Fair Hill

Kentucky Derby winner Animal Kingdom stepped out of his van Tuesday after a 12-hour ride from Louisville, set foot in the state for the first time and snatched up a mouthful of Maryland grass. Then he ate some more. For five minutes, Animal Kingdom dined on a green buffet outside trainer Graham Motion's barn at the Fair Hill training center before being coaxed into his stall, where he ate again. "He eats everything," Motion said. "He ate dinner the night after winning the Derby, which is very unusual.

Assuming Kentucky Derby winner Animal Kingdom is healthy, he will definitely run in the Preakness on May 21 in Baltimore, trainer Graham Motion said this morning. "I think we'd better, right?" joked Motion, who trains horses in Fair Hill, Md. "I mean I'm going to the Preakness as long as he's OK. He won the Derby. We're going. " Motion said he expects Animal Kingdom will fly back to Maryland on Tuesday, and arrive in the late afternoon. Animal Kingdom, at 20-1 odds, won Saturday's Derby by roaring from the pack to chase down the race leaders.

Bill Boniface of Bonita Farms in Darlington won the 1983 Preakness with Deputed Testamony. He remembers the buzz his horse created during the week leading into the race and after the victory. He can't wait for the 2011 Preakness in two weeks now that trainer Graham Motion's Animal Kingdom, a horse based in Fair Hill, Md., won the Kentucky Derby Saturday. "I think it will be a plus for Maryland, and, as you well know, we need some good news," Boniface said Saturday. "It's going to add excitement for the local trainers.

An autistic child from Dundalk, reported missing Saturday afternoon at the 5,600-acre Fair Hill recreation area in Cecil County, was found early this morning by rescue teams, the Department of Natural Resources said. At 6 a.m., the Maryland Natural Resources Police found 9-year-old Noah Joel Notter, who had wandered away from his mother and sister. He has severe autism and is unable to speak, according to the agency. The boy was reported missing about 5:30 p.m. Saturday, triggering a search by 25 people over 500 acres.

Nobody asked me, but someone — and it might as well be me — ought to tell Martin O'Malley to curb his enthusiasm over the blue crabs making a comeback. It's great that the count is the best in more than a decade, but the Chesapeake Bay is still a mess, and the last thing we need is a governor crowing about a resurgent resource. Next thing you know, there's a battle with watermen over extending the season and increasing the catch. When something's in abundance, the human instinct is to fully exploit it. Been there, done that.

FAIR HILL - -Bridesmaid no more. Moon Dolly came into the $30,000 Valentine Memorial hurdle stakes, the feature at Saturday's annual Fair Hill Races, with four consecutive seconds in races in Florida, South Carolina, Virginia and Tennessee. Back home in Maryland, she halted the frustration with a game victory. Trained in Monkton by Tom Voss, the 8-year-old daughter of Kris S. challenged pacemaker Jellyberry in the deep stretch and prevailed by a head in 4 minutes, 15 3/5 seconds for the 2 1/4 miles.

FAIR HILL -- Two years ago, the talented mare Guelph was being prepared for the $30,000 Valentine Memorial Sport of Queen's Stakes when she suddenly reared and flipped, compromising her chances to capture the only major race that has eluded her. "She had 16 fractures in her withers I was told later," trainer Tom Voss said. "And she only got beat by a nose." Yesterday, before a sun-bathed crowd at the 74th annual Fair Hill Races, there was no repeat. Guelph did everything right, dominating throughout the 2 1/4 mile jumping event, and added the Valentine to her resume with a wire-to-wire victory.

While flat racing struggles with fewer horses and declining revenues, the steeplechase circuit is enjoying steady progress. Proof of that can be seen in a perusal of the entries for today's annual Fair Hill Races, which have drawn bulging fields for the eight-race program that will begin at 1 p.m. at the picturesque Cecil County layout. With expected cooperation from the weather, an estimated 12,000 are expected to view a card headlined by the $30,000 Valentine Memorial for fillies and mares, a 2 1/4 -mile test over national fences.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- The first time trainer Graham Motion brought a horse to the Kentucky Derby, he couldn't wait to get the race over and return to his quiet barn in Maryland. "That race was memorable for all the wrong reasons," said Motion, who brought Chilito to Churchill Downs in 1998 and finished 11th. "Chilito had won the Flamingo Stakes, when that was a great prep race to win, and we thought he belonged in the Kentucky Derby. "But once we got him here, his behavior became a problem.