Motion Savored Moment When Animal Kingdom Made History

Graham Motion's journey to the 2011 Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (G1) with Animal Kingdom was anything but textbook. 

The Leroidesanimaux colt came in off a Vinery Racing Spiral Stakes (G3) score on a synthetic surface at Turfway Park. Mother Nature kept him breezing on the synthetic track at Keeneland in the rainy weeks before the Derby until he finally got a chance to stretch his legs April 30 at Churchill Downs.

"We wanted to see him work on the dirt because he hadn't run on it before," Motion recalled. "He breezed really well. The buzz was that (Bob) Baffert watched him and said he was the horse to beat. At least at that point, I felt we belonged."

The tale took another turn when jockey Robby Albarado, who had the call, suffered a broken nose May 4 when he was thrown before a race. Then John Velazquez became available after the scratch of Uncle Mo. Saturday couldn't come quick enough.

"The day itself was very hectic, and there's always a certain amount of chaos—getting everybody the right passes, figuring out who is going on the walkover," Motion said. "I was told I couldn't go into the paddock by somebody before the race.  

"Every time I'd run a horse in the Derby, when they got around the three-eighths pole, I always knew the horse was in trouble. But when Animal Kingdom hit the three-eighths pole, I was like, 'Wow, Johnny's got a lot of horse.' Then I remember at the eighth pole thinking, 'If he gets beat now, this will be very cruel' because he was sort of gone."

Animal Kingdom was indeed gone—en route to a 2 3/4-length victory—but Motion had one problem.

REPLAY: Animal Kingdom Wins Kentucky Derby 137

"My wife and I were trying to figure out how to get from the box to the winner's circle, and that's when we ran into Dale Romans, who was so disappointed he got beat with Shackleford but was very sportsmanlike," Motion recalled. "I said, 'Dale, I have no idea how to get to the winner's circle.' He said, 'Follow me!' and I literally held onto the back of his jacket to get down to the track.

"The ceremony in the infield was amazing, and I remember thinking, 'You've got to take it in because this may never happen again. You've got to be very conscious of the moment.'

"We went back the next year with Went the Day Well, who finished an unlucky fourth. For somebody like myself, that seems really incredible to have come that close to winning it two years in a row. Once you've had a taste, I can see why you hear trainers talk about wanting to get back again."

Subscribe to BloodHorse Daily to view expanded photos of Animal Kingdom's victory in the April 25 edition!