Graham Motion is one confident trainer, a cautious one, too.
After long-shot Animal Kingdom’s surprising win in the Kentucky Derby, the Englishman knows his colt will be running in the Preakness with a bull’s-eye on his back as perhaps racing’s next superstar.
“I don’t want to get into that,” he said. “I’ve tried to make up in my mind I won’t get too caught up in the Preakness because you’ve got two weeks to enjoy winning the Derby.”
Animal Kingdom did it by 2 3/4 lengths and Motion’s fervent hope is for the horse to replicate the trip straight into the winner’s circle at Pimlico Race Course next weekend with a chance to capture the Triple Crown three weeks later in the Belmont Stakes.
He is set to arrive in Baltimore on Friday, the day before the 1 3/16-mile race, which is limited to 14 starters. It last drew a full field in 2005.
“It’s going to be about staying out of trouble, very much like it was in the Derby,” Motion said. “Fourteen horses is a lot of horses to navigate, especially when you’re the one they’re gunning for. The track is possibly a little tighter, the surface is probably a little different than at Churchill Downs. My horse has shown he can handle the dirt.”
Animal Kingdom became the first horse in the Derby’s 137-year history to win his debut on dirt, having run three times on synthetic surfaces and once on the turf in four previous races.
“He seemed to get over it easily. He accelerated really well,” Motion said. “I guess, ultimately, you still don’t know until they win a race, when they have to accelerate on a dime, and he handled that really well.”
Animal Kingdom had a light schedule before the Derby, with just two races in which he finished first and second. His freshness could work in his favour during the gruelling five-week Triple Crown campaign.
“He’s just run the biggest race of his life in the Kentucky Derby,” Motion said. “I’m impressed with how he’s handled everything.”
The 46-year-old Motion is known primarily for developing turf runners, and he didn’t earn his first Grade 1 stakes victory on the dirt until 2009 — 16 years into his training career.
He began his career in Maryland and saddled his first winner at Laurel in 1993. Until the Derby, his biggest career victories were Breeders’ Cup wins last year and in 2004.
Asked how he’s handling his newfound fame, Motion replied, “Probably not as good as him. It’s been an extraordinary week.”
Animal Kingdom is training for the Preakness at bucolic Fair Hill in Elkton, Md., about an hour’s drive out in the countryside from hardscrabble Pimlico. It was home to 2006 Kentucky Derby winner Barbaro, whose breakdown in the Preakness and subsequent death from his injuries rocked the sports world.
“It’s just a relaxing atmosphere for him and kind of keeps him out of the craziness a bit,” said Motion, whose dogs Bentley and Ginger sometimes accompany him on the walk to the track.
The complex includes a mile dirt track and a seven-eighths mile track with an artificial surface, along with 3,000 acres of grasslands and woods for use by trainers who want to take their horses out on trails.
“It’s where we’re comfortable,” said Motion, who has no plans to change Animal Kingdom’s training leading up to the Preakness. “If he’s good enough, he’s going to handle it. He just seems to be so push-button. He’s such a cool horse.”
John Velazquez, who got the ride on the colt the day before the Derby, will stay aboard for the Preakness. That’s a switch since the colt had five different riders in each of his first five races.
“He now knows him and he told me he’s never been this relaxed in a race of this magnitude,” Motion said, referring to Velazquez.
Dale Romans, who trains fourth-place Derby finisher Shackleford, doesn’t think Animal Kingdom’s surprise win was a fluke.
“He may be the one at the end of the year we’re talking about as the super horse,” he said.
There are plenty of challengers trying to play spoiler, including Nehro and Mucho Macho Man, the second- and third-place finishers in the Derby, along with Shackleford, Santiva (sixth), and beaten Derby favourite Dialed In (eighth).
“Mucho Macho Man and Shackleford are going to be very tough,” Motion said. “A couple of the new shooters look very imposing, but I don’t think I’d want to trade with any of them right now.”
Trainer Bob Baffert was expected to decide this weekend whether to enter Midnight Interlude, 16th in the Derby. He won last year’s Preakness with Lookin At Lucky, the beaten Derby favourite.
Robby Albarado, set to ride Animal Kingdom in the Derby before breaking his nose in a spill days before the race, will be aboard new shooter King Congie. Others in that group include Astrology, Dance City (third in Arkansas Derby), Flashpoint (fourth in Florida Derby), and Gotham runner-up Norman Asbjornson. Also possible are Mr. Commons (third in Santa Anita Derby) and gelding Ruler On Ice, the beaten favourite in last weekend’s Federico Tesio at Pimlico.
Horses that didn’t run in the Kentucky Derby have had a history of hitting the board in the Preakness, including winning filly Rachel Alexandra in 2009 and winner Bernardini in 2006. Macho Again and Icabad Crane (trained by Motion) finished second and third, respectively, in 2008.
The Preakness field will be set at Wednesday’s draw.
Only 11 horses have swept the Kentucky Derby, Preakness and Belmont, with Affirmed the last to do so in 1978. There have been 11 Triple tries since, most recently by Big Brown in 2008. He won the first two legs, then finished last in the Belmont.