Union Rags (USA)
March 3, 2009 – Living
Dixie Union (USA) x Tempo (USA), by Gone West (USA)
Family 13-b
March 3, 2009 – Living
Dixie Union (USA) x Tempo (USA), by Gone West (USA)
Family 13-b
A big, strong, handsome colt, Union Rags combined the speed to win graded races over sprint distances at 2 with the stamina to win the Belmont Stakes (USA-G1) as a 3-year-old. Unfortunately, his racing career was regrettably brief. He got off to an excellent start at stud but has not been able to sustain quite the same level of success into the middle part of his career as a stallion, though he continues to get some good horses.
Race record
8 starts, 5 wins, 1 second, 1 third, US$1,798,800
2011:
2012:
Honors
Assessments
Co-highweighted with divisional champion Hansen at 126 pounds on the Experimental Free Handicap for American juveniles of 2011, 2 pounds above third-place Creative Cause.
Rated at 119 pounds on the 2012 World’s Best Racehorse Rankings for his performance in the Belmont Stakes, 21 pounds below overall highweight Frankel (the 2012 European Horse of the Year) and 6 pounds below Eclipse Award winner I’ll Have Another, the top-rated 3-year-old male on dirt.
As an individual
A tall, handsome, rangy bay standing 16.2½ hands, Union Rags has been held by some to bear a distinct resemblance to Nijinsky II, the sire of his second dam. His temperament as a racehorse was easy-going, but he was determined and game when set down for a drive. He had a long stride and was an excellent mover, and he handled both fast and sloppy surfaces well. He suffered a suspensory injury while in training not long after the Belmont Stakes, leading to his retirement.
As a stallion
Union Rags’ best runners have typically come to hand as the distances stretch out late in their 2-year-old seasons.
Notable progeny
Dancing Rags (USA), Express Train (USA), Free Drop Billy (USA), Paradise Woods (USA), Power Squeeze (USA), Union Strike (USA)
Connections
Foaled in Kentucky, Union Rags was bred and owned by Phyllis M. Wyeth, who repurchased the colt for US$390,000 at the 2011 Fasig-Tipton Florida sale after selling him as a yearling for US$145,000 to IEAH Stable at the 2010 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga sale. She raced Union Rags in the name of her Chadds Ford Stable. The colt was trained by Michael Matz and was ridden to his Belmont Stakes win by John Velazquez. He entered stud in 2013 in Kentucky at Lane’s End Farm.
Pedigree notes
Sired by multiple Grade 1 winner Dixie Union (by Dixieland Band), Union Rags is inbred 3x4 to the great international sire Northern Dancer, 4x3 to two-time American champion sire Mr. Prospector, and 5x6x6x5 to two-time American Horse of the Year Native Dancer, paternal grandsire of Mr. Prospector and maternal grandsire of Northern Dancer. He is a half brother to Tempo West (by Rahy), dam of multiple Group 1 winner Declaration of War (by War Front), multiple Grade 3 winner War Correspondent (by War Front), and French listed stakes winner Vertiformer (by Dynaformer).
A winner of two of her three starts, Union Rags’s dam Tempo is a half sister to multiple listed stakes winner Marry Me Do (by Blushing Groom) and to Grade 2-placed Dancing Devlette (by Devil’s Bag), dam of Grade 2 winner Satan’s Quick Chick (by Sky Mesa), Grade 3 winner Pratella (by Jade Hunter; dam of listed stakes winner Angiana, by Giant’s Causeway), and multiple restricted stakes winner Satan’s Code (by Polish Numbers), and second dam of Grade 3 winner Blue Sky Holiday. Tempo is also a half sister to Fortunee (by Wild Again), dam of stakes winners Deadline (by Mountain Cat) and Cheiron (by Maria’s Mon) and second dam of four stakes winners including Sensato, the champion imported 3-year-old filly of 2015 in the Dominican Republic.
