Union Rags impresses in the Saratoga Special

Union Rags splashes to victory in the Saratoga Special
Photo: Adam Coglianese, Courtesy of NYRA

As Union Rags drew off in the sloppy stretch to defeat five two-year-old rivals in the 106th running of the Saratoga Special, announcer Tom Durkin exclaimed, "Just a two-year-old frolicking in the mud!"  And indeed, that's how easily Union Rags won the Grade II contest, even though he veered out awkwardly as he approached the wire.  It didn't matter, because the colt was much the best.

The handsome bay son of Dixie Union, conditioned by Barbaro's trainer, Michael Matz, was winning his second race in as many starts, after a successful debut in a five-furlong maiden special weight contest at Delaware last month.  Union Rags has now banked $318,800, and is on his way to repaying the $390,000 that his breeder Phyllis Wyeth (aka "Chadds Ford Stable") paid to buy him back at the Fasig-Tipton Florida Two-Year-Old Sale in March.

The colt had been pinhooked to the two-year-old venue by IEAH, which had plucked him out of the 2010 Saratoga Selected Yearlings Sale, where Wyeth had sold him for $145,000.  With his victory in the Saratoga Special, Union Rags earned a $200,000 bonus for Ms. Wyeth, because he was the first member of the crop sold at last year's Fasig-Tipton Selected Yearlings Sale to win a graded stakes at Saratoga.

Union Rags is from one of the last crops sired by Dixie Union, a multiple graded stakes-winning son of Dixieland Band who won seven of his 12 starts at two and three, including the Grade II Norfolk at a mile, the Grade I Malibu at seven furlongs, and the Grade I Haskell at a mile and an eighth.  The rangy, long-striding colt gives every indication that like his sire, he'll have no problem going a greater distance than the six-and-a-half furlongs he conquered today.

Union Rags has a strong infusion of stamina from the family of his dam, the winning Gone West mare, Tempo, who has produced six other winners, including Union Rags' full brother, the stakes-placed Geefour.  His second dam, the superior turf mare, Terpsichorist (by Nijinsky II) is herself a multiple stakes producer, out of the influential Glad Rags (GB), a Champion Two-Year-Old Filly in Ireland.  She is the ancestress of many good horses, including Belmont and Jockey Club Gold Cup winner Colonial Affair.

While Union Rags represents Dixie Union's first stakes winner from a Gone West mare, he is but one of several stakes winners produced by the stallion when he was bred to mares by Mr. Prospector and his sons.  Other successful examples of this nick include last year's Demoiselle-G2 winner, Dixie City (from City Sister, by Brilliant/Intermediate Chef-de-Race Carson City), multiple graded stakes winner, Gone Astray (from Illicit, by Mr. Prospector), and Astarita-G3 winner Sensation (from Ryn, by Mr. Prospector).

As for what lies ahead for Union Rags, trainer Matz is considering his options.  "Obviously, our main goal is for next year," he said, "but we'll just have to see how he is and look for something in about a month or five weeks."  After the way he ran today, it's hard not to believe that the best of Union Rags is yet to come.

Broken Vow colt stands out at the Saratoga sale

Hip #103 at the 2011 Saratoga Selected Yearlings Sale
Credit:  Fasig-Tipton

The buzz at the Saratoga Selected Yearlings Sale may be all about the Bernardinis, but if you judge success by a seller's return on investment, and how far a horse exceeds the expected norm, look no further than Hip #103, the Broken Vow colt--the only one by his sire at this venue--who brought $440,000.

The colt had previously sold as a Keeneland November weanling for $165,000 (more than six times his $25,000 stud fee), by far outshining the other members of his crop, who as a group averaged $62,600.

Consigned at Saratoga by Gainesway, as agent, and purchased by Mark Casse, as agent, the dark bay or brown colt out of the graded stakes-placed Copelan mare, Copelan's Angel, must be a physical standout to command these prices.  In 2010, Broken Vow's 47 sale yearlings averaged $44,964, with a filly out of the stakes-winning Cat Thief mare, Cohiba Miss, fetching the highest price--$240,000--at last year's Keeneland September sale.  Subsequently named, "Lady Cohiba," the now two-year-old filly, purchased by Live Oak Plantation, is currently in training at Belmont.

Trainer Mark Casse knows Copelan's Angel well, having consigned her to two OBS Two-Year-Old-in-Training sales back in 1997, where she was sold for $55,000.  She went on to win or place in eight of her 11 starts, including a third in the Grade III Selima, while earning $134,195.

Copelan's Angel's previous foal, a 2009 colt by Corinthian (who stands for $25,000), had caught the eye of EQB's Patrice Miller, who bought him at last September's Keeneland sale for $100,000.  In order to qualify under EQB's stringent selection criteria, a yearling must have an excellent cardiovascular system, and meet other rigid biomechanical benchmarks, so it certainly appears that Copelan's Angel is producing some athletic-looking foals.

But her foals don't just look good, they run well, too.  Five of the mare's eight foals of racing age are winners, including the stakes winning Skip Away filly Fly Away Angel, and stakes-placed In the Paint (by Tiznow).

Broken Vow, a multiple graded stakes-winning son of Champion Unbridled, out of the Nijinsky II mare, Wedding Vow, is perhaps best known for his outstanding fillies, having sired Grade I winners Unbridled Belle, Sassy Image, Cotton Blossom, and Panamanian Champion Broken Wedding.

The colt by Broken Vow out of Copelan's Angel is bred on a pattern similar to that which produced Grade II stakes winner Rockport Harbor (by Unbridled's Song out of a Copelan mare).  The match merits an A+ TrueNicks rating.  With a solid record of performance in the sales arena, and the pedigree and conformation to match, this free-striding colt will be one to watch when he hits the racetrack.