OMG PWNIES!!!!!

Hansen, who goes into this weekend's Blue Grass Stakes as the favorite has much is his favor to discuss, but first we'll focus on his most notable attraction...his color.

Hansen (Tapit x Stormy Sunday by Sir Cat)

The color "grey" is not uncommon among thoroughbreds. It results when a horse develops white colored hairs over dark colored skin. Although it was once though to be a "weak"color and indicative of a horse's poor health or abilty as a runner, we now know that a grey horse has no more health problems than one of any other color (except a strong tendency towards melanoma, for obvious reasons). Still, grey racehorses are usually actually grey in color (often with dark dapples throughout their coats), and do not attain the lighter patina that might be described as "white" until they are older. Hansen does not fit this pattern.

Hansen at 2.

He's a bloody magic carousel horse, and the dream of every horse loving girl in America.

As if he wasn't flashy enough by himself, his owner (also named Hansen) is a very flashy kind of guy. He doesn't fit the mold of a traditional horse owner, and makes for excellent interview material. But let's stop with the petty info and get down to the real question of what kind of racehorse he is.

Not too shabby, as it turns out.

Hansen is the reigning juvenile champion of 2011. He got this title after winning his first two races very impressively, and following them up with a nose win over Union Rags in the ever important Breeder's Cup Juvenile. Those three races were enough to crown him champion, but not enough to convince most folks that he could make the mile and a quarter Derby distance. His running style was very much a "go to the front and never look back hell bent for leather" kind of style, which tends not to bode well for longer distances. His defeat of Union Rags appeared to be at least partly luck, for if the latter had not swerved crazily in the stretch, he probably would have caught the white wonder.

Hansen started out this season with a loss that confirmed the suspicions of some, but did not detract from his supporters, who expected a bit of a "bounce" off his long layoff. He improved in his next start, winning the Gotham Stakes and proving, in doing so, that he could rate (meaning that he could allow other horses in front of him a bit and save some of his speed for the end of the race). Now he heads back to his Bluegrass home to see if some horse (any horse) can keep the Derby favorite spot for more than a week.

From a pedigree perspective, Hansen is by one of the hotest up and coming sires around (and the progenitor of a whole bunch of grey colored stakes winners). Tapit is a good sire for distance horses and is proving himself to be the best sire son of Pulpit, who was himself probably the best sire son of A.P. Indy. All good distance horses. His mother's side leaves a bit to be desired. His dam is a daughter of Sir Cat, who is a second rate son of Storm Cat, and her female family is even more questionable.

Whether or not Hansen wins on Derby day is something one can only guess at today. However, its clear that, of all the horses currently pointing towards the starting gate, he'd look the prettiest in a horseshoe of roses.

He's just so damn adorable!!

A Horse with a Cause

Since at least one person has expressed continued interest in this blog (although they're probably the only one), I'll soldier on.

Creative Cause (by Giant's Causeway, out of Dream of Summer by Siberian Summer)

Today Creative Cause shall attempt to prove that he is the "best of the west", taking on a challenging field in the Santa Anita Derby. If he wins, it might be enough (in the minds of many horseplayers) to skyrocket him to the coveted favorite position amongst Derby hopefuls. Although many still believe that Union Rags (who I profiled before, and who recently finished a disappointing third in the Florida Derby) is the cream of the crop, no one can argue that Creative Cause is not far behind.

After starting off to an impressive 2-year old season, Creative Cause came up a creditable (but somewhat distant) third to Union Rags and Hansen in the Breeder's Cup juvenile. He's managed to duck those two monsters since then, but otherwise has not failed to impress in his stakes efforts. In his first start of the season he again finished third in the San Vicente stakes. This somewhat surprising loss was quickly followed up by a fairly comfortable win in the San Felipe. I say fairly comfortable, because he did not blow the competition away, and had the well regarded Bodemiester breathing down his neck through the stretch. How he performs today will have much to say for him (and possibly his competition) in the upcoming Derby.

Creative Cause is by Giant's Causeway, one son of Storm Cat that proved he was a route horse through and through. After being a European horse of the year, he finished a close second to Tiznow in that horse's first of two consecutive Breeder's Cup Classic wins. Creative Cause's female family is also replete with horses that could go the one and a quarter mile Derby distance. As such, no one is questioning his ability to run all day, if necessary.

One thing that is odd, is his connections' decision to run him today for the first time without blinkers. Those are what we call the face-mask with the eye cups you can see him wearing in the picture above. They're usually intended to keep horses that spook at things such as shadows andother horses coming up close to them with their mind on their business (that being running on the track in front of them). They can also help a horse that needs a little encouragement to keep a sharp turn of foot (meaning quickness). To switch tactics this late in the game could mean that his trainer doesn't think he needs the focusing help that blinkers supply anymore. Or it could mean that he's been showing a bit too much speed in practice, and they want him to learn to rate (meaning to harbor his strength early on) better. Whichever is the reason, any time you introduce something new to a horse is a chance for them to freak out about it and not perform to their best level (horses, as a species, do not prize novel situations). If and how it will affect his performance, remains to be seen.

Let's try this again....

