Derby Winner

Kentucky Derby winner Animal Kingdom, who came up lame in the days following the Belmont Stakes, has a slab fracture in his left hind leg that will require surgery. He will not race again this season, according to Team Valor CEO Barry Irwin and trainer Graham Motion. Animal Kingdom, who resides at the Fair Hill Training Facility in Elkton, had x-rays performed on his leg two weeks ago at the New Bolton Research Center in Kennett Square, Penn., and veterinarians detected a small defect in his leg — a fissure — they wanted to closely monitor.

Most of the horses in the stakes barns at Pimlico Race Course had cleared out by 8:30 Sunday morning, having loaded into vans under the cover of early-morning rain. Plates with pieces of cake left over from last night's victory party for Oxbow dotted the ground near trainer D. Wayne Lukas' temporary office, as did a few emptied beer bottles. As he said he would, Lukas began loading his horses into a van bound for Louisville less than 12 hours after winning his 14th Triple Crown race, a new record.

If the Preakness represents another chance for four colts who ran behind Super Saver in the Kentucky Derby, it also provides first-time Triple Crown exposure to seven new horses. Even though only three "shooters" have won the Preakness in the past 20years (Rachel Alexandra last year, Bernardini in 2006 and Red Bullet in 2000), Caracortado heads a cast of hopeful newcomers at Pimlico Race Course. "He's trained well and he's run against some of the best horses around," said Mike Machowsky, trainer for the California-bred gelding, who opened at 10-1 odds.

No Triple Crown winner this year, no first-female-jockey-to-win, no sunshine? No problem, said those who flocked to Pimlico Race Course on Saturday and waited out a midafternoon downpour to watch Oxbow leave behind Kentucky Derby winner Orb to capture the 138th Preakness Stakes. "This is always an exciting race," said Tom Meek, 59, of Phoenixville, Pa., smoking a postrace cigar. "As much as I love Orb and as much as I want a Triple Crown, this is great for Oxbow. That horse rocked.

Orb, the Kentucky Derby winner who will be the favorite to win Saturday's 138th running of the Preakness, rarely enters his stall until he has had time to graze. On Monday afternoon, the strapping colt co-owned by Baltimore County resident Stuart Janney III, had his first taste of Maryland's turf. He walked off a large transport van at about 3:20 p.m., striding past the assembled media toward Pimlico Race Course's Barn E. There, he has been assigned stall number 40, which housed all three Triple Crown winners of the 1970s during their trips to Baltimore.

Prior to the Kentucky Derby, most horse racing handicappers and experts looked at Animal Kingdom as little more than a turf horse. He had never run on dirt, and his bloodlines seemed to imply he'd be far more comfortable on grass. He had very little racing experience, and in the four races he had run, he had four different jockeys. Animal Kingdom was certainly pretty to look at, but to most people, he didn't feel like a Derby winner. Even the partnership that owns him had doubts the Run for the Roses was the right race for him. Prior to the first Saturday in May, anyone calling him a legitimate Triple Crown contender would have been laughed at. A relatively easy victory in the sport's signature race, however, has a way of prompting reassessment.

Originally, trainer Doug O'Neill had planned to keep Kentucky Derby winner I'll Have Another at posh Churchill Downs. But during a long night of celebrating - O'Neill, predictably enough, copped to uttering the name of his horse many times to the bartender - the California trainer and the colt's connections decided otherwise. He will ship to Pimlico Monday and is expected to arrive around 5 p.m. to prepare for the Preakness, second leg of the Triple Crown. “We just figured getting over there and getting settled in would be a good idea,” O'Neill said this morning, at a mostly quiet track.

KENNETT SQUARE, Pa. -- The tenuous recovery of Barbaro continued yesterday, clouded by an ominous update by the veterinary surgeon who has treated the fractures that made the Kentucky Derby winner pull up in the Preakness Stakes. "As we said [Tuesday], Barbaro's condition is potentially serious, and we are aggressively seeking all treatment options," Dr. Dean Richardson said in a statement posted on the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine Web site. "We will focus on further diagnostics and keeping our patient comfortable.

Kentucky Derby winner Strike The Gold arrived at Pimlico today after an overnight van ride from Churchill Downs.The horse was accompanied in the truck by five other horse and his trainer, Nick Zito, who rode with the horse for the entire 10-hour trip."

Derby winner Barbaro takes big step forward Kentucky Derby winner Barbaro is picking his own grass now. Nearly three months after shattering his right hind leg in the Preakness, Barbaro took his first steps outside late last week and grazed in the grassy area adjacent to the intensive care unit at the New Bolton Center, where he has been since the devastating May 20 incident at Pimlico Race Course. "I was at Saratoga, when Mrs. [Gretchen] Jackson called me and said, `You'll never guess where I am. I'm outside with Barbaro and he's eating grass!

