On the road to the 2012 Kentucky Derby

[Glimmerglass]

A bit early to gush over any horse - he’s had just 2 starts - but they’ve been impressive. At the very least this colt will be a likely favorite for the Breeders’ Cup JV. He is owned, bred, and named for Dr. Kendall Hansen.

Chart: Maiden on Sep 9, 2011 at Turfway Park - comment: “impressive effort”.

He took that maiden race (with 8 runners) with a victory of 12 1/4 lengths

Video replay of today (9-24-11) race - Kentucky Cup Juvenile @1 1/16-mile (on the synthetic track surface)

DRF 9-24-11 “Hansen takes star turn in Juvenile romp at Turfway”

Hansen, a flashy gray colt making just his second start, blew away his seven opponents in the Kentucky Cup Juvenile, taking command shortly after the start of the 1 1/16-mile Polytrack race and widening throughout, winning by 13 1/4 lengths. The colt’s breeder, owner, and namesake, Dr. Kendall Hansen, entered the winner’s circle with a delirious gaze.

“He’s a rock star,” said Hansen.

Ridden by Victor Lebron and trained by Mike Maker, Hansen finished in 1:45.83 and returned $3 as the heavy favorite after winning his career debut 15 days beforehand by 12 lengths. Fine finished second, another 1 1/2 lengths before Downtown Driggs.

“He’s one of the best horses I’ve ever ridden,” said Lebron.

Hansen, a northern Kentucky physician, noted that the Juvenile is not graded because of the missed runnings, and his colt might be excluded from the Breeders’ Cup because of a lack of graded points. But asked whether he wants to run in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile or Juvenile Sprint, Hansen said: “Hell yeah. The way he ran today, we’ll probably skip the Breeders’ Futurity (Oct. 8 at Keeneland) and just hope to make it in, although I’ll leave everything up to Mike.”

[tradewind]

It was an impressive effort I thought. Tapit seems to be siring some lovely horses.

[Glimmerglass]

An aside on Hansen’s dam - Courier-Journal: Hansen stars on Kentucky Cup Day:

Hansen’s full brother, the 3-year-old Tapanna, won the fifth race. The two account for the entire racing stable of owner-breeder Kendall Hansen, a Northern Kentucky doctor specializing in pain treatment, especially with spine surgeries.

Hansen gave away the colts’ mother, the Sir Cat mare Stormy Sunday, and only recently bought her back for $10,000.

“She’s got a little bit of a personality to her. She’s not a real good mom," Hansen said. "So these horses had a little bit of toughness on the farm, just having to deal with mom…. (But) I was paying so much on bills. Horse racing has its ups and downs. So I gave her to a nice home. Then I realized I better get my mare back. I only bred a few horses, and all to her. I got her back just a few days ago. Looks like I did it just in time.”

As for next steps …

“That’s a serious horse,” jockey Victor Lebron.

The front-running romp was a virtual replica of Hansen’s 12 ¼-length maiden victory at 5 ½ furlongs at Turfway Sept. 9. But this race was at 1 1/16 miles, which the nearly-white son of the Gainesway stallion Tapit toured in 1:45.83.

“He did the same thing today: He relaxed perfectly and we drew off again,” Lebron said. “He’s one of the best I’ve been on so far. That will probably be my Derby horse for next year, hopefully.”

Maker said Hansen will train up to the $2 million Breeders’ Cup Juvenile at Churchill Downs.

[nasalberry]

WOW! Very impressive!

Here is his 1st start as well:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sxct8B9yaOs&feature=player_embedded

[Melelio]

One to watch for sure! Thanks for the heads up!

[mroades]

wow…and in the slop…

[harvestmoon]

Well, it wasn’t sloppy. It was run over the Polytrack, so…

[mroades]

ok shiny watery looking stuff…apologize for not knowing my surfaces…lol. Either way, what a run!!

[AnonymousMarie]

What color is he exactly?

[olympicdreams04]

Equibase says ‘Gray/Roan’ in color. How impressive and versatile. He appeared to be romping in a 22-46 splits in his maiden win. 1:05 isn’t blazing, but to be going away on a fairly cuppy track, yowza! Another one to watch: She Digs Me, winner of the Sappling Stakes. I had the immense pleasure of galloping his love colt at Keeneland this spring and he has all the makings of a star. I hope he makes the BC Juvenile.

[harvestmoon]

[QUOTE=mroades;5860853]
ok shiny watery looking stuff…apologize for not knowing my surfaces…lol. Either way, what a run!![/QUOTE]

Sorry, didn’t mean to sound snippy.

I’ve noticed a lot of Tapit’s seem to grey out to nearly white really quickly. I wonder why?

