PREAKNESS UPDATE   Reprinted from the Batlimore Sun

Of the past 20 Derby winners, just seven followed it up by winning the Preakness. Some of the contenders quickly faded away, never to be heard from again. For example, last year’s Derby winner, Super Saver, went into the Preakness as a 19-10 favorite. He finished eighth and ran just one more time before he was retired. In retrospect, the post-Derby talk of Super Saver’s Triple Crown bid seems a bit absurd. He was a mud horse who ran well on a muddy day at Churchill.
Does that mean we might one day view Animal Kingdom as a turf horse who just happened to win a Derby that was run like a turf race? The six furlong split — as Sports Illustrated pointed out after the race — was the slowest Derby pace since 1947.

Not necessarily, said trainer Todd Pletcher, who trained Super Saver. Pletcher gave an interesting answer when he was asked by a reporter if he was surprised by Animal Kingdom’s victory, considering the chestnut colt was viewed primarily as a turf horse prior to the win.

“Maybe he’s a dirt horse that had never run on dirt before,” Pletcher said.

Barry Irwin, a former turf rider who heads the Team Valor partnership that owns Animal Kingdom, said he thinks too many people get hung up on whether or not a horse has run on a certain surface or not. Animal Kingdom is the first Derby winner who had never previously run on dirt, a fact most of the media and people who went to the betting windows couldn’t look past.

“This getting hung up on ‘No turf horses have ever done this, no synthetic horses have ever done this,’ all that to me is nonsense,” Irwin said. “The only thing that counts is what has this horse done and how is he trained and what do the connections think of him. With this horse, it’s nothing but positives.”

Motion said he feels similarly. A good horse is a good horse.

“Some of the best horses are the ones that are able to handle both [dirt and grass] and he appears to be one of those great horses,” the Fair Hill-based traider said. “Maybe he is better on grass, but he’s also shown he can handle dirt, and I think brilliant horses can do that.”

Irwin said Animal Kingdom unique bloodlines are a big factor in his success. He is the son of Leroidesanimaux, a Brazilian stallion, and Dalicia, a German mare. Irwin has been an outspoken critic of the medications that many trainers use on horses in the United States to reduce swelling or reduce bleeding, and that Animal Kingdom might be a validation of that philosophy.

“I think we have not done enough importing of horses and blood lines from other places where horses don’t run on drugs and horse’s legs are not manipulated,” Irwin said. “They’re basically bigger and tougher and sounder. In Germany, you’re not allowed to breed a mare that has ever raced on drugs. So when you buy some stock from there, you know you’re getting something good.”

Motion’s assistant trainer, Dave Rock, who was responsible for the majority of Animal Kingdom’s day-to-day training in Palm Meadows, Fla., said he believes the horse has the right temperament to have sustained success. A Triple Crown race can feel a bit like a circus when the crowd gets going, but Animal Kingdom never seemed fazed by the distractions that typically unsettle thoroughbreds.

“You could almost call him lazy, but I guess laid back is a better description,” Rock said. “Ain’t nothing bothers him.”

All the platitudes, of course, are no substitute for success. As Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas once famously quipped, “People have opinions — horses have the facts.” But even Animal Kingdom’s competitors believe he’s the real deal.

“I was extremely impressed with him,” trainer Dale Romans said. “I mean I thought it was an awesome, powerful performance. I think that, you know, at the end of the year we’re talking about a super horse.”