Union Rags gets another chance to show his talent

ELMONT, N.Y. ? It took less than a minute for John Velazquez to buy into the hype.

This past Sunday, the freshly minted Hall of Fame jockey made a special trip to Fair Hill Training Center in Maryland to acquaint himself with the horse he is scheduled pilot for the first time in Saturday?s Belmont Stakes.

After being considered the leader of the 3-year-old class for much of the winter and spring, Union Rags?s recent disappointments have some debating whether his luck has gone bad or if his ability was overrated.

Once Velazquez guided the Grade I-winning colt through a 5-furlong move in :59 flat last weekend, he knew which side of the fence he was on.

"The talent is there, definitely," Velazquez said Tuesday. "Hopefully his luck changes in this race and he can show the talent he has."

Win or lose, the magnitude of I?ll Have Another?s Triple Crown bid will be the story of the 144th Belmont Stakes when the 1{-mile "Test of the Champion" is run. But lost in the shuffle of the many subplots is the tale of possible redemption for the son of Dixie Union.

While I?ll Have Another chases immortality, the Belmont is Union Rags?s opportunity to show that lack of talent was not the problem behind troubled-filled finishes in his past two races ? third in the Florida Derby and seventh in the Kentucky Derby.

Feeling the need to shake things up after his charge?s worst two finishes of his seven-race career, trainer Michael Matz helped make the call to replace jockey Julien Leparoux ? who guided the colt to a 4-length win in the Grade II Fountain of Youth in February ? with Velazquez for the Belmont and beyond.

Having lost on other mounts to Union Rags three times before the Kentucky Derby, Velazquez figured the bay colt was a star in the making. If the Union Rags who beat Velazquez in the Grade II Saratoga Special, the Grade I Champagne and the Fountain of Youth shows up Saturday, the veteran rider said the days of making excuses for his new mount will die.

"Julien is an excellent rider, I think he just got unlucky when he rode him," Velazquez said. "He?s been very unlucky in the last few races he?s been in. That?s what has cost him from showing his talent. In (the Fountain of Youth) he went by me (aboard Discreet Dancer) like we were standing, and he wasn?t even 100 percent fit to run the race.

"I think if he can go back to that day or the day he won at Belmont (in the Champagne) we have a real good chance."

Though the 11 foes are the most a Triple Crown hopeful has faced in the Belmont since Charismatic also was part of a 12-horse field in 1999, Union Rags and Dullahan are the only other graded-stakes winners in the field besides I?ll Have Another.

If Union Rags is to trip up I?ll Have Another, he is going to have to avoid some of his past pitfalls and overcome a pedigree that suggests 1{ miles might be beyond his scope.

Sitting too far off a tepid pace doomed Union Rags in the Florida Derby. After missing the break out of post No. 4 in the Kentucky Derby, the bay colt had to take up and was shuffled back to 18th in the 20-horse field early on.

"We still feel Union Rags hasn?t been able to really run his race as a 3-year-old," owner and breeder Phyllis Wyeth said of her colt.

(c)2012 the Lexington Herald-Leader (Lexington, Ky.) Distributed by MCT Information Services

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