Belmont Stakes 2011 favourites Animal Kingdom, Shackleford, Nehro
“To be honest…I think it’s proving to be a solid group of horses, at the end of the day”, said Animal Kingdom’s trainer, Graham Motion, when asked about the depth of the class participating in the 2011 Belmont Stakes.
Motion further talked about his horse and how much he has achieved by winning the May 7 Kentucky Derby and finishing second after Shackelford claimed the Preakness Stakes.
Animal Kingdom’s first two attempts on dirt have been successful and in both races he performed extraordinarily, which makes this group of horses all the more exciting, and the race unpredictable.
Animal Kingdom has had 6 career starts, he has won 3 and 3 times he’s been the runner up and his trainer Graham Motion at distance had 8 wins and when both of them combined they are a force to be reckoned with.
Animal Kingdom’s closest rival in the Preakness Stakes and the only one that can realistically beat him to the wire, is the 3 year old Forestry colt, Shackleford, who in his 7 career starts, won 3 times.
Shackleford arrived at Belmont Park on May 3.
Shackleford trainer Dale Romans stats at distance consist of 4 wins in 22 starts. He is optimistic about Shackleford’s stamina to run the long distance at Belmont Park. He confirmed that Shackleford will start practice soon.
Roman also stressed on the fact that this year the cream of the crop have made it to Belmont Stakes and the press should give credit where it’s due.
Talking about Shackleford he said that he wants jockey Jesus Castanon to get him into a rhythm, just like he did before the Preakness Stakes and keep going as long as he can. Shackleford’s chances still look a little bleak because trainer Dale Romans expects him to run but he will sit the horse out if something negative happens.
The Kentucky Derby runner up, Nehro, is also featuring in the race and he is back after skipping the Preakness Stakes because owner, Ahmad Zayat, took precautionary measures ahead of the Preakness Stakes and made the agonizing decision of keeping the horse from running the race.
His decision to go straight from Derby to Belmont could pay dividends since he is training well and well rested, two ingredients needed to ensure confidence in a horse going for the last leg of the Triple Crown that is the Belmont Stakes.
Animal Kingdom, Shackleford, and Nehro, have been making headlines ever since they arrived at Belmont Park but the starting line has other strong contenders that cause an upset.
Tags: