Spiral (G3) winner Fast and Accurate has picked up a new co-owner – Olympic champion skier Bode Miller, who has acquired an interest in the Kentucky Derby (G1) hopeful owned primarily by Kendall Hansen.
“A couple of mutual friends got us together, because we’ve both been known to be somewhat eccentric and fun-loving,” Hansen said in a statement. “It’s fun to be paired up with him (Miller). I’m looking forward to hanging out with him on Kentucky Derby day.”
Miller already has a minority interest in another Hansen sophomore, homebred En Hanse, who captured the WEBN S. and finished second in the John Battaglia Memorial before ending up ninth in the Spiral.
Fast and Accurate and En Hanse are both from the first (and only North American) crop of the eponymous homebred Hansen, honored with the divisional Eclipse Award after capturing the 2011 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (G1).
Dr. Hansen purchased the Pennsylvania-bred Fast and Accurate, through Woodford Thoroughbreds, for $85,000 at OBS last April.
Trained by Mike Maker, likewise the conditioner of Hansen and En Hanse, Fast and Accurate brings a three-race winning streak into the Derby. No one claimed him when he broke his maiden for a $30,000 tag at Turfway in December, and the gray added the Sage of Monticello on the Gulfstream turf en route to upsetting the Spiral at odds of 24-1.
“Three-year-olds can improve by leaps and bounds, so I’m hoping we’re one of the ‘leaps and bounds’ and others ones are tailing off,” Hansen said.
“Bode is a very intelligent man and a good horseman. He learned a lot about physiology from his work on the U.S. Olympic Team, and he’s relaying that knowledge to horse racing as well.
“He sees what we see up close (in Fast and Accurate), and he realizes we do actually have an outside chance to win, even though on paper it doesn’t exactly look that way. I remember crossing out (2009 Kentucky Derby winner) Mine That Bird, who had ‘no chance.’”
Miller is the latest to come aboard the Fast and Accurate ownership team. Harvey Diamond and partners’ Skychai Racing, which likewise had purchased an interest in Hansen ahead of the Breeders’ Cup, bought into Fast and Accurate following the Spiral. Skychai has in turn sold a part of its percentage to Sand Dollar Stable.
The addition of owners helps the cash flow after Fast and Accurate, not Triple Crown nominated, had to be made eligible for $200,000. Dr. Hansen continues to hold the majority interest in Fast and Accurate.
To follow Kentucky Derby workers at Churchill Downs, check out the 2017 Kentucky Derby Workouts page at TwinSpires.com
