Jul 2, 2013

Jul 2, 2013

GAME RULES
ANIMAL KINGDOM’S FINAL RACE TUESDAY AT ASCOT…. Winner of ’11 Derby and ’13 Dubai World Cup in Gr. 1 Queen Anne Stakes on Turf
POST TIME 9:30 am EDT for the first race. BET IT WITH IDABET.COM
ASCOT, England (AP) — Animal Kingdom is coming a long way to Royal Ascot, chasing one last win.
The winner of the Kentucky Derby in 2011 and the $10 million Dubai World Cup this year is to be retired to stud after running in the Queen Anne Stakes on Tuesday.
Not since 1936 has a Kentucky Derby winner competed at Royal Ascot. On that occasion, 1935 Triple Crown winner Omaha finished second in the Gold Cup – the signature race at Ascot.
”Royal Ascot is a bonus for me because I thought Dubai was his last race,” trainer Graham Motion said. ”I feel very fortunate that (the owners) have taken on this very sporting challenge at Royal Ascot.
”In the States, we have a lot of opportunities for easy pickings so it’s more of a sporting challenge to come here. It would be a shot in the arm for America if he was to win at Royal Ascot.”
Victory, though, will not come easy for Animal Kingdom, the odds-on favorite by British bookmakers. Accustomed to racing on dirt and on a left-turn track, he will have to contend with the up-and-down nature of Ascot’s famous straight mile.
”Animal Kingdom is a very good horse, but this will be a different game for him,” said Patrick Barbe, racing manager for Animal Kingdom’s biggest rival, Elusive Kate.
A second win abroad will clearly boost the injury-prone horse’s value as a stallion. It will also be a milestone for Motion, who is based in the U.S. but was brought up 6 miles from the racing hotbed of Newmarket in England.
Motion’s boyhood hero was Henry Cecil, one of...