Dullahan, Hansen, and Gung Ho return to Churchill Downs after securing the first three positions in the Blue Grass
One of the main prep races for the Grade 1 Kentucky Derby unfolded on 14 April, 2012, and showed remarkable results in the Grade 1, $750,000 Toyota Blue Grass Stakes at Keeneland’s poly track surface over a distance of 1 1/8 miles, where Dullahan tenth with
three furlongs to go closed in like a champ on the nearly white juvenile champion, Hansen, in the closing stages of the Blue Grass to nab one of the most important victory of his short career.
Trained by Dale Romans for Donegal Racing, Dullahan posted his second win of his career, and his previous win as a juvenile also came over the Keeneland’s synthetic surface on 8 October, 2011, when he won the Grade 1 Breeders’ Futurity over 1 1/16 miles.
The Toyota Blue Grass Stakes winner is the son of Even the Score, out of mare Mining My Own by Smart Strike, and after the win he didn’t stay at the Lexington area for long, as the 3-year-old colt returned to Churchill Downs, where his next start is expected
to be in the Grade 1 Kentucky Derby on 5 May.
The second-third finishers Hansen and Gung Ho, respectively, following their efforts are also going to go to Churchill Downs for a start in the Run for the Roses.
According to trainer Dale Romans, Dullahan is in great shape, and he came out of the race fine. Dullahan, after the race stopped in his tracks rather than jogging off after his win to cool down and then coming to a halt, which gave out the indications that
he might have done something to himself.
However, Dale Romans have cleared the air by saying there is nothing wrong with him. “I think he will run well on dirt,” Romans said of the half-brother to 2009 winner Mine That Bird. “He ran a big race in the Breeders’ Cup (Juvenile, gr. I) last fall and
he is better this year. He should handle the surface.”
The top money earner this year, Hansen, with $1,550,000 in graded stakes earnings will meet Dullahan again in the Kentucky Derby to settle the score.
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