Preakness Stakes 2011 Contenders: Animal Kingdom Heads Home In Triple Crown Chase

The 136th Preakness Stakes will be run on May 21 at Pimlico in Baltimore, Maryland,which also happens to be the area where Kentucky Derby winner Animal Kingdom and trainer Graham Motion hail from. They made the long trek back via van from Louisville to Baltimore Tuesday morning as they prepare for the Preakness Stakes.

“Two days later, it is still surreal,” said winning trainer Graham Motion, who is based at Fair Hill Training Center in Elkton, MD. “I had thought about it (winning the Kentucky Derby). There is not a trainer that doesn’t think about it. I just didn’t think it would happen at this stage of my career.”

“I have a lot of confidence in this horse. He’s the whole package,” Motion noted. “I guess, to use a term that’s probably overused. He’s got a tremendous disposition and is just a really brilliant horse.”

Animal Kingdom will be there but some of the horses he defeated at Churchill Downs may not.Second-place finisher Nehro is doubtful for the 1 3/16-mile race. The Derby was the third straight race the colt was the runner-up.

“It’s more probable we’d aim for the Belmont,” said Nehro’s owner Ahmed Zayat, “but I guess we are still possible for the Preakness.”

Expected to take another shot at Animal Kingdom is Shackleford, the Derby pacesetter who finished fourth in the 19-horse field.

Dialed In, the 5-1 Derby favorite, has the chance to pick up $5.5 million in bonus money should he win the Preakness. Although he finished eighth in the Run for the Roses. Dialed In is the only three-year-old eligible for the Preakness 5.5 bonus.A full field of 14 is expected to start in this year’s Preakness Stakes.

To get caught up, check out SB Nation’s 2011 Kentucky Derby StoryStream. Also, our horse racing blog And Down The Stretch They Come has two must-read resources for Derby and Preakness fans: A Beginner’s Guide To Following Horse Racing and a glossary of horse racing terms.