder, Ravelo’s Boy worked seven furlongs in 1:28 1/5.