What Will Animal Kingdom Do for an Encore?
- Who: Thoroughbreds – Mucho Macho Man, Dialed In, Animal Kingdom
- What: Horse Racing Betting Tips – The Preakness
- Where: Pimlico
- When: Saturday, May 21st
You ain’t seen nothin’ yet! He’s the favorite now, so #11-Animal Kingdom (2-1 morning line) won’t be offering the incredible value he so generously provided to his backers in The Kentucky Derby. Still, he looks super tough in The Preakness, so the real question may be…who are you going to use with him? Let’s review Animal Kingdom’s merits, and map out an exotics strategy.
AK’s win in the Derby was dominant. He closed into a dawdling pace and had no problem leaving the front-runners in his wake. The time (2:02.04) was respectable, as was his Beyer Speed Figure (103). He came out of the race in great shape, his appetite and energy level have remained high, and he has shown enthusiasm in his morning gallops. With a six-week gap between his final prep and the Derby, he enters the Preakness a relatively fresh horse. What I like the best is that he’s lightly-raced…nobody knows how great he can be. The Preakness should actually set up much better for him…the pace will undoubtedly be quicker…so look for a devastating turn of foot when jockey John Velazquez says “Go”! I’m convinced that Animal Kingdom is the real deal…and I’ll be backing him again at the windows.I’ll use AK strictly on top in exactas, tri’s and super’s. Also, it seems highly likely that either #10-Dialed In (9-2) or #9-Mucho Macho Man (6-1) will hit the board. Dialed In had no chance in the Derby…he trailed the field for the first six furlongs and was left with way too much to do. The faster pace of The Preakness will flatter his late run. Mucho Macho Man finished well to grab third in the Derby. He hasn’t even made it to his third birthday…this June foal has the look of a horse on the improve. All of my exotics tickets will have one or both of these horses in the second and third slots.
In tri’s and super’s, I’ll be sprinkling in the following:
#1-Astrology (15-1): He’s well-bred with great connections in Asmussen/Smith. This horse had some minor setbacks earlier in the year, but appears to be rounding into top form.
#3-King Congie (20-1): He’s a bit of a wild card, having run poorly on dirt in his first two starts before picking up steam on turf and poly.
#6-Sway Away (15-1): This colt made a premature move when finishing fourth in The Arkansas Derby. Let’s see if a well-timed ride from Garrett Gomez puts him in the mix.
#8-Dance City (12-1): I don’t like the way Shackleford faded in the Derby and I don’t believe that Flashpoint wants 1 3/16th miles. I’ll hang my hat on Dance City to outlast the other speed types.
#14-Mr. Commons (20-1): This guy’s been under the radar, but he has trained well at Hollywood and you have to respect anything that trainer John Shirreffs ships in with…Victor Espinoza is a very capable replacement for Mike Smith.
Those are my horse racing betting tips for this year’s Preakness. Best of luck and happy gambling!