For those of you not familiar, a long time ago I used to have this blog where I explained horse racing to the largely non-horse enthusiast crowd...and then I stopped. Why?

Becuase it wasn't Triple Crown trail time anymore. And I have to admit, even I have problems keeping my attention on the sport when it's not leading up to one of its dual-annual jewels (those being the Triple Crown and the Breeder's Cup). So for years I let this blog languish and instead posted my horse racing commentary on Facebook.

So this year as I was gearing up for my first Facebook note on the 2012 Triple Crown hopefuls, it suddenly occured to me that what I was doing was stupid. That's what this blog is for!

So here I am again.

For now, anyways.

Screw it, let's get to the pretty horsies.

Union Rags (Dixie Union, out of Tempo by GoneWest

This is Union Rags. He's currently my Derby favorite. He was my Derby favorite last year. That means he is doomed to never win the race. Still, since he's my favorite, and since he'll be racing in his 3-year old debut this Saturday, I figured I'd start with him. First,let's do the pedigree analysis.

Union Rags is a son of Dixie Union, who is not what we would generally consider to be a stallion that breeds distance runners. Nor is his broodmare sire (that's his maternal grandaddy, for those of you not in the know), Gone West, know for passing on the ability to get the trditional Derby distance of a mile and a quarter. Not only that, but he's inbred 3x4 to Northern Dancer, and 4x3 to Mr. Prospector. What's that mean? It means he's got a not insignificant amount of inbreeding going on!

Generally, I don't like to pick Derby horses with a lot of speed influences in their pedigree as I think it's asking sprinting horses to go too far. I also don't normally like horses with even half the inbreeding currently present in Union Rags' ancestry. Why? Well, I'm a biologist. We tend to shy away from inbreeding when we can. So why am I so interested in Union Rags?

Partly, its the fact that he does have a double dosage of the famous cross between Northern Dancer and Mr. Prospector, but more it's because of the way her runs. He does not run like a sprinting horse, he runs like a trueborn stayer. He's a late closer (which has hampered him a bit in his previous starts), and he may just be a "stretch running sprinter", but I personally don't believe it. I think this guy's got the scope to go a mile and quarter and win, and it seems I'm not the only one.

Union Rags' racing career began well, but with little fanfare, when he won a maiden special weight race at Delaware Park in mid July, 2011. Instead of giving him another chance at allowance level company, his connections decided to let him play with the big dogs and enetered him in the Saratoga Special (one of the more prestigious events for young two-year olds). Union Rags was up to the challenge and put a giant exclamation point next to his eventual victory, by winning the event by a 7+ length margin.

There was nothing else but to enter the young colt in the Champagne Stakes, next. The Champange, before the creation of the Breeder's Cup, used to be the premiere event for two-year olds in the fall, and it still draws the best horses in the countryas they prepare for their eventual entry in the Breeder's Cup Juvenile. Union Rags again left his competitors in the dust, winning by over 5 lengths. There was only one race left for him to conquer, one more time around the track to cement himself as the 2-year old champion and the early 2012 Derby favorite.

You can see where this is headed can't you?

Unfortunately, in the prestigious Breeder's Cup Juvenile, Union Rags hooked up with a sprightly little grey named Hansen. Like Union Rags, Hansen was also undefeated in 3 prior starts. Unlike Union Rags, he's a little speed demon who had never been headed (meaning, he'd never let another horse be in front of him in any of his races). Union Rags, a late closer, went wide on the turns and, most damning of all, swerved in the middle of his stretch drive (something he had done previously in the Saratoga Special as well) and lost by a nose.

This one blemish on his career did not deter his fans. He had lost by a nose to a speed horse who may never get beyond the mile and one sixteenth distance of the Juvenile, and after giving himself at least an extra 10 feet to run by his shenanigans in the stretch. Having worked hard all fall, he was sent to the farm for some R&R and to await the spring. His first start as a 3-year old will be tomorrow in the Fountain of Youth Stakes. There he'll be facing the imposing (Todd) Pletcher duo of Algorithms (who has already impressively won a stakes this year) and Discreet Dancer, not to mention a handful of other talented hopefuls that may be just waiting to break out.

Why else should you like Union Rags? Well first there's his trainer, Michael "I Walk Unscathed Out of Burning Passenger Jets" Matz. Matz is not my favorite trainer, but you can't argue he knows how to get a horse to the Derby winner's circle, nor that he knows horses in general. He's taking the same sort of "laid back" training approach with Union Rags as he did back in 2006 when Barbaro took the roses. You have to wonder, if it worked once, why not again? Also, there's his jockey. There was big news in the thoroughbred horse racing world when it was reported that Union Rags regular rider, Javier Castellano, decided to take the mount on Algorithms in the Fountain of Youth. Often, when a jock jumps off one horse in favor of a rival animal, it's generally considered to be evidence of his professional opinion as to their likelihood of winning. However, I'm not so sure Javier made the right choice, here. Regardless, Union Rags quickly picked up Julian Leparoux for his jockey, and I couldn't be more pleased. He's possibly my favorite rider for guiding late closers like Union Rags up to victory.

So is that enough reason to overlook a somewhat checkered pedigree? For me it is.


For now, anyways.