LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Animal Kingdom strolled onto the track at Churchill Downs on Saturday morning and, with little urging from jockey Robby Albarado, took off down the frontstretch.
No hesitation. No panic. No looking down at his feet to see if he’d stepped in something.
The 3-year-old colt handled the dirt under the twin spires with ease, covering 6 furlongs in a solid if not spectacular 1:13.
More important than the time, however, was the way Animal Kingdom acted after getting dirty. He looked, according to Albarado and trainer Graham Motion, like a Kentucky Derby horse.
“(Robby) actually looked for things he could knock about the breeze, and he couldn’t find anything,” Motion said.
Barring any unforeseen health issues, Animal Kingdom will join 19 other hopefuls in the starting gate next Saturday in the Run for the Roses.
It’s a destination that Motion didn’t envision when he took over as Animal Kingdom’s trainer last fall. Everything about the horse — from his pedigree to his training — seemed to make him destined for a career running on grass. Yet when he won the Spiral Stakes over the synthetic surface at Turfway Park five weeks ago, Animal Kingdom suddenly found himself on the Derby trail.
It’s a path that hasn’t led to success in the Derby. No horse who has trained primarily on grass or a synthetic surface such as Polytrack has won the first leg of the Triple Crown since synthetic surfaces were introduced in the middle of the last decade.
Yet nearly half of the expected field of 20 in this year’s Derby will have competed heavily on the turf or a synthetic surface, thanks to a combination of Derby fever among owners and the perception that the gap between synthetic horses and dirt horses isn’t the chasm it was five years ago.
Lookin At Lucky was among the favorites in the Derby last spring following a win on a synthetic track in the Santa Anita Derby, but got stuck along the rail and never factored. He rebounded, however, to win the Preakness on the dirt at Pimlico.
Motion allows that some horses will struggle switching surfaces, but thinks the dirt at Churchill Downs isn’t quite as mucky as other places.
Florida Derby winner Dialed In, who arrived Saturday, will be among the morning-line favorites. He’ll likely be joined by Uncle Mo, who won the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile over the same track last year.
