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Kentucky Derby winner Animal Kingdom will be heading back to his home turf to await a likely run in the second leg of the Triple Crown.

He became the first horse in the 137-year history of the Derby to win in his debut on dirt, having run three times on synthetic surfaces and once on the turf in his four previous races.

Animal Kingdom will return to Maryland on Tuesday to begin preparations for the 1-3/16th mile (1900m) Preakness on May 21 at Pimlico, about 60 miles from his home base.

Trainer Graham Motion wants to keep jockey John Velazquez on his colt for the Preakness, and it seems likely that will happen.

Animal Kingdom’s regular rider, Robby Albarado, broke his nose and had facial cuts and abrasions after a spill Wednesday and took himself off his mounts Thursday and Friday.

That influenced the decision of Barry Irwin, who oversees the Team Valor partnership that owns Animal Kingdom.

Irwin and Motion agreed to go with Velazquez, who was available after Uncle Mo was scratched on Friday.

Albarado said he took the days off to prepare for the Derby, a decision he said “backfired.”

Uncle Mo’s trainer, Todd Pletcher, said the colt would not run in either of the final two Triple Crown races while the lingering ailment that is bothering him is diagnosed.

That leaves Velazquez free to continue riding Animal Kingdom.

“It would be a very hard decision from me to get off this horse to go to another one,” the jockey said after winning his first Derby in 13 tries. “That’s just the way it is.”

Irwin says it is likely but not yet certain Animal Kingdom will continue on the Triple Crown trail.

“I’m pretty sure we’re going to do it, but I want to talk about it,” he said.

“I’m a careful guy, so let’s see how he’s doing.”

There are 20 people in the Team Valor partnership that owns Animal Kingdom. Irwin said he sold a small interest in the colt two weeks before the Derby based on an estimated value of $2 million.

“In order for him to really be worth a lot of money, he’s got to go on and do something more than just winning the Derby. I mean the Derby’s big. It’s the biggest race there is,” Irwin said.

“But breeders are very picky, sceptical people and he doesn’t have a fashionable pedigree.

“So he’s got to become a phenomenal racehorse in order to become worth a whole lot of money. If he won the Triple Crown, then there’d be no question. But if he wins just the Preakness, would that make him an automatic hit as a stallion? I don’t know.”

AP AAP TURF

 
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