Animal Kingdom @ Royal Ascot

[Calzone Lord]

Originally Posted by Cannon Shell

This may be redboardish but I hadn't paid that much attention to this race but a straightaway mile race would not seem to fit AK's style or profile very well. Kind of like asking Mariano Rivera to start and go 7 in his final game.

IMO he was a very good horse who did some unique things in his career but i don't see how he could be considered a Hall of Fame horse considering that he won less than half his starts and only 3 stakes races. Sure 2 of them were the top of the top (though hardly great editions of those races) and the 2nd in the BC mile was also great effort under less than ideal circumstances but when your 4th best race was at Turfway I'm not sure that you have done enough. He is more or less the horse racing version of Bret Saberhagen

http://www.baseball-reference.com/pl...aberbr01.shtml

US based horses are 66-1-3-0 in Dubai World Cup races at greater than 6 furlongs on either turf or tapeta.

Animal Kingdom was the lone winner in 2013. That coupled with a Kentucky Derby win and a very good 2nd off a long layoff in the Breeders Cup Mile might propel him into the Hall of Fame if things stay the way they are with how candidates are voted in.

He's certainly more deserving than the long list of jockeys who were slightly above average everyday riders at major circuits that find their way onto the ballot in volume.