Workout goes well for Animal Kingdom

By: SPORTS NETWORK

Hallandale Beach, FL (Sports Network) - Eclipse Award winning colt Animal Kingdom posted a pleasing workout Tuesday morning. The 4-year-old is stabled at Palm Meadows Training Center near Gulfstream Park.

Owned by Team Valor, Animal Kingdom worked four-furlongs on the turf in 52 3/5 seconds for his first workout since finishing second to Wise Dan in the Breeders' Cup Mile on Nov. 3.

"He went easy. It was around the 'dogs,' so the time is a little bit deceiving," trainer Graham Motion said. "The idea was to give him a nice, comfortable first breeze back. He's had some down time since Breeders' Cup.

"I was a lot more relaxed about it than the last time I worked him, which was right before the Breeders' Cup. It was a lot more pleasurable to watch. I'm glad to get him back on track and start back up with the process. He'd been on such a tight schedule for the Breeders' Cup, I wanted to give him a little bit of time to get over it."

The Breeders' Cup Mile was the colt's first start since February at Gulfstream. His initial start as a 5-year-old will be the $300,000 Gulfstream Park Turf Handicap on Feb. 9.

"He's coming off of one of the toughest Group 1s that he could run in. I'm not looking to duck anyone that's for sure," Motion said.

Looking past the Turf Handicap, Motion and Team Valor's Barry Irwin are likely to enter the 2011 Kentucky Derby winner in the $10 million Dubai World Cup at the end of March.