LOUISVILLE (AP) – Hansen and Union Rags, who dueled to a close 1-2 finish in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile, and undefeated Algorithms lead the list of 397 early nominees for the Triple Crown series for 3-year-olds.
Hansen edged Union Rags by a head in the Juvenile and won the Eclipse Award as last year’s top 2-year-old. He finished second in the Holy Bull on Jan. 29 in his first start as a 3-year-old. Union Rags is trained by Michael Matz, who saddled Barbaro to victory in the 2006 Kentucky Derby.
Algorithms defeated Hansen by five lengths in the Holy Bull to improve to 3-0 for trainer Todd Pletcher.
Pletcher leads trainers for the third consecutive year with 32 Triple Crown nominees. Bob Baffert is second with 21 horses, while Steve Asmussen and Nick Zito each nominated 15. Dale Romans has 14 nominated horses.
The early nomination period, when horses can be nominated for $600 each, closed Jan. 21. The late period, when nominations cost $6,000 each, closes on March 24. The 397 nominations released Saturday are a 9.1 percent increase over last year’s total of 364, and the most since 2009, when 412 3-year-olds were made eligible.
The Triple Crown begins with the May 5 Kentucky Derby, followed by the Preakness on May 19 and the Belmont on June 11.
Other early nominees are CashCall Futurity winner Liaison; Creative Cause, third in the BC Juvenile; Hopeful winner Currency Swap; Dixiana Breeders’ Futurity winner Dullahan; undefeated Kentucky Jockey Club winner Gemologist; and Delta Jackpot winner Sabercat.
Among the nominees are six fillies, including Golden Rod winner On Fire Baby.
Ahmed Zayat leads the owners’ nominations with 13.
Lewis Stakes at Santa Anita
ARCADIA, Calif. — With trouble unfolding behind him, 43-1 shot I’ll Have Another went on to stunning upset in the $200,000 Robert B. Lewis Stakes, surprising his trainer and owner as much as the bettors.
The longest shot in the field of eight 3-year-olds won by 2¾ lengths Saturday at Santa Anita, with Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert’s two colts finishing out of the money.
“Oh my God that was nice,” trainer Doug O’Neill said in the winner’s circle, squeezing owner Paul Reddam.
“He’s always trained fantastic, but we never saw this coming,” O’Neill said.
I’ll Have Another ran 1 1/16 miles in 1:40.84 under Mario Gutierrez and paid $88.60, $35.80 and $12. Empire Way, a son of 2003 Kentucky Derby runner-up Empire Maker, returned $11.80 and $6.20.
Gutierrez was aboard I’ll Have Another for the first time after exercising him in the morning just once.
“I love this kid,” O’Neill said.
I’ll Have Another came in off a five-month layoff and was running two turns for the first time. The colt had sore shins after losing in the slop in the Hopeful at Saratoga in September, leading to the layoff.
“He hasn’t missed a beat since then,” O’Neill said.
I’ll Have Another is named for Reddam’s response to his wife’s nightly query of “Do you want any more cookies?” as he lies on the couch. He paid $35,000 for the colt.
“I was probably the only one who wanted to run here,” Reddam said. “We didn’t know how good he was off his 2-year-old form.”
O’Neill added, “Paul likes putting up the money and taking chances.”
Reddam demurred when asked about taking a shot at the May 5 Kentucky Derby. He’s had four previous Derby runners, including two trained by O’Neill.
“We want to take a lot of time until his next race,” he said. “Everyone wants to be in Kentucky, but so many things happen between this race and Kentucky.”
Wither Stakes at Aqueduct
NEW YORK — Alpha moved into the Triple Crown picture on Saturday after easily beating Speightscity by 3 1-4 lengths in the $200,000 Withers Stakes for 3-year-olds at Aqueduct.
Racing wide throughout the 1 1/16 miles, Alpha needed only mild urging from Ramon Dominguez to secure his third win in five starts. The 1-5 favorite trained by Kiaran McLaughlin is a perfect 2-for-2 this season, also capturing Aqueduct’s Count Fleet Stakes last month.
The time was 1:44.23 on the fast track.
McLaughlin said the colt might return for Aqueduct’s $400,000 Gotham Stakes on March 3.
“There are some good 3-year-olds around the country and it’s hard to tell what he actually beat today,” McLaughlin said. “We hope we fit in well with them all.”
Alpha paid $2.70 to win, one of a trio of odds-on stakes winners on the card.
Calibrachoa overcame a stumble at the start to score a 2¼-length win over Diski Dance and defend his title in the $150,000 Toboggan Stakes. Caixa Eletronica was third, giving trainer Todd Pletcher the first and third finishers in the stakes.
Cornelio Velasquez was aboard as the 5-year-old paid $2.90 for his ninth victory in 19 starts. The time was 1:09.47 for six furlongs.
Nicole H, the 1-2 choice, improved to a perfect 4 for 4 over Aqueduct’s winterized inner track with a 2½-length victory over Honchis’n Ponchis in the $100,000 Correction Stakes for fillies and mares. The 5-year-old trained by Mike Hushion and ridden by Dominguez paid $3 to win, covering the six furlongs in 1:11.08.
Horse Racing: Hansen, Union Rags head Triple Crown nominees is a post from: PhatzRadio.com
