What will Animal Kingdom do after the Derby?

[andtheyreoff]

What's your opinion on AK? Will he progress further in the Triple Crown, or will he become another Derby fluke?

[depalma113]

He's going to Disneyworld.

But seriously, this horse is going to win the Triple Crown first.

[toussaud]

i think he is going to get better. i think we go to belmont with a TC on the line but probably doesn't win it.

[JPinMaryland]

He certainly has the speed to be the favorite for the Preakness. i'd bet against a TC but then again this field seems quite weak.

[RXB]

I think this group will take turns beating each other, just depending on who's feeling good on the day, who gets the favourable trip/pace/bias, etc.

[Robert Goren]

He is as well rested as any derby winner in years, so he has shot at TC.

[InTheRiver68]

If he wins the Preakness, he has an excellent shot at the TC.

And before you say, "Well, if he doesn't win the Preakness, he has NO shot at the triple crown...", what I mean is, the Preakness is going to be a full field, Pimlico's tight corners, new shooters, two weeks' rest, etc. It's going to be a harder test for him than the Derby was, or the Belmont will be. He will, naturally, be the favorite at, I'm going to guess, 4-1. But I'll have less faith in him in the Preakness than I did in the Derby.

- InTheRiver68

[Producer]

I think he goes on to be a top class grass/dubai world cup horse. I still strongly believe he is a better grass/syn horse than a dirt horse.

[Edward DeVere]

I think he loses the Preakness.

[PhantomOnTour]

Knowing Graham Motion, if this guy ain't 100% he'll just send Toby in to take the Preakness and bring AK back for the Belmont :D

[jasperson]

What's your opinion on AK? Will he progress further in the Triple Crown, or will he become another Derby fluke?
I think he will win the Preakness because he has tactical speed and will come out of the derby in good shape. His standard work is 5f and with the run out he should be legged up better than these other 3yr olds. I voted the tc but I am just hoping for the Belmont.

[Tom]

Detox? :rolleyes::D

[Plain Steve]

One thing is certain, he will NEVER be 20-1 again. Actually that's a good thing, as the mindless masses will only know one horse for the rest of the TC.

A very good performance in the Derby I must admit, broke a few jinxes too.

<<ANIMAL KINGDOM
Why he can’t: He’s bred to go long on turf. He came home too slow in the Spiral, which was a weak field. No horse has won the Derby without ever racing first on true dirt. Needles in 1956 is the last horse to win off a six-week layoff. Exterminator in 1918 is the last horse to win off four prior career starts.>>
http://blogs.courier-journal.com/racing/2011/04/30/why-they-can-win-and-why-they-cant/

Additionally just 8 chefs in his entire DP, 2-0-6-0-0

[DJofSD]

I just hope he stays healthy and we can see him race as a 4 and 5 year old.

[Marshall Bennett]

Think he even has an even better shot at winning Belmont. He seemed to have plent left. The Preakness may be his challenge. I have hopes he'll do well in a bid for TC. All the fresh horses they enter these days following the derby makes it tough though.

[PhantomOnTour]

I just hope he stays healthy and we can see him race as a 4 and 5 year old.
A Derby winner still running at age 5? Not if he's still got his 'wedding tackle'.

[Turf Sonic]

I think he goes on to be a top class grass/dubai world cup horse. I still strongly believe he is a better grass/syn horse than a dirt horse.

You may be right, but I'm of the opinion he'll be a dynamic dirt horse. If you look at his action and the way he runs, he doesn't run like a turf horse. He has that lower, long stride of a good dirt horse. I think he'll be the kind of horse that can go to any surface and be a real threat. He may run his share of turf and synthetic courses if only to save the wear and tear.

I think the most interesting thing about this horse is his new and somewhat "unconventional" breeding. The American breeders have been desperate for some new blood that is more versatile due to the variety of surfaces here now. Plus the heavy in-breeding over the last several generations has led to cops and crops of horses that can't stay healthy, are limited to light racing, etc. The ramifications of this horse winning the KD could end up being far and wide. And the sad result of this exciting development on the breeding front may lead to a short racing career.

[GaryG]

103 BSF with his last half mile in :47 2/5.

[CincyHorseplayer]

A Derby winner still running at age 5? Not if he's still got his 'wedding tackle'.

That's awesome!:lol:

[RXB]

I'm not on the bandwagon just yet, believe me. The CD main track yesterday was tailor-made for a grass/synth runner as long as the animal had the capability to travel okay over a dirt surface. Not very often do you see such low early energy percentages and so many off-pace runners prevailing on the dirt.

[CincyHorseplayer]

I'm not on the bandwagon just yet, believe me. The CD main track yesterday was tailor-made for a grass/synth runner as long as the animal had the capability to travel okay over a dirt surface. Not very often do you see such low early energy percentages and so many off-pace runners prevailing on the dirt.

If there are crowded front ends in a race,which there were in nearly every dirt race,you do.There was no running style bias IMO.

[RXB]

Five of the nine early dirt leaders were clear at both the first and second calls, two others were clear at one of the two first calls, yet only a maiden sprinter held on, after a very pedestrian 4f.

Any bunching behind the leaders was caused in no small part by slow paces in several races, yet still the frontrunners were getting swallowed.

[CincyHorseplayer]

Five of the nine early dirt leaders were clear at both the first and second calls, two others were clear at one of the two first calls, yet only a maiden sprinter held on, after a very pedestrian 4f.

Any bunching behind the leaders was caused in no small part by slow paces in several races, yet still the frontrunners were getting swallowed.

If some jockey pushed his horse out of it's comfort zone to be x amount ahead of the other speed horses,he did so at his horse's expense.The 2nd tier pack in that scenario still constitutes a crowded front end that pushes the leader.And it's not about how fast it was run in exactly either.You get a half dozen horses that all like to be in the same place at the same time,nobody is comfortable or in a race scenario in which they ran their best races.It's not all black and white like that.The pace scenario might not unfold like a 2 + 2=4 equation,but you look in the past performances and see a lot of the same running style,it's no coincidence the opposite running style keeps winning,no matter how hard you try to explain it away.Not trying to be a harda$s or anything but the only dominant frontrunner I saw on paper Saturday was in the Turf Classic.

[calltopost]

Detox? :rolleyes::D

You aren't watching the Preakness though right?

I have no interest at all in the rest of the TC. Won't even be looking at the Preakness. I have seen all I want to of this crop.

http://i.imgur.com/LbKa5.gif

[Tom]

You like nice bright colors, right?

[dansan]

I think AK will bungle in the jungle :lol:

[calltopost]

You like nice bright colors, right?

I like GREEN Tom.

[tbwinner]

I think Dialed In / Animal Kingdom makes a nice exacta box. There's no way Zito isn't doing everything he can to prep Dialed In for that $5.5 million bonus for winning the Preakness.

[calltopost]

Is MMM going?

[calltopost]

Is MMM going?

Yes, DRF says he is probably.

[Bruddah]

He goes to Disney World and rides the Merry go round. :D