Ashford Stud purchases Hansen

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.”