Animal Kingdom aimed at Breeders' Cup Mile

Animal Kingdom will return to action in the Breeders' Cup Mile at Santa Anita on November 3 with a chance to become the first Kentucky Derby winner to go on to Breeders Cup glory since Unbridled in 1990.

The champion three-year-old male of 2011 scored an easy turf win on February 18 at Gulfstream Park in  his only start this year. He developed a stress fracture of the illium three weeks later that knocked him out of the Group 1 Dubai World Cup. The injury did not require surgery and healed with 30 days of stall rest.

Animal Kingdom resumed training in June and began breezing on August 21. Over the  summer, trainer Graham Motion suggested the Mile as a viable option if the four-year-old colt encountered no setbacks. Team Valor CEO Barry Irwin agreed, but he and Motion decided to not reveal the plan until Animal  Kingdom showed in his training that the race was a reasonable goal. 

"Coming off the layoff, the Mile just seems very logical for him," said Motion, who captured the Breeders' Cup Turf in 2004 with Better Talk Now and Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Turf with Shared Account in 2010. "He certainly has the turn of foot to handle it. The timing is right for his schedule coming back, and the caliber of horse that he is, you're not going to look for a nice, easy spot.

"It's a totally different situation than last winter when we ran him in the Gulfstream allowance to get ready for the Dubai World Cup. Going a mile, we feel he should be very fit for this race, and he deserves the opportunity."