[Glimmerglass]

Sep 26, 2011: “Hansen joins favorites for 2012 Kentucky Derby at Wynn Las Vegas”

Hansen, off his 13-length victory in Saturday’s Bluegrass Cat Kentucky Cup Juvenile at Turfway, has become one of the favorites for the 2012 Kentucky Derby in Wynn Las Vegas’ Kentucky Derby future book. The 2-for-2 colt trained by Mike Maker and named for owner-breeder Dr. Kendall Hansen is 50-1 in the Wynn Las Vegas odds.

(pdf) Wynn Sports Book odds 138th KY Derby (2012) -updated Sep 26, 2011

The shortest odds look to be for “Drill” (Baffert trainee) @ 35-1

[mroades]

@harvestmoon;5861392

Sorry, didn’t mean to sound snippy.

I’ve noticed a lot of Tapit’s seem to grey out to nearly white really quickly. I wonder why?

No worries, I didn’t mean to imply snippiness…I am a racing noob, so feel free to correct me whenever

[mroades]

and yes, it shocked me too that he was so white at 2yrs

[Glimmerglass]

As an aside - one of those Wynn Sports Book early favorites for the 2012 Kentucky Derby was Fire and Ice. It was uncovered that he has a condylar fracture of his left hind leg so will be out for the rest of 2011. Who knows if he’ll comeback next year as promising.

[2tempe]

WOW very impressive two races. He looked like he was out for a Sunday gallop! No muss no fuss just cruising along. I wonder how he will rate when the competition gets tougher and the races get longer? Or is there enough horse there to just keep the front running style? Will be fun to watch, and gosh he is “white” for a 2 yr old…

[Glimmerglass]

Perhaps we’ll make this the 2012 Road to the Derby thread …

Cited on a separate thread was Union Rags well before the BC JV when Hansen and he battled to a 1-2 finish. The Eclipse for JV maybe going to Hansen on that 1st graded win.

Another horse to put on the radar? Ever So Lucky

He’s a exceptional rarity with the connections to be mention as maybe contender in spring for the Derby or the other two legs. He’s owned by Strawbridge’s Augustin Stables, trained by Jonathan Sheppard and ridden by Julien Leparoux. He’s made just one start - Friday Nov 11, 2011 - but dropped jaws at Churchill Downs.

Julien’s tweet post race:

Very nice maiden win by “ever so lucky” Can’t wait to ride him back, probably in Florida !!!

DRF 11-11-11 “Sheppard unleashes promising 2-year-old”

With leading jockey Julien Leparoux scarcely moving a muscle, the Indian Charlie colt won the eighth race by 3 1/4 lengths, returning $3.60 to win as a not-so-secret good thing following a series of scorching workouts. The colt earned a 78 Beyer Speed Figure after finishing the 6 1/2-furlong distance in 1:17.42 over a fast track.

“Jonathan likes him a lot,” Leparoux said moments after dismounting. “I breezed him the other day and could see why. He ran very big today.”

Perhaps what makes the future so intriguing for Ever So Lucky – purchased by the Augustin Stable of George Strawbridge Jr. for a sales-topping $600,000 at the Fasig-Tipton Mid-Atlantic auction in May at Timonium in Maryland – is that Sheppard is his trainer.

Sheppard and Strawbridge long have been synonymous with older horses with great stamina, as opposed to precocious horses trying to make the 3-year-old classics. Sheppard, inducted into the Racing Hall of Fame in 1990, has never run a horse in the Derby.

Sheppard said Ever So Lucky likely will ship soon to his training center in Camden, S.C., and spend “about a month there” before being vanned to Gulfstream Park before the end of the year.

“He’s a very talented horse, and we’ll look at some of the bigger races at Gulfstream if he continues to do well,” he said. “I’d say I only had him about 90 percent for that first race. He’s done everything right so far, been very impressive.”

I’d love to see the Augustin white and green silks on Derby day

[Drvmb1ggl3]

While it does seem unusual to see Sheppard with a hot young prospect, most people don’t realize this but Sheppard trained none other than Storm Cat to a 2nd (lost by a nose in a photo finish) in the BC Juvenile way back '85 .
There used to be a picture floating around of a young Storm Cat turned out in a paddock at Sheppard’s farm, and his paddock mate???.. the great steeplechaser Flatterer. Talking about yin and yang!

[Flashy_Gray_VA]

^^^ The mere mention of Flatterer makes my heart soar and I actually had no idea Storm Cat was in the Sheppard barn.

Thinking about Leparoux, Mr. Sheppard, and an awesome 2 year old prospect makes my heart soar even more.

[beaujolais]

Oh, I love Hansen. I was going to start a thread about him. He’s absolutely Electric, Charismatic, . . . !