The horse racing world is always active; however, the biggest races of all are the ones that make up the Triple Crown. These races have titles sought-after by every jockey and every racing colt and mare.
However, we have been thinking a lot about the Kentucky Derby Odds 2023, there are some crazy odds for Tapit Trice, Forte, and Two Phil’s. However, that is still a couple of weeks away!
So, while we wait for time to fly, let’s think about some of the past awesomeness of the Triple Crown races and two rivals who made them very exciting just over a decade ago!
An Introduction To The Rivalry
A rivalry was declared between Animal Kingdom and Shackleford, back when Animal Kingdom was a longshot 20-1 horse. He surprised us all, winning the Kentucky Derby, and overtaking Shackleford, who took the pace.
However, after this, the events that transpired at Preakness had everyone biting their nails and wondering if the two would face off again at Belmont. However, Belmont ended up not being the highlight of the rivalry!
The rivalry was pretty hot to trot, however, unless you were there with your eyes on these two excellent horses in 2011, there’s plenty you may have missed!
The Most Important Race
Both of these stallions had interactions with each other during their careers; Animal Kingdom and Shackleford were quite intertwined. However, the most important race for them was probably the Kentucky Derby in 2011.
The excitement of this race between these two stallions was massive and erupted with a crowd of almost 165,000 spectators.
There were odds of 20-1 to Animal Kingdom, who surprised the whole world of racing when he stole away the victory in the final stretch. As well as Shackleford, his nemesis, who led most of the race, but ended up fading to 4th!
However, Shackleford took his revenge at the Preakness Stakes in Baltimore, Maryland, a couple of weeks after his defeat. The two athletes also clashed again in Belmont, and Shackleford led his rival down the course for most of it.
The Triple Crown was a fighting ground between these two rivals in 2011.
2011 Preakness Stakes
While the Kentucky Derby was a hot spot between the two rivals, the Preakness Stakes is really what gained everyone’s attention.
Shackleford won the Preakness, as he held off a late charge from Animal Kingdom and eventually won as a 12-1 underdog! This victory was redeeming for Shackleford.
Even though he had led most of the Kentucky Derby, he finished 4th behind Animal Kingdom. This also meant that there would be no Triple Crown attempt at the Belmont Stakes!
In Preakness, Shackleford battled his rival for the lead from the outset; he trailed Flashpoint in the early race, took the lead, and refused to relinquish it despite a hard charge from Animal Kingdom.
He was ridden by Jesus Lopez Castanon, who had never won a Triple Crown or Breeders’ Cup race before. He was trained by Dale Romans; with this, Shackleford won Preakness by ¾ of a length!
In this race, Animal Kingdom was a 2-1 favorite to win as he went into the Pimlico course in Baltimore, and he was considered to be, possibly, the first Triple Crown winner since Affirmed in ‘78.
The colt came from far behind to make a charge to the finish, but he made his move too late and his rival took the race to the finish.
In 3rd place was Astrology, and Dialed was in 4th, he was followed by Dance City, Mucho Macho Man, King Congie, Mr. Commons, Isn’t He Perfect, Concealed Identity, Norman Asbjornson, Sway Away, Midnight Interlude, and Flashpoint.
Belmont Stakes Let Down
Animal Kingdom was highly anticipated to take the Triple Crown in 2011, however, he failed in his attempt to become the 22nd horse in the history of the Triple Crown to win both the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness Stakes.
The last horse who did this was Big Brown in 2008, then Affirmed, the last Triple Crown winner, did so in 1978. Who nosed out his rival Alydar at Belmont to bring the 3rd Triple Crown winner of the 70s a name.
The end of this race was pretty brutal, however. In 2011, Animal Kingdom had won the Kentucky Derby, while Shackleford won the Preakness Stakes, meaning that the Triple Crown title was off the table.
Even so, you’d think that one of them would have pushed hard enough to be in the top 3 horses. However, Shackleford came 5th, and Animal Kingdom 6th.
The winner of the Belmont Stakes was Ruler on Ice, with odds at 20-1, behind him were Stay Thirty, Brilliant Speed, and Nehro.
Overall
The rivalry between Shackleford and Animal Kingdom was not the brutal fight that we all know of between Affirmed and Alydar, however, it was still brutal, and in a way, if they had not faced off against each other, perhaps one of them would have taken home the Triple Crown!
