Animal Kingdom Arrives At Pimlico Ready To Take On The Field In Quest For Middle Jewel Of The Triple Crown (With Video)

Tom Furey of Madison was down in Maryland this past week, watching Animal Kingdom train for Saturday’s Preakness Stakes race, the Middle Jewel of the Triple Crown.

The graceful and dynamic Chestnut colt, fresh off his win at the Kentucky Derby, looks good. He looks fresh. He has attitude and he's carrying on like the winner he is. But Furey, a member of the Team Valor partnership that owns Animal Kingdom, isn’t kidding himself. This isn’t going to be an easy race to win.

The 1 and 3/16-mile track is not only shorter than the 1 and ¼-mile track at Churchill Downs, it also has sharper turns. Horses can sometimes get knocked off their stride at the turn and it can take them a while to get their momentum back, Furey said during a brief stop back at his home in Madison Thursday before heading back to Maryland.

Furey also notes that the competition is formidable and that the mix of competitors will be different than the Derby field. In addition to Midnight Interlude and Dialed In, Furey has his eye on Dance City, who made his stakes debut in the Arkansas Derby where, with odds of 29 to 1, he finished a strong third.

And, of course, this time the other jockeys will be looking for Animal Kingdom, after his impressive win at the Kentucky Derby.  He’s a winner and that adds pressure. “He has what I call a target on his back,” Furey said.

Still, Furey is confident that Animal Kingdom has it in him to win the second leg of the coveted Triple Crown at Pimlico Racetrack in Baltimore, Maryland, at 4:30 p.m. Animal Kingdom is a smart horse who learns fast, with an explosive turn of foot, and he's being ridden by a jockey who knows how to time him correctly, Furey says.

“He’s as fit as a fiddle. He thinks he’s the king of the hill. He has some attitude on him … he’s on top of his game,” Furey said.

Animal Kingdom arrived in Baltimore at 6:45 a.m. Saturday and was walked down to Stall 40, the stall reserved at Pimlico for the Kentucky Derby winner.

After Animal Kingdom won the Kentucky Derby, he was draped with a blanket of roses and jockey John Velazquez started picking off flowers and throwing them to the women. The winner of the Preakness is traditionally draped with a blanket of Black-eyed Susans, the state flower of Maryland. So, with any luck, the ladies of Team Valor will be adding those to their bouquet Saturday evening.

Post time for the 136th running of the Preakness is 6:20 p.m.