The Animal Kingdom Conquers the Derby

The Kentucky Derby was yesterday and was it another big showing. Like every winner of the derby, there seems to a be unique story attached to it. This story follows this year's winning jockey, John Velazquez. Velazquez was originally supposed to ride Uncle Mo this year but, like previous horses, he was scratched, this time due to a stomach ailment of the horse. John was without a horse to ride, a good horse at that, and would have to watch the derby from the sidelines... or so he thought.

Robby Albarado, the jockey of a horse named Animal Kingdom, was thrown from the horse and kicked in the face which resulted in a broken nose. The owners of the horse decided Albarado was not fit to ride the horse and got John Velazquez to ride it instead. Many things were going against this horse; the jockey had never raced him, he had less than a handful of races under his belt, and he never raced on a dirt track before. Odds for the win were 20-1. No problem.

The derby started and finished quickly, as usual, and who would come out on top? It was Animal Kingdom by 2 3/4 lengths in front. A remarkable outing for that horse. A clutch performance given and in front of the record crowd of 164,858. The only sad part of the win was that Robby Albarado was not the jockey and expressed that feeling of sadness. Still, a great story of overcoming adversity and a big win for Animal Kingdom.