Union Rags An Early 2012 Kentucky Derby Favorite

Union Rags is a three-year old thoroughbred race horse, foaled out of Temp and sired by Dixie Union on March 3^rd, 2009. He is owned by Chadds-Ford Stable and trained by Michael Matz. Union Rags is a hopeful for the 2012 Kentucky Derby and has posted three victories in four starts, while earning $858,800 in 2011.

He was bred in Kentucky by Phyllis M. Wyeth, and he has a strong pedigree to draw from. His sire, Dixie Union, started twelve races in 1999 and 2000, winning seven times and finishing second in three other races. Dixie Union’s biggest win was the grade 1 Malibu Stakes at Santa Anita on December 26^th of 2000. The dam was the Bill Mott trained, Tempo. She was lightly raced in her career with three starts and two wins. Wyeth, the co-owner of Chadds-Ford Stable originally sold Union Rags at auction for $145,000 at the 2010 Saratoga Select yearling sale. She then bought him back at the Florida two-year olds in training auction the next year for $390,000.

Union Rags made his debut in a maiden special weight race at Delaware Park on July 12^th of 2011. He trailed for much of the five furlong race, as he gained steam down the stretch to rally and win by nearly two lengths. In his second race, Union Rags was jockeyed by Javier Castellano for the first time and was taken up to 6 ½ furlongs at the grade 2 Saratoga Special on August 15^th. On a muddy track, Union Rags stayed with a pack of four leaders for the first furlong before he and Stat broke away and battled through the turns. Down the stretch is where he came alive and put distance between himself and second place by six lengths while posting a time of 1:18.33.

Once again, Union Rags was stretched out a bit from his previous race as he participated in the one mile, grade 1 Champagne Stakes at Belmont Park. He fell behind early and trailed as far back as fifth half way through. Castellano and Union Rags made their move just after clearing the turn and moving into the stretch. In the final furlong, he was able to dominate and pull away with a five length win, with a time of 1:35.55. This race qualified him for the Breeder’s Cup Juvenile.

His final race of 2011 came at Churchill Downs on November 5^th in the Breeder’s Cup Juvenile Stakes, which again saw Union Rags move up in distance, to 1 1/16 mile. He was the favorite, going off at even money, running against his best competition yet. For much of the race, Castellano was content to ride just behind the lead pack, which included the speedster Hansen. Again, down the stretch is where Union Rags came alive and challenged the leaders. He charged, pulling almost even with Hansen in the final furlong, but drifted just a bit before recovering to finish second by a head.

Union Rags is tentatively scheduled to make his 2012 debut at the grade 2 Fountain of Youth Stakes at Gulfstream Park on February 26^th. Future races could include the Florida Derby on March 31^st and the Kentucky Derby on May 5^th. As of this writing, Union Rags is the Kentucky Derby favorite in the Future Wager. If you want to read more about Kentucky Derby hopefuls, keep checking back to my hub and take a look at sites such as www.bloodhorse.com and www.DerbyDeals.com in their news sections. If you have any suggestions on Derby hopefuls you would like to read about, feel free to subscribe to my hubs and make a comment!