Maryland Jockey Club senior vice president for communications Mike Gathagan credentialed more than 1,600 media members for the 138th Preakness. We talked to a few of them to get their take on how Saturday's race might end up. Not surprisingly, they went heavy on even-money favorite Orb, with a healthy dose of Mylute, the top challenger out of the Kentucky Derby ridden by former Maryland leading rider Rosie Napravnik. Jennie Rees, Louisville Courier-Journal 1. Orb 2. Departing 3. Itsmyluckyday Jerry Bossert, New York Daily News 1. Orb 2. Itsmyluckyday 3. Goldencents Tim Wilkin, Albany Times Union 1. Itsmyluckyday 2. Orb 3. Goldencents Gary Mihoces, USA Today 1. Mylute 2. Orb 3. Goldencents Bill Dwyre, Los Angeles Times 1. Goldencents 2. Orb 3. Mylute Claire Novak, Blood Horse 1. Orb 2. Departing 3. Mylute Gabby Gaudet, Maryland Jockey Club analyst in waiting 1. Orb 2. Mylute 3. Goldencents Richard Migliore, HRTV 1. Orb 2. Departing 3. Will Take Charge

(NOTE: To download Liam's full cheat sheet for all of Saturday's races, click here . Following is his analysis on the Preakness Stakes.)   There are always lots of hard luck stories in the Kentucky Derby, and some of those hard luck horses come to the Preakness looking to set the record straight. Several of those guys are here to take on Orb. And a handful more Derby grumblers are skipping the Preakness to set their sights on the Belmont. However, recent history shows that the Derby winner tends to back up the Derby win and beat most if not all of those Derby finishers again.

Kentucky Derby winner Orb continues getting accustomed to his temporary Maryland home, which involves mostly eating the grass on a small plot of land outside his stall at Pimlico Race Course. He did that for another 40 minutes -- as per a routine trainer Shug McGaughey keeps with almost all of his horses -- after walking the shed row Tuesday morning. The Malibu Moon colt was due a break after a fast breeze Monday morning at Belmont Park before shipping down I-95 into the home state of his co-owner, Butler resident Stuart Janney III. Orb does not appear bothered by anything at this point.

Orb's reputation began growing at Churchill Downs the Monday before the Kentucky Derby, when the colt breezed four furlongs in 47.80. The run looked effortless and made Orb the talk of Louisville - and the morning-line favorite. Though there is no doubt he will be an overwhelming favorite for Saturday's 138 th running of the Preakness, Orb again turned in a promising breeze -- in which he's basically allowed to run without much guidance from the rider -- the Monday before the race.

Orb, the Kentucky Derby winner who will be the favorite to win Saturday's 138th running of the Preakness, rarely enters his stall until he has had time to graze. On Monday afternoon, the strapping colt co-owned by Baltimore County resident Stuart Janney III, had his first taste of Maryland's turf. He walked off a large transport van at about 3:20 p.m., striding past the assembled media toward Pimlico Race Course's Barn E. There, he has been assigned stall number 40, which housed all three Triple Crown winners of the 1970s during their trips to Baltimore.

Kentucky Derby winner Orb continues training toward Preakness from the track at Belmont Park. He galloped a mile and a quarter Friday morning for trainer Shug McGaughey, who was happy with what he saw. Orb should arrive in Baltimore by Monday afternoon. The Malibu Moon colt can become the 13thhorse to win both the Derby and Preakness since Affirmed completed the Triple Crown in 1978. Co-owned by Baltimore County resident Stuart Janney III, Orb won the Derby by two-and-a-half lengths, and appears likely to be a heavy favorite in the 138th Preakness.

Todd Pletcher is not a man who enjoys idle moments. Even when he's riding in the passenger seat of an SUV — as he was Wednesday morning, when he made the journey from Monmouth Park in New Jersey to Baltimore — he cannot sit still. He does not listen to music, read a book, gaze at the scenery or make friendly conversation with the driver, assistant Adriane Hall. Instead, Pletcher works. He cracks open his laptop, pulls up his weekly reports and his schedules, and dials up his clients.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. -- It seemed appropriate that moments before Lael Stable's Barbaro ran his unbeaten streak to five Saturday with a victory in the Florida Derby, the families of 1956 Kentucky Derby winner Needles were honored in the winner's circle at Gulfstream Park. Needles is the last horse to win the Kentucky Derby off a layoff of five weeks or longer. Now, a half-century later, Barbaro becomes the latest colt to try to pull off the feat. There is no denying Barbaro's quality.

Some years, Maryland Jockey Club stakes coordinator Coley Blind has to turn horses away from the Preakness.  He and other members of the staff may look through the credentials of 20 horses, calculating their earnings -- the Preakness uses a fairly complicated three-tiered system -- to determine the 14-horse field. Not this year. As of Friday afternoon, connections for only seven horses had confirmed they planned to enter the race, and five others had been identified as strong possibilities.

Kevin Krigger walked the shed row this morning at Pimlico, wearing sunglasses and leading Goldencents, the 17th finisher at the Kentucky Derby, around Barn D. The colt had arrived at 1:30 in the morning, a few hours later than planned, on a van from New York, where he had flown earlier in the day from Louisville. Two of trainer Doug O'Neill's assistants -- Jack Sisterson and Tyler Cerin -- drove from Kentucky and were here to meet the horse. That was all planned. Krigger's presence came as a surprise.