Ashford Stud purchases Hansen

Tom Keyser

Hansen, the juvenile champion of 2011, will begin his stallion career at Ashford Stud next year.

Ashford Stud announced on Monday that it has purchased 2011 champion 2-year-old male and Breeders’ Cup Juvenile winner Hansen. The Tapit colt will enter stud at the Versailles, Ky., farm in 2013 at a fee to be announced.

Bred by Northern Kentucky-based Dr. Kendall Hansen, the colt out of the Sir Cat mare Stormy Sunday won his first two starts by a combined 25 1/2 lengths at Turfway Park, including the Kentucky Cup Juvenile Stakes. Hansen then led from start to finish in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile at Churchill Downs, defeating a stellar field that included Grade 1 winners Union Rags, Creative Cause, and Dullahan.

The striking gray or roan colt received an Eclipse Award as divisional champion and entered the Triple Crown season as a leading Kentucky Derby contender. Hansen sandwiched a win in the Gotham Stakes between runner-up efforts in the Holy Bull Stakes and Blue Grass Stakes leading up to the Derby, where he endured a rough early trip and tired to finish ninth. Hansen concluded his career with a 10-length romp in the Iowa Derby in June and a fourth-place finish in the West Virginia Derby in August before being retired due to a tendon injury. He won five of nine starts and earned $1,810,805.

He is the latest addition to Coolmore America’s stallion roster at its Ashford Stud division, joining a group of young sires that includes Scat Daddy, Majestic Warrior, and Henrythenavigator, as well as champion juveniles Lookin At Lucky and Uncle Mo.

“Tapit has already proven himself a remarkable stallion in his relatively short career to date and we’re delighted to have secured his best son, Hansen, who is a very good looking horse,” said Ashford director of sales Charlie O’Connor.

“Together with Uncle Mo and Lookin At Lucky, we now have the last three Eclipse Award-winning juveniles here at Ashford on a roster that also includes [2011 leading general sire] Giant’s Causeway and [2011 leading freshman sire} Scat Daddy.”