Union Rags will prepare for the Belmont Stakes at Fair Hill scheduled to work either Thursday or Friday
Michael Matz said that he wouldn’t go in the Belmont Stakes if Union Rags didn’t have what it takes to defeat I’ll Have Another. Just like Dale Romans, Michael Matz is lining up Union Rags in the long line of Belmont Stakes contenders to stop I’ll Have Another from becoming the 12th Triple Crown winner in almost 34 years.
Right now, Matz has based Union Rags at Fair Hill Training Center, where he will work Union Rags through the initial workouts leading up to the 144th running of the Grade 1, $1 million Belmont Stakes at Belmont Park on 9 June, 2012.
Julien Leparoux lost the ride on Union Rags, after losing important races back to back. The pair started off on a winning note as they won the Grade 2 Fountain of Youth Stakes at Gulfstream Park in their first race together.
However, it kind of fell apart in the Grade 1 Florida Derby, when Union Rags finished third off a mild effort to keep Take Charge Indy at bay.
Things weren’t leaning in Leparoux’s side after the seventh place finish in the Grade 1, $2 million Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs on 5 May, 2012, and that is Michael Matz decided to make a change and bring in jockey, John Velazquez, who will have his first ride over Union Rags.
Bred in Kentucky, the Dixie Union colt will either work on Thursday or Friday according to Matz at Fair Hill Training Center.
"He's doing very well," Matz said during a Wednesday teleconference. "He might work tomorrow, maybe Friday. (Owner) Mrs. (Phyllis) Wyeth is on her way back from Maine, and if she wants to see him work we'll do it tomorrow or Friday. We're hoping John Velazquez will work him in his last work (the following weekend)."
As a juvenile, Union Rags posted a hat-trick in his first three starts, including the Grade 1 Champagne Stakes at Belmont Park last year, but he hasn’t impressed as a three-year-old, and some would argue going into the Belmont Stakes that the colt is not even bred for 1 ½ mile let alone reeling in I’ll Have Another, so Union Rags is a tough task ahead of him.
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