Tempo and her siblings are out of 1979 Sheepshead Bay Handicap (USA-G2) winner Terpsichorist (by Nijinsky II), a full sister to English Group 2 winner Gorytus; to Vaslava, dam of multiple stakes winner Big Monday (by Hagley); and to Dancing Rags, dam of stakes winner Dance Account (by Private Account) and second dam of 2015 Jenny Wiley Stakes (USA-G1) winner Ball Dancing. Produced from 1966 One Thousand Guineas winner Glad Rags II (by 1961 French champion older male High Hat, by Hyperion), Terpsichorist is also a half sister to juvenile Grade 3 winner Mirthful Flirt (by Raise a Native), dam of juvenile Grade 2 winner What’s Dat (by Believe It) and second dam of 1993 Belmont Stakes (USA-G1) winner Colonial Affair and multiple Grade 3 winner Stark South. In addition, Terpsichorist is a half sister to Better Begin (by Buckpasser), dam of French listed stakes winner Palace Dancer (by Northern Dancer) and second dam of 1988 Irish Two Thousand Guineas (IRE-G1) winner Prince of Birds, and to Hatter’s Dream (by Buckpasser), dam of listed stakes winners Lastcomer (by Kris) and Dreamfields (by Northfields) and second dam of multiple Slovakian champion Temirkanov, South African Group 2 winner Idle Fancy, and Grade 2 winner Marble Maiden. Finally, Terpsichorist is a half sister to Gala Party (by Hoist the Flag), dam of multiple stakes winner Ultramate (by Nijinsky II).
Books and media
The New York Racing Association’s footage of Union Rags’s Belmont Stakes win can be viewed at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ECxoDSydOY.
Fun facts
Photo credit
Photo taken by Jessica Morgan at Churchill Downs in 2011 during workouts for the Breeders' Cup Juvenile. Used by permission.
Last updated: August 17, 2024
Race record
8 starts, 5 wins, 1 second, 1 third, US$1,798,800
2011:
- Won Champagne Stakes (USA-G1, 8FD, Belmont)
- Won Three Chimneys Saratoga Special Stakes (USA-G2, 6.5FD, Saratoga)
- 2nd Grey Goose Breeders' Cup Juvenile Stakes (USA-G1, 8.5FD, Churchill Downs)
2012:
- Won Belmont Stakes (USA-G1, 12FT, Belmont)
- Won Fountain of Youth Stakes (USA-G2, 8.5FD, Gulfstream Park)
- 3rd Florida Derby (USA-G1, 9FD, Gulfstream Park)
Honors
- Eclipse Award finalist, American champion 2-year-old male (2011)
- Eclipse Award finalist, American champion 3-year-old male (2012)
Assessments
Co-highweighted with divisional champion Hansen at 126 pounds on the Experimental Free Handicap for American juveniles of 2011, 2 pounds above third-place Creative Cause.
Rated at 119 pounds on the 2012 World’s Best Racehorse Rankings for his performance in the Belmont Stakes, 21 pounds below overall highweight Frankel (the 2012 European Horse of the Year) and 6 pounds below Eclipse Award winner I’ll Have Another, the top-rated 3-year-old male on dirt.
As an individual
A tall, handsome, rangy bay standing 16.2½ hands, Union Rags has been held by some to bear a distinct resemblance to Nijinsky II, the sire of his second dam. His temperament as a racehorse was easy-going, but he was determined and game when set down for a drive. He had a long stride and was an excellent mover, and he handled both fast and sloppy surfaces well. He suffered a suspensory injury while in training not long after the Belmont Stakes, leading to his retirement.
As a stallion
Union Rags’ best runners have typically come to hand as the distances stretch out late in their 2-year-old seasons.
Notable progeny
Dancing Rags (USA), Express Train (USA), Free Drop Billy (USA), Paradise Woods (USA), Power Squeeze (USA), Union Strike (USA)
Connections
Foaled in Kentucky, Union Rags was bred and owned by Phyllis M. Wyeth, who repurchased the colt for US$390,000 at the 2011 Fasig-Tipton Florida sale after selling him as a yearling for US$145,000 to IEAH Stable at the 2010 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga sale. She raced Union Rags in the name of her Chadds Ford Stable. The colt was trained by Michael Matz and was ridden to his Belmont Stakes win by John Velazquez. He entered stud in 2013 in Kentucky at Lane’s End Farm.
