Belmont Stakes 2011 - Animal Kingdom clocks fast practice times
John Velazquez has only ridden Animal Kingdom twice before and that too in the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness Stakes and he is pleased with his June 6th workout. He practiced with a stable-mate, Corredor Dela Isla, who is also owned by Team
Valor
All eyes are on Preakness Stakes winner, Shackleford, and, Kentucky Derby winner, Animal Kingdom. Fans are anticipating a good fight between the two.
Animal Kingdom has looked fit and well enough to get the green signal to run in the Belmont Stakes after the hectic two races and the rigours of the Triple Crown. His trainer, Graham Motion, seems to be pleased with the workouts and thinks he’s got good
stamina.
The Kentucky Derby winner and the Preakness Stakes runner-up, is the favourite to win the Belmont Stakes. His vigorous workout with jockey John Velazquez showed the horse got what it takes to win the Belmont Stakes.
According to Belmont Park officials, Animal Kingdom’s official time was 47.46 seconds for five furlongs in 1 minutes and 0.45 seconds and for six furlongs it was 1 minute and 14.20 seconds, with jockey, John Velazquez.
“He just hasn’t changed”, Graham Motion said. “It’s remarkable. He’s taken everything in stride and hasn’t gotten worked up about anything. Physically, I think he’s handled it great. I was worried about him after the Preakness, but it was more because I
thought, visually, he’d had a tough race. But he never gave me any indication he’d had a tough race, and he recovered very quickly”.
Jockey, John Velazquez, was also surprised the way Animal Kingdom trained with his stable mate. They gave him half a length head start and then let Animal Kingdom break. He saw the other horse running ahead of him and it made him competitive and faster and
at the stretch both the horses were head-to-head but in the end Animal Kingdom crossed the wire first.
The competitive element adds value to his talent.
There were many horses coming in fresh into the Belmont stakes because all of them missed the Preakness Stakes and they will have a slight edge over the ones, who have competed in the previous two races. Among those horses was Nehro, who skipped the Preakness
Stakes.
Owner Ahmad Zayat said he had “no regrets”.
“We’re looking forward”, said Zayat, who was at Belmont for the early morning drill. “We did the right thing by the horse. We want to have a productive 3- and 4-year-old”.
The resting strategy contemplated by the owners and trainers could pay dividends. Among other horses, who missed the Preakness for rest sake, were Master of Hounds (fifth in Derby), Santiva (sixth), Brilliant Speed (seventh), and Stay Thirsty (12th).
None of them have run since the Kentucky Derby.
Tags: