While his connections have maintained that reigning two-year-old Eclipse
Award champion Hansen would make his next in Prairie Meadows’ Grade 3 Iowa Derby
on Saturday night, it didn’t stop them from spending $1,500 and dropping their
Breeders’ Cup Juvenile winner into the entry box for Saturday night’s
seven-furlong
Red
Legend Stakes at Charles Town, the featured race on the track’s 5th annual
Sprint Festival program.
With its purse of $400,000, the Red Legend stands behind only the Grade 1,
$500,000 Kings Bishop at Saratoga on the list of the country’s richest
three-year-old races shorter than a mile.
After capping his championship two-year-old campaign with a front-running
score over Union Rags in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile, Hansen has posted one win
in four starts as a three-year-old, with the lone triumph being a three-length
victory in March’s Grade 3 Gotham at Aqueduct. In that 8 1/2-furlong contest,
the son of Tapit showed an ability to rate and win from just off the pace.
Getting Hansen to relax has been a priority of trainer Mike Maker ever since
he got his star colt back in the barn following his banner 2011 season, but he’s
playing it cautiously in determining whether or not it will ultimately be
successful.
“I’ll let you know on Sunday morning. It really all depends with this horse,”
Maker said.
Whether it’s in the Red Legend or Iowa Derby, Saturday will mark Hansen’s
first race since his ninth-place finish in the Kentucky Derby, where he was able
to settle in behind the early pace but couldn’t rally in the final quarter-mile,
checking in 10 1/4 lengths behind winner I’ll Have Another. While Maker
indicated the Iowa Derby is still the more likely of the two races, the ultimate
call would be left to the colt’s owner, Dr. Kendall Hansen.
Hansen drew post 7 and was installed as the heavy 7-5 morning line favorite.
Ramon Dominguez, on board for Hansen’s last five starts, is named to ride.
If Hansen doesn’t go in the Red Legend, the status of most accomplished
runner in the field falls to Majestic City, winner of last year’s Grade 3
Hollywood Juvenile Championship and runner-up in a pair of Grade 1s as a
two-year-old in the Del Mar Futurity and Breeders’ Futurity.
Following a narrow loss in the Breeders’ Futurity, trainer Peter Miller
decided to give the City Zip chestnut a shot in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf.
After leading the field for the first five furlongs in the Juvenile Turf,
Majestic City faded to 13th, which he subsequently followed up with a 10th-place
effort as the favorite in the Grade 1 CashCall Futurity. It was at that point
where Miller decided his colt needed some time off.
“It was really just a little issue and we decided to give him the time off,”
Miller explained. “The time off did him well and he’s definitely come back
better.”
The Red Legend will mark Majestic City’s first start on a conventional dirt
track in his eight-race career, another fact that doesn’t concern his trainer.
“He trains over the Cushion Track at Hollywood and gets over it very well,”
Miller said. “That surface is a lot like regular dirt, so I don’t think it’s
going to be an issue.”
Retaining local rider Travis Dunkelberger also added to the allure of the Red
Legend for Majestic City’s connections.
“It never hurts you to have a rider who is familiar with the track, with it
being a 6 furlong track and all,” the trainer added. “And getting a leading
rider at the track is even better.”
Dunkelberger and Majestic City break from post 3 on Saturday night.
Flashy Dresser, winner of the $250,000 Robert Hilton Memorial on Charles Town
Classic night, comes into the Red Legend off the first loss in his career, an
11th-place effort in the Grade 2 American Turf at Churchill Downs. Flashy
Dresser’s race in his first graded effort was compromised by a spill that
occurred at the top of the stretch and forced the colt to swerve to avoid fallen
jockey Javier Castellano.
“The race was a total toss out,” said Fred Seitz, Flashy Dresser’s owner and
trainer. “We weren’t even able to determine if he liked the grass or not. After
Javier Castellano went down, Julien (Leparoux) had to swerve to avoid him and
didn’t even persevere after that. His race was over.”
Prior to the American Turf, Flashy Dresser began his career with three
consecutive wins, including one in the Rushaway at Turfway Park in addition to
the victory in the Robert Hilton. After a workout on Monday morning, Seitz is
confident that the Flashy Bull colt is ready to fire his best shot in the Red
Legend.
“He worked super the other day and we’re looking forward to the race. It’s a
lot of money for us,” Seitz said.
Jockey Eddie Castro has the mount for the first time and the pair leave from
post 9 as the 5-1 third choice on the morning line.
Il Villano has never been off the board in eight career starts, but will try
to post the first win of his career going farther than six furlongs in the Red
Legend. Following a second-place finish in the Grade 2 Hutcheson at Gulfstream,
Il Villano took a three-month break prior to returning in the Chick Lang on
Preakness day.
His authoritative 4 3/4 length win in the Chick Lang led his connections to
try him against some of the top sophomore sprinters in the country in the Grade
2 Woody Stephens on the Belmont Stakes undercard. His credible third, beaten 3
1/2 lengths by winner Trinniberg, gave his connections the confidence that their
Pollard’s Vision colt could handle the highest levels of competition.
“I think he ran very well in the Woody Stephens, and it absolutely gave me
the confidence that he could indeed run with the best,” trainer Susan Crowell
said of the Parx-based Il Villano. “He’s run against some tough horses, but I am
very confident with him in this race.”
When Il Villano walked away with the Chick Lang, he did so at the expense of
even-money favorite Innocent Man from the Patrick Biancone barn. Innocent Man
didn’t began his career until March of this year and kicked it off with a pair
of impressive front running victories at Santa Anita. Biancone then decided to
send the Henny Hughes gelding across the country to contest the Chick Lang and
Grade 3 Pegasus at Monmouth Park.
The Pegasus represented Innocent Man’s first start going longer than six
furlongs and the chestnut responded by setting the pace before tiring to a
fourth-place finish.
“The plan was exactly that,” Biancone remarked about stretching his pupil
around two turns in the Pegasus. “We wanted to run at Charles Town in the big
race. We didn’t want him to be running off early too much early. So, we wanted
to put two turns in him before Charles Town.”
Despite coming into the Red Legend on just 13 days rest, Biancone has no
reservations about the quick turnaround.
“None at all. The horse is doing great. He worked well, he is fit, and we are
ready to run.”
Jockey Mario Gutierrez, winner of this year’s Kentucky Derby and Preakness
aboard I’ll Have Another, has the mount on Innocent Man for the first time.
Sum of the Parts hopes his form on synthetic surfaces can transfer to dirt as
he comes off a runaway 7 3/4-length win in a Keeneland allowance and a
hard-fought neck victory in the Tom Ridge at Presque Isle back on May 15.
“Obviously his development had a lot to do with it,” trainer Tom Amoss said.
“We thought a lot of him as a two-year-old, but looking at the past performances
that’s the $400,000 question. You never know how he will take to the dirt, but
my gut feeling is that he will run well and the surface won’t matter.
“When this horse broke his maiden I got a little ambitious,” Amoss added.
“Fortunately, he came back great as a three-year-old.”
Amoss, who indicated they chose the Red Legend over the Grade 3 Carry Back on
Calder’s Summit of Speed day has tabbed Leandro Goncalves to ride.
After ambushing the field with Caixa Eletronica in April’s Grade 2 Charles
Town Classic, the duo of Todd Pletcher and Javier Castellano will attempt to do
the same in the Red Legend with Doctor Chit. Recent restricted stakes winner
Jake N Elwood, Mr. Handsome and the Delaware-based Always Smiling complete the
lineup.
The Charles Town Sprint Festival card gets underway at 6 p.m. (EDT), with the
Red Legend scheduled to run at 10:30 p.m. It shares the card with five other
stakes — the $150,000
Lady Charles Town, $100,000
Wild and Wonderful, $70,000
Charles
Town Dash Handicap, $50,000
Coin Collector and $50,000
Fancy Buckles.
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