The journey from juvenile to sophomore – The ones to watch out in 2012
Times are changing and all the main 3-year-old contenders have either retired or will be grown up by next year to be eligible for the main mid-year 3-year-old races. Uncle Mo retired, Stay Thirsty to carefully plan his 4-year-old season, Shackleford is an
uncertainty and Ruler on Ice could come back but all will be out of their sophomore years.
This, as always, will give way to a new batch that had already done well in their juvenile season to aim for the all important 2012 season. The new crew that would be under the spotlight will contain the likes of Union Rags, the rampant Hansen and the West
Coast standout Creative Cause.
Predictions will always be predictions and they will have no effect on the outcomes of races or how a particular horse will perform in the coming season. Physical setbacks will play an important role, the most recent example, Uncle Mo.
Next season a lot can and will happen which will derail top prospects, but in a perfect world where nothing goes wrong it can be said that based on past achievements the horses mentioned above can play a vital role at the end of the coming season.
However, on the flipside there is a fair chance that some runners will rise from relative obscurity, for which we don’t have to look way back in the past. Animal Kingdom, an unknown runner came and conquered the Grade 1 Kentucky Derby lineup.
It was a jaw dropping performance which he was so nearly ready to repeat in the Belmont Stakes but fell a little short to finish second.
Hansen and Union Rags shared the top two positions of the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile, and can be counted as the two who will do well on the Derby trail and the big race itself.
Union Rags has done well in sprints at Saratoga and has gone a little bit longer at Belmont Park and won but fell a little short at Churchill Downs that is where the Kentucky Derby will be run.
Hansen, the winner of the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile will have a lot to say next season, and who knows could end up going the distance in the Kentucky Derby and if he is as special as he looks or he is believed to be then he might bag the Triple which
hasn’t happened in a long while.
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