Hansen Has High Hopes for Recent Purchase

Dr. Kendall Hansen, whose homebred colt Hansen earned an Eclipse Award as champion 2-year-old male of 2011 and went on to win graded stakes at 3, is hoping his new purchase makes some noise in the early-season 3-year-old races in 2016.

Hansen recently purchased Spendthrift Farm's interest in Let Me Go First, a Spendthrift homebred by Paddy O'Prado  . The gelding, who broke his maiden at Parx Racing in his third career start, is co-owned by his trainer, Blaine Servis.

Let Me Go First is among those entered in the $200,000 Jerome Stakes (gr. III) for 3-year-olds Jan. 2 at Aqueduct Racetrack.

"Let Me Go First kind of came to me from out of the blue," Hansen said. "A young bloodstock agent named Ryan Patterson has a lot of energy, knows a lot of people, and he brought the horse's credentials and attributes to me. I bought my share sight unseen on his recommendation—kind of an impulse purchase—but he looks like a horse with a lot of upside.

Hansen noted that when Let Me Go First raced around two turns at Parx, he improved to finish third, and then won by 3 1/4 lengths. He believes the gelding has the right pedigree for longer races.

Let Me Go First is out of the Chief Seattle mare Aspen Mountain, and his second dam, Aspenelle, is a half sister to Mining My Own, the dam of 2009 Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (gr. I) winner Mine That Bird and Dullahan, who finished third in the 2012 Kentucky Derby ahead of Hansen.

"He is also a half brother to Bolo, a stakes winner that ran in the Derby last year and finished on the board behind Dortmund in the Santa Anita Derby (gr. I) and San Felipe Stakes (gr. II)," Hansen said. "That's pretty good company."

Servis is the son of trainer John Servis, who won the Count Fleet Stakes at Aqueduct in early January 2004 with Smarty Jones  . The colt was undefeated in eight starts heading into the Belmont Stakes (gr. I) but finished second to end his bid for the Triple Crown.

Smarty Jones, like Let Me Go First, was based at Parx in Pennsylvania.

"When Spendthrift sent him to me and he got off the van I thought they sent me the wrong horse," Blaine Servis said of Let Me Go First. "He was supposed to be a 2-year-old, but he looked like a fully developed 3-year-old.

"He did show some signs of immaturity at the start, but took to training well and we found a spot for him in a sprint. He broke a bit slow and was getting hit in the face with dirt and ran a bit greenly."

The gelding's schedule was impacted by an equine herpesvirus quarantine at Parx in late summer and early fall.

"We walked the shedrow daily and got out on the track one day a week," Servis said. "I got a one-mile work in him prior to his next start, but he was not as fit as I would have liked him to be. He showed some grit after being passed in the lane and fought back to finish third.

"In his last start he faced some promising horses, drew the 11-hole and was wide on both turns, only to pull away with his ears pricked to win by 3 1/2 lengths. I walked him back to the test barn and you'd never know he raced."