Animal Kingdom gallops; Shirreffs thrilled with Mr. Commons

Trainer Graham Motion sent Kentucky Derby (G1) winner ANIMAL KINGDOM (Leroidesanimaux

[Brz]) out for a 1 1/2-mile gallop on the dirt track at Fair Hill Training

Center Monday morning.

The Team Valor International homebred trained on the synthetic Tapeta surface

Sunday morning following heavy overnight rain that left the dirt track muddy,

but Motion decided to go back to the dirt Monday. 

"It was not ideal, but it was fine," Motion said.

Aside from the wet conditions, everything is going well with the chestnut

colt, Motion said, as he moves closer to Saturday's Preakness S. (G1), the

second stop in the Triple Crown series at Pimlico.

A full field of 14 horses is expected to be entered Wednesday morning. While

the Preakness typically draws fields between 10 and 13 runners, it is rare for

the maximum number to go the gate. The last time 14 horses ran in the Preakness

was in 2005 after Giacomo won the Derby at odds of 50-1. Prior to 2005, the last

time the Preakness attracted 14 runners was in 1992 when the top three finishers

in the Derby were Lil E. Tee at 16-1, Casual Lies at 29-1 and Dance Floor at

33-1.

Although Animal Kingdom was a convincing winner of the Derby by 2 3/4

widening lengths, his victory at odds of 20-1 has not scared the competition,

including as many as five other Derby runners, from testing him again in the

Preakness.

"I kind of expected as much. Hopefully, we get a halfway decent post

position," Motion said.

Maryland Jockey Club linemaker Frank Carulli said he plans to make Animal

Kingdom the morning-line favorite when post positions are drawn Wednesday, but

Motion said he wouldn't be surprised if his colt did not go off as the betting

favorite.

At Hollywood Park in Southern California, MR. COMMONS (Artie Schiller) stood

in the gate Monday morning before jogging and galloping. The John Shirreffs 

trainee will begin his journey to Baltimore and the Preakness at 2 a.m. (PDT)

Tuesday and fly to Louisville, Kentucky. He will take a second flight to

Baltimore on Wednesday.

Mr. Commons, the third-place finisher in the Santa Anita Derby (G1) on April

9, has worked four times for the Preakness, the first a fast half-mile and then

three at seven furlongs. On Friday, he completed seven furlongs under jockey

Victor Espinoza in a quick 1:24 2/5.

"The timing for the races was a little messed up," Shirreffs said. "I just

opted for longer works in lieu of a race because there wasn't an opportunity to

run him anywhere. The timing was kind of screwed up between races. And he not

having had a lot of experience, I wanted to get him into the rhythm of a nice

long stride, covering the ground and not being in a hurry."

Shirreffs said the colt was following the program until the work on Friday.

"He was very good; he was just doing it really fast," Shirreffs said. "A week

before the race, I didn't want him to go too fast. I was hoping maybe he would

go around in 1:25 and change or 1:26, but he was motoring around there."

Shirreffs said that he isn't worried that Mr. Commons went too fast too close

to the Preakness.

"I don't think it will affect him. It was eight days out," Shirreffs said. "I

told Victor, 'don't worry, he's a very fit horse, so we're not working him for

any type of conditioning. We're just working him because we want that stride and

rhythm thing going on.'

"I was very surprised last week when he worked seven eighths; he handled it

very well. This week when he went seven eighths it wasn't any more than a

gallop. He cooled out so fast.

"As a matter of fact, I don't think I've ever seen a horse come out of a work

as well as he did," concluded Shirreffs, who gained worldwide acclaim as the

trainer of supermare Zenyatta.

At Belmont Park, Kentucky Derby third MUCHO MACHO MAN (Macho Uno) galloped 1

1/2 miles under exercise rider Mike Herra over the training track Monday

morning.

"He's settled into his training schedule. He has a lot of energy. He loves

his job. He loves to train, he really does," trainer Kathy Ritvo said. "We'll

probably do a little something tomorrow, hopefully, if the weather holds up --

maybe three-eighths or let him do something down the lane. No big deal."

Considering that Mucho Macho Man is a June 15 foal, Ritvo was particularly

pleased with the manner in which he handled the commotion and rigors of the

Kentucky Derby while offering a professional third-place performance.

"I was so proud of him that he kept his energy for when he needed to use it,

and he's still a baby." Ritvo said. "He's pretty laid back. He never gets upset

at anything. I've never seen him shaken up."

KING CONGIE (Badge of Silver) walked the shedrow Monday morning after working

five furlongs in 1:04 3/5 around the "dogs" at Belmont Park on Sunday.

The Tom Albertrani pupil is coming off a third-place finish in the Blue Grass

S. (G1) at Keeneland on April 16, when he encountered traffic but still came

within a head of his victorious stablemate Brilliant Speed (Dynaformer). King

Congie's brief career has pretty much mirrored that of Brilliant Speed. Both

horses debuted on dirt before finding success on turf and synthetic surfaces.

"They're almost the same the way they've developed," said Albertrani, who is

pointing Brilliant Speed to the Belmont S. (G1) on June 11. "They both started

on the dirt and made a transition to the turf and ran very well. They've run

together on two different occasions, and in their last race in the Blue Grass,

they finished just a head apart. They both seem to be making a big step forward

in their careers at the same time."

Robby Albarado will ride King Congie for the first time in the Preakness.

NORMAN ASBJORNSON (Real Quiet) galloped 1 1/2 miles at Bowie Training Center

Monday morning. The son of 1998 Derby and Preakness winner Real Quiet only came

into his own when he was sent around two turns late last year after three

off-the-board finishes at sprint distances.

"He's a Pennsylvania-bred colt so it's important to run in state-bred races

up there, because you get the bonuses," trainer Chris Grove said. "I couldn't

get any of the two-year-old and or even early three-year-old races to go two

turns up there. The races just didn't fill. Finally the late two-year-old races

and early three-year-old races began to fill and he was able to show what he can

do."

Norman Asbjornson broke his maiden in a mile maiden special weight race at

Penn National on December 8. He came back to win an entry-level allowance race

at Parx Racing on January 15 before heading to Aqueduct, where he finished

second in the Gotham (G3) and fourth in the Wood Memorial (G1).