Pedigree notes
Sired by multiple Grade 1 winner Dixie Union (by Dixieland Band), Union Rags is inbred 3x4 to the great international sire Northern Dancer, 4x3 to two-time American champion sire Mr. Prospector, and 5x6x6x5 to two-time American Horse of the Year Native Dancer, paternal grandsire of Mr. Prospector and maternal grandsire of Northern Dancer. He is a half brother to Tempo West (by Rahy), dam of multiple Group 1 winner Declaration of War (by War Front), multiple Grade 3 winner War Correspondent (by War Front), and French listed stakes winner Vertiformer (by Dynaformer).
A winner of two of her three starts, Union Rags’s dam Tempo is a half sister to multiple listed stakes winner Marry Me Do (by Blushing Groom) and to Grade 2-placed Dancing Devlette (by Devil’s Bag), dam of Grade 2 winner Satan’s Quick Chick (by Sky Mesa), Grade 3 winner Pratella (by Jade Hunter; dam of listed stakes winner Angiana, by Giant’s Causeway), and multiple restricted stakes winner Satan’s Code (by Polish Numbers), and second dam of Grade 3 winner Blue Sky Holiday. Tempo is also a half sister to Fortunee (by Wild Again), dam of stakes winners Deadline (by Mountain Cat) and Cheiron (by Maria’s Mon) and second dam of four stakes winners including Sensato, the champion imported 3-year-old filly of 2015 in the Dominican Republic.
Tempo and her siblings are out of 1979 Sheepshead Bay Handicap (USA-G2) winner Terpsichorist (by Nijinsky II), a full sister to English Group 2 winner Gorytus; to Vaslava, dam of multiple stakes winner Big Monday (by Hagley); and to Dancing Rags, dam of stakes winner Dance Account (by Private Account) and second dam of 2015 Jenny Wiley Stakes (USA-G1) winner Ball Dancing. Produced from 1966 One Thousand Guineas winner Glad Rags II (by 1961 French champion older male High Hat, by Hyperion), Terpsichorist is also a half sister to juvenile Grade 3 winner Mirthful Flirt (by Raise a Native), dam of juvenile Grade 2 winner What’s Dat (by Believe It) and second dam of 1993 Belmont Stakes (USA-G1) winner Colonial Affair and multiple Grade 3 winner Stark South. In addition, Terpsichorist is a half sister to Better Begin (by Buckpasser), dam of French listed stakes winner Palace Dancer (by Northern Dancer) and second dam of 1988 Irish Two Thousand Guineas (IRE-G1) winner Prince of Birds, and to Hatter’s Dream (by Buckpasser), dam of listed stakes winners Lastcomer (by Kris) and Dreamfields (by Northfields) and second dam of multiple Slovakian champion Temirkanov, South African Group 2 winner Idle Fancy, and Grade 2 winner Marble Maiden. Finally, Terpsichorist is a half sister to Gala Party (by Hoist the Flag), dam of multiple stakes winner Ultramate (by Nijinsky II).
Books and media
The New York Racing Association’s footage of Union Rags’s Belmont Stakes win can be viewed at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ECxoDSydOY.
Fun facts
- Union Rags’ name alludes to both his sire and to his third dam, Glad Rags II, who was owned by Phyllis Wyeth’s parents James and Alice duPont Mills and was a foundation mare for their Hickory Tree Farm. Gone West, who was bred to Glad Rags II’s daughter Terpsichorist to produce the colt’s dam Tempo, also had ties to Wyeth’s family as he was raced by her parents.
- Union Rags was the last foal produced from Tempo, who was Phyllis Wyeth’s favorite mare because of her family history but had difficulty with both conceiving and sustaining a pregnancy and was nearly lost a couple of times while carrying her Classic-winning son. The mare was pensioned from breeding the following year after experiencing hemorrhaging.
- Union Rags was so laid-back as a youngster that his groom actually rode him in from the paddock before the colt had even been broken.
- Wyeth very reluctantly sold Union Rags as a yearling based on the advice of her tax accountant, but when the colt returned to the sale ring as a 2-year-old, she found herself too much in love with him not to repurchase him. Ironically, the reason Union Rags was being resold was similar to the reason Wyeth had sold him in the first place: IEAH had encountered financial problems and needed to sell him to generate cash flow.
- Wyeth wasn’t quite running a one-horse stable, but she was close. Union