Catching Up With Hansen

Hansen wins the 2011 Breeders' Cup Juvenile to cap off his championship season. (Photos by Eclipse Sportswire)
When Hansen debuted in early September of his 2-year-old year, he was hard to miss for many reasons. He was a snow-white son of the up-and-coming superstar stallion Tapit but if that wasn’t enough to catch their attention, the way he won his debut was sure to open their eyes.
Those at Turfway Park that day got a glimpse of his talent when he won the 5 ½ furlong race by 12 ¼ lengths. Less than three weeks later, he added a 13 ¼ length victory in the Kentucky Cup Juvenile Stakes to his win total to set himself up for a tilt at the 2011 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile.
Even coming into the Juvenile with his impressive winning margins and undefeated record wasn’t enough to earn Hansen race favoritism with two other horses having lower odds than him. But from the second he broke from the gate, Hansen ran like his tail was on fire. At each of the first three calls, he didn’t let anyone within a length and a half of him. But by the time he hit the stretch, race favorite Union Rags was closing in.
Hansen showed his heart when he was challenged for the first time in his career and was able to stay ahead of Union Rags with Creative Cause also bearing down looking for the win. The wire came just in time with Hansen winning the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile, and the Eclipse award for champion 2-year-old colt, by a head over Union Rags with Creative Cause a length behind the pair. In all, Hansen beat five Grade 1 winners, one Grade 2 winner, one Grade 3 winner and three graded stakes-placed horses in the Juvenile.
2011 BREEDERS’ CUP JUVENILE

Video courtesy of Breeders’ Cup World Championships
“He’s a natural. Obviously his performance speaks for itself,” trainer Mike Maker told Blood-Horse. “That’s the way he wants to run and we weren’t going to change a thing. It’s just that natural ability. Obviously he’s got a lot of speed and he’s always shown it. He’s also got a lot of fight; a bunch of good characteristics. We pointed to the Breeders’ Cup before he ever ran. I only told that to the owners, and they’re as crazy as I am.”
Hansen took a break after the race and was away from the track for nearly three months. His first start of his 3-year-old season was his first start outside of Kentucky, with the colt shipping down to Gulfstream Park for the Holy Bull Stakes. After stumbling at the break, he took the lead by three lengths but in the stretch didn’t have enough to hold off Algorithms, who romped to win the race by five lengths.
HANSEN AFTER HIS BREEDERS' CUP WIN

But Hansen came back with a vengeance in his next race, the Gotham at Aqueduct on March 3 when he was asked to stalk other horses. He didn’t take the lead until the field was turning from home but made easy work of the field once he did, pulling away to win by three lengths.
From there it was off to Keeneland for his final Kentucky Derby prep in the Blue Grass Stakes. He was back on the lead for the race, attempting to go wire-to-wire and it looked like he may pull it off at the top of the stretch when he was in front by 2 ½ lengths. But Dullahan, who had finished fourth to him in the Juvenile the year before, closed like a freight train and Hansen had to concede defeat by 1 ¼ lengths.
In the Kentucky Derby, Hansen never found the lead and faded to ninth in his quest to become the first 2-year-old champion since 2007 to win the Kentucky Derby. After giving him a nearly two-month break, his connections stepped away from the more traditional path taken with top 3-year-olds by heading to Prairie Meadows for the Iowa Derby.
The move proved to be an extremely smart one as Hansen led wire-to-wire pulling away from the field to a six-length lead at the stretch call. Hansen did even better at the finish when crossing the line 10 lengths in front.

HANSEN TRAINING AT KEENELAND

Unfortunately, the ride Hansen took his owners on ended in the August 4 West Virginia Derby when he finished fourth. Later that month, he was diagnosed with a tendon injury and while there was talk about bringing him back the following year, he was retired in September.
"Hansen proved he was precocious, which is a good thing in breeding, and had miler speed," his co-owner Dr. Kendall Hansen told Blood-Horse. "He also was a champion, so there's nothing more to prove. It would have been nice to try to win another Breeders' Cup, but Mother Nature is telling us to pass his genes on."
Making nine starts in his career, Hansen won five races, including four stakes races for $1,810,805 in earnings.
That November, it was announced that Hansen would stand at Ashford Stud in Versailles, Ky. for the 2013 season at a fee of $12,500. Hansen had 102 foals born the following year but U.S. breeders weren’t given the chance to breed to him again as he was sold to South Korea in October of 2013. However, Hansen may return to the United States in the future.
"There's a chance he could earn his way back," Dr. Hansen told Blood-Horse. "They insisted they have an option to buy him back if his first crop throws some stakes winners."
Fifty-five of Hansen’s yearlings have gone through the ring this year with 42 of them selling for an average price of $60,921 and median price of $47,500 according to the Thoroughbred Daily News. The most expensive Hansen colt to go through the ring sold for $200,000 while the most expensive filly went for $250,000.
Hansen’s first crop will be hitting the track next year and if they are anything like their sire, they’ll be shooting straight to the lead on tracks around the country.