ANIMAL KINGDOM TO RETURN AT TAMPA

After ruling out an appearance at Gulfstream Park Feb. 11 in either the GI Donn H. or GI Gulfstream Park Turf H., officials at Team Valor have announced that their reigning GI Kentucky Derby winner Animal Kingdom (Leroidesanimaux {Brz}) will return to the races in the GIII Tampa Bay S. on Florida’s Suncoast Feb. 25. The home-bred will use that 1 1/16-mile grass event as a springboard to the G1 Dubai World Cup at Meydan Mar. 31. “The Tampa Bay will allow him enough works to be fit enough to start back,” trainer Graham Motion explained. “Any of these earlier races would have been pushing it. We want to have him fit for his first race so it doesn’t take too much out of him for the race that we’re really pointing for.” Animal Kingdom, who was named champion 3-year-old last month, has not raced since finishing a slow-starting sixth in the GI Belmont S. last June, from which he emerged with a hairline fracture of his left hock. The chestnut colt has recorded a halfdozen workouts since late December, including a five-furlong breeze over the Palm Meadows turf Wednesday morning, which went in a bullet :59.61. “This horse is just on ‘go,’ ” Team Valor President Barry Irwin said. “He is relishing his work, he’s happy to be out there, and he just loves to run. And he doesn’t seem to be getting that tired.” Animal Kingdom will be trying the turf for the second time in his career. A maiden winner in his second and final appearance at two, he made his sophomore debut on the grass at Gulfstream Park last March, finishing second by a head after an awkward beginning. Following that effort, Animal Kingdom switched to the Turfway synthetic surface for an eye-catching victory in the GII Spiral S. ahead of his Kentucky Derby success.