Animal Kingdom winning the 2011 Kentucky Derby
Unfortunately, this is not the year of the 12th Triple Crown winner. A chestnut, normally turf runner named Animal Kingdom won the Derby. Then the Preakness was won by Shackleford, a huge, draft sized colt with a spectacular blaze. Shackleford completed the Derby in position four, and Animal Kingdom completed the Preakness in position two.
However, I do not believe either of them will win the Belmont, mostly because they have run in the previous two. There will be a ton of fresher horses running in this race, which will be run on June 11th. But one does have to consider the already shinning race record of Animal Kingdom. The chestnut colt, son of Leroidesanimaux, has run in six races, winning three and placing second in three. That's very impressive. What's more impressive is that out of all six of those, only two of them have been on dirt. Animal Kingdom went into the Derby without a single race being run on dirt. He went into the most prestigious race in America as a turf horse and came out of it as the Kentucky Derby winner. Wow, right?
Shackleford, ridden amazingly by Jesus Lopez Castanon, ran an impressive Preakness. He held off Animal Kingdom to win the Preakness by a length. Great racer, great pedigree. If anyone has forgotten about his sire, Forestry, they've remembered him now. His grandsire is Storm Cat, one of the greatest sires of our time.
But I do have to add this bit of information; it's incredibly ironic. You know how what's-his-face, the guy who was predicting the end of the world on May 21st? Well, that was the day of the Preakness Stakes, and, as I mentioned above, Shackleford was ridden by Jesus. Just thought I would say that, because I find it absolutely hilarious.
Ok. Back to horseracing. :)
Shackleford winning the 2011 Preakness Stakes.
Horses are already arriving at Belmont Park for the Belmont Stakes. Animal Kingdom is there, where he 'zipped a half-mile in :47.76 on the Belmont surface'. Shackleford arrived at Belmont sometime last week. I am unsure about the other Belmont contenders.
The horse I'm looking at, though, is Zayat Stables' bay colt, Nehro. He ran second in the Kentucky Derby, but skipped out on the Preakness. I don't know why, but it might have been because of Michael Baze.
Michael Baze
Tragedy took down the connections of Nehro a day after the Derby was run. Michael Baze was found sitting in his truck in the Churchill Downs parking lot. The 24 year-old jockey had accidentally over dosed.
He was the cousin to Hall of Fame jockey, Russel Baze, and had won Apprentice Jockey at the Eclipse Awards a couple years ago. His death was very sudden and tragic to both his family and the racing world.
It's partly because of Michael's death that I want Nehro to win the Belmont, and partly because he's my favorite horse out of the field. But mostly because of the first. Wouldn't that be cool? To know that Michael Baze's last mount won one of the Triple Crown legs? Call me sentimental, but I think it would be awesome. :)
The other horses under consideration for the Belmont Stakes include: Brilliant Speed, who placed 7th in the Derby; Harlan's Hello; Isn't He Perfect, a Preakness runner; Master of Hounds, fifth in the Derby; Monzon; Mucho Macho Man, 3rd in the Derby and 6th in the Preakness; Prime Cut, 3rd in the Peter Pan Stakes; Ruler On Ice; Santiva, 6th in the Derby; and Stay Thirsty, 12th in the Derby.
Apart from maybe Monzon and Harlan's Hello, there is some tough competition in this race. For some reason I have a feeling about Prime Cut. He's got the most ridiculous name, but that doesn't exclude my feelings about him. I have my exacta down: Nehro for the win, Prime Cut second, and Animal Kingdom third. Should I send in my bet now? ;) Jk jk.
Nehro
Stay Thirsty is a good runner, too. His sire, Bernardini, won the Preakness Stakes in 2006. You can't overlook that. Also, I'm coming to believe that Bernardini is one of the greatest sires I have ever seen. Amazing horse.
Prime Cut also has an excellent pedigree. His sire is Bernstein, who's dame is La Affirmed. One can only guess who the sire of La Affirmed is. Affirmed himself! He was the last Triple Crown winner, in 1978. Amazing horse. Hopefully he passed on his greatness to his grandson, Prime Cut.
And Mucho Macho Man! I love that horse. He's just awesome, with an even awesomer name. He's got this year's Cinderella story. Every year there's a horse in the Triple Crown races that does. Smarty Jones, Mine that Bird, Eight Belles (who was a filly, btw). The list goes on.
Anyone could win the Belmont, when you think about it from a non-biased point of view. There are so many talented racers this year, in so many different fields. The Belmont is an open field with too many possibilities to take hold of.
The favorites will be Animal Kingdom and Shackleford, though. But that doesn't mean they'll pull through.
Who will be the winner of the third Triple Crown race? No one knows. Well, except God, that is. He's already planned it out. :)
I'll be sure to post a lengthy post about the Belmont Stakes, with all of my likes and dislikes about it. Don't you worry. ;)
Stay tuned!
No comments:
Post a Comment