Preakness 2011 Recap – Shackleford Upsets Animal Kingdom, But …

Now that we have had a few days to digest the results of the Preakness, I have come to the conclusion that Shackleford is the real deal. Some pundits had thought that the only reason he hung around for fourth place in the Kentucky Derby was because of the astonishingly slow pace he helped set, and that surely the pace would be faster in the Preakness and he would fade. I have to admit I felt that their argument was reasonable and like many, dismissed Shackleford.

The early pace in the Preakness was blazing, and this time Shackleford set a blazing opening first quarter of 22.69. My first reaction when the announcer called the opening quarter fraction that Shackleford was going to fade badly turning into the stretch. But the chestnut colt with the thick white stripe down his nose had a lot more heart than I gave him credit for.

It is true that he was able to get a breather in the middle part of the race, being able to run the second, third, and fourth quarters in a more leisurely 24.18, 25.14, and 25.21, without being seriously challenged. Perhaps Flashpoint’s jockey, who applied a bit of pace pressure was wary of burning out too fast as well and therefore backed off pushing Shackleford hard down the backstretch.

Nevertheless, he had to go fast early and he was required to find a second wind during the last part of the race. It is a test of the heart of a horse that can find that second gear after having expended one already. Perhaps we should not have been so surprised that he pulled it off, after all, he showed heart battling Dialed In in the Florida Derby two races ago, but as he was a already a long shot in that race, many attributed his stellar effort to being a fluke. As it turns out, it was no fluke, he was just getting started.

Animal Kingdom was much farther back in the Preakness than in the Derby, in which he raced midpack. Those softer interior fractions the winner was able to set probably put Animal Kingdom at enough of a disadvantage that the winner just had too much left at the end. The Derby winner was clearly making ground down the backstretch, but the John Velasquez probably should have used him a little more down the backstretch to get a little closer. It is easy to say that in retrospect, especially when you are not the jockey who had to make the decision, but let us just say that if Velasquez had elected to move Animal Kingdom up a little sooner, he just might have been able to make up that ½ length margin by which he ultimately fell short.

Is Animal Kingdom better? Probably, but probably by not much more than a length. Shackleford has shown he has heart of a lion and at least on this day, ruled over Animal Kingdom.

The major disappointments in the race were Dialed In and Mucho Macho Man. Dialed In was expected to bounce back because he was a victim of a very slow pace in the Derby, and even though the middle part of the Preakness was a bit slow, eventually you can’t keep making excuses, and he will have to show that he can win under varying circumstances. He is undeniably a talented animal and let us hope we see him in the http://www.horseracegame.com/racing_events.php”>Belmont Stakes.

Mucho Macho Man ran sixth, and though he was in tight early, didn’t seem to have much of an excuse and he probably just didn’t fire his best. He ran a great closing third in the Derby and will probably do better in the Belmont Stakes if he runs.