Wednesday, February 01 2012

ANIMAL KINGDOM MAY DEBUT AT TAMPA BAY DOWNS

Trainer H. Graham Motion announced Wednesday his 2011 Kentucky Derby winner, Animal Kingdom, will probably make his first start as a 4-year-old Feb. 25 on the grass at Tampa Bay Downs in the Grade III, $150,000 Tampa Bay Stakes at a mile-and-a-sixteenth.

“The Tampa Bay race is just too logical a spot for me not to run him there,” Motion told the Daily Racing Form from his Fair Hill, Md., base after Animal Kingdom worked five furlongs on the turf at Palm Meadows in 59.61 seconds. “It gives him a chance to work three more times. Ultimately, this is all about getting him started and giving him the best opportunity to go to Dubai.”