AndyScoggin in NJ

This past weekend’s major prep race was the (G3) Gotham Stakes at Aqueduct.  That was the first 2012 Derby prep race that I got to attend. What a treat to see Hansen make a huge statement that he is a major Derby contender. There is a link to my Gotham coverage in Hansen’s description.

Out of Bounds was injured on Monday morning Mar. 5 during at 5F workout that was timed in :59.2. The ankle injury will require surgery but is not career ending.

The descriptions include their last start (with a YouTube link if available) and possible next start for each horse and a career summary of starts with results, total earnings and graded stake earnings with the rank amongst Derby contenders.  You will also find the closing odds from the Kentucky Derby Future pools 1 and 2.  According to http://www.horseracingnation.com/ $145,558 is currently required to make the top 20 of graded earnings.

1) Union Rags – Last week ranked 1.

• Career – 5:4-1-0 $1,098,800 (2^nd $1,070,000)
• Michael Matz/Julien Leparoux
• 7-1 Kentucky Derby Future Pool 1
• 4-1 Kentucky Derby Future Pool 2
• 1^st GP Fountain of Youth (G2) Feb. 26, 2012 – BSF 95
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ye6ux-TTkjg
• Florida Derby (G1) March 31

Could Union Rags have been any more impressive in his return off the Breeders’ Cup layoff?  Jockey Julien Leparoux rode him with the utmost confidence.  We now have an overwhelming Derby favorite. Did he make the 7-1 odds from Future Pool 1 look like a good bet? There is still two long months until the Derby and lots can happen.

2) Hansen – Last week ranked 9.

• Career – 5: 4-1-0 $1,473,305 (1^st $1,400,000).
• Michael Maker/Ramon Dominguez
• 26-1 Kentucky Derby Future Pool 1
• 9-1 Kentucky Derby Future Pool 2
• 1^st Gotham Stakes (G3) Mar. 3, 2012 – BSF 95
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tPkNjsEDR78
• Wood Memorial (G1) – April 7

Please read my recap of the Gotham that ran on http://www.horseracingnation.com

3) El Padrino – Last week ranked 3.

• Career – 5: 3-1-1, $266,100 (12^th $200,000)
• Todd Pletcher/Javier Castellano
• 16-1 Kentucky Derby Future Pool 1
• 12-1 Kentucky Derby Future Pool 2
• 1^st FG Risen Star (G2) Feb. 25, 2012 – BSF 98
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x7X_twEcYvM
• Louisiana Derby (G2) April 1

The Godfather prevailed in a head to head battle with Mark Valeski in the Risen Star.  His last two races have had impressive BSFs of 100 and 98.

4) I’ll Have Another – Last week ranked 4.

• Career – 4: 2-1-0 $184,000 (16^7h $151,000)
• Doug O’Neill/M. Gutierrez
• 29-1 Kentucky Derby Future Pool 1
• 22-1 Kentucky Derby Future Pool 2
• 1^st SA Robert Lewis (G2) Feb. 4, 2012 – BSF 96
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zEmuTouH6Y0
• Santa Anita Derby (G1) April 7

I’ll Have Another had a public 6F workout (:24, :47, :58-1, 1:10) at Santa Anita after the seventh race on Saturday. He was accompanied by Lava Man, a winner $5.2 million in his career and the Santa Anita Derby in 2006 and 2007. Lava Man now serves as trainer Doug O’Neill’s pony.

5) Fed Biz – Last week ranked 5.

• Career – 3: 2-0-0 $71,100 ($0)
• Bob Baffert/Rafael Bejarano
• 21-1 Kentucky Derby Future Pool 1
• 22-1 Kentucky Derby Future Pool 2
• 1^st SA Allowance Feb. 9, 2012 – BSF 97
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fpOqqlyA7K4
• San Felipe (G2) Mar. 10 or Rebel (G2) Mar. 17

On Feb. 29, Fed Biz worked 6F in 1:13.40 at Santa Anita.  He impressed the crowd at Santa Anita with a speedy one mile allowance victory in 1:34.74.  In the winner’s circle jockey Rafael Bejarano declared that, “That is my Derby horse buddy”.  Fed Biz was a $950,000 Keeneland yearling purchase that is trained by Bob Baffert.

6) Alpha – Last week ranked 6.

• Career – 5: 3-1-0 $300,000 (13^th $180,000).
• Kiaran McLaughlin/Ramon Dominguez
• 19-1 Kentucky Derby Future Pool 1
• 18-1 Kentucky Derby Future Pool 2
• 1^st AQU Withers (G3) Feb. 4, 2012 – BSF 90
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dTgi0UgxccY
• Wood Memorial (G1) April 7.

The win in the Withers (G3) saw Alpha’s BSFs go from 85 to 90.  Team McLaughlin/Godolphin has decided that the Wood Memorial (G1) will be next for Alpha.  Back in hard training, he went 4F in :49-3 at Palm Meadows.

7) Gemologist – Last week ranked 7.

• Career – 3:3-0-0 $145,855 (28^th $103,855)
• Todd Pletcher/Javier Castellano
• 22-1 Kentucky Derby Future Pool 1
• 23-1 Kentucky Derby Future Pool 2
• 1^st TP Kentucky Jockey Cup (G2) Nov. 21, 2011 – BSF 85
• Tampa Bay Derby (G2) Mar. 10 or Rebel (G2) Mar. 17

Workouts are cranking up for Gemologist as he trained 5F in 1:00-4 in company with probable Gotham starter Dan and Sheila. The Pletcher trainee won the Kentucky Jockey Cup (G2) beating the Jonathan Sheppard horse, Ever So Lucky.

8) Sabercat – Last week 8.

• Career – 6:3-0-1 $681,420 (3^rd $600,000)
• Steve Asmussen/TBA
• 34-1 Kentucky Derby Future Pool 1
• 30-1 Kentucky Derby Future Pool 2
• 1^st Ded Delta Jackpot (G3) – BSF 85
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=glVYcg_Ghwc
• Rebel (G2) Mar. 17

A last minute change has Sabercat now pointing to the Rebel (G2). In preparation he worked 6F at Santa Anita in 1:12.60.

9) Creative Cause – Last week ranked 10.

• Career – 5: 3-1-1 $521,000 (5^th $518,000).
• Mike Harrington/Joel Rosario
• 17-1 Kentucky Derby Future Pool 1
• 17-1 Kentucky Derby Future Pool 2
• 3^rd SA San Vicente (G2) Feb. 19, 2012 – BSF 92
• San Felipe (G2) Mar. 10 or Rebel (G2) Mar. 17

On Feb. 28 Creative Cause worked 6F at Hollywood Park in 1:11.80.

10) My Adonis – Last week unranked

• Career – 8: 2-4-1 $301,000 (21^st $130,000)
• Kelly Breen/Elvis Trujillo
• Mutuel Field Kentucky Derby Future Pool 1
• Mutuel Field Kentucky Derby Future Pool 2
• 2^nd Gotham Stakes (G3) Mar. 3,2012
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tPkNjsEDR78
• Wood Memorial (G1) April 7

My Adonis is the veteran of this Derby Top 10 with eight starts.  His most recent race was a strong second place finish to Hansen in the Gotham (G3).

My post-Gotham Stakes article, that ran on HorseRacingNation.com/blogs/NYState, matches up with any that were written. Please enjoy.

After finishing second to Algorithms in the Holy Bull (G3) at Gulfstream on Jan. 29^th, many felt that Hansen needed to make a statement in his next Derby prep race.  He did just that and more in the Gotham Stakes (G3) at Aqueduct. Hansen swept from off the pace to a three length victory.

There were questions about running on another wet track, about his stamina, and about his ability to deal with the 12 post position.  Trainer Michael Maker took the blinkers off Hansen for the first time and the result was a more relaxed racehorse. Instead of rushing to lead Hansen sat behind the early leader King and Crusade. The result pleased Maker, “More impressive, he lost all that ground and wasn’t rank behind horses and settled. Ramon said [on] his gallop out, he had to call the outriders to come and get him.”

Hansen who came into the race with the most earnings of the three-year olds on the Derby trail, with over $1,200,000 and qualifiying graded stake purses of $1,160,000, added another $240,000 to his bankroll.  Hansen was bet down to $.80-1 and paid $3.60 to win.

What started out as a rainy morning turned into a warm and sunny afternoon at Aqueduct. The presence of Hansen certainly helped the day become a huge success.  Attendance was up 16 percent on-track, betting was up 9.2 percent, and the all-source handle of $14,341,072 showed an upswing of 28.5%

Post race festivities centered on the namesake owner Dr. Kendall Hansen.  Dr. Hansen was dressed in a royal blue tee shirt with the words “The Great White Hope 05.05.12”. The letter o was replaced with a red rose.  The rose and the date, of course refer to the goal of the Kentucky Derby on the first Saturday in May. He has been in the spotlight recently when his request to dye the mane and tail of the near white horse, was denied by the NYRA stewards. Dr. Hansen said, “I considered outfitting the horse with a blue tail extension.”

Dr. Hansen was enjoying his time in the limelight, “It’s so fun to get interviewed and get attention.”  With a big smile he quipped, “Can you tell I like attention?”

Most of all he was delighted with his horse’s performance, “To see him relax and see him finish up strong, that’s really what I wanted. This is perfect. I’m a little bit more relaxed when he’s tucked in and just tracking another horse and just takes it easy.”

Dr. Hansen was also more than happy to talk about what’s next for his two-year champion. “I wish the timing was better for the Spiral [Turfway Park, G3, March 24]. I really want to run at my hometown track, and it’d be an odd circumstance where Mike [trainer Maker] says, ‘Gosh, we really have to run him in three weeks.’ That’s what I’d really like to do, but the Wood is a really famous race. A lot of history, and it’d be a real thrill to have a chance to win that. We don’t have to run again [before the Kentucky Derby]. We may make that decision, whatever is best for the horse. As long as everything stays on schedule, we’ll probably run him one more time. I think a mile and an eighth would be good for him to build up to a mile and a quarter.”

Here are a couple of paragraphs from my recent article at HorseRacingNation.com.

Saturday’s grade three Withers Stakes marks the second stop on the 2012 New York Derby Trail.  This year in New York there is $250,000 more of the Derby qualifying graded money available and the sequence of the races has been changed.

The Withers Stakes is named for David Dunham Withers, who was a businessman who made a fortune in the South prior to the Civil War.  He moved to the North where he owned and bred thoroughbreds from his 800 acre Brookdale Farm in Lincroft, NJ.  He was one of the founders of Jerome Park, an original member of the Jockey Club, and an owner of Monmouth Park.  The Withers was first run at old Jerome Park in 1874.  He actually won his namesake race in 1890, with his horse, King Eric.

To read the rest of the Withers preview please click here:  www.horseracingnation.com to visit HRN.com.