Hansen makes his move
21.05.12
Hansen’s early speed now becomes an asset rather than a liability; and as a son of Tapit, from the line of A.P. Indy and Seattle Slew, there’s reason to believe he might stay 1 ¼ miles.
But can he overcome the dreaded Breeders’ Cup Jinx?
The first BC Juvenile winner, Chief’s Crown, ran three strong races in the run-up to the Derby, winning the Swale by 3 ¼ lengths, the Flamingo by a length and the Blue Grass by 5 ½. Favored at 6-5, he ran third in the Run for the Roses, one of only three BC Juvenile winners ever to hit the board in the Derby along with Timber Country, third in 1995, and Street Sense, the winner in 2007.
Since Chief’s Crown, there have been two sensational Derby preps turned in by a 2-year-old champ and/or BC Juvenile winner: Easy Goer’s Gotham in 1989 and Unbridled’s Song’s Florida Derby in 1996.
In the Gotham, then run at a flat mile over Aqueduct’s main track, Easy Goer (who lost the BC Juvenile but was still named 2-year-old champ) exploded to win by 13 lengths in 1:32 2/5, just a tick off Dr. Fager’s world record.
Source: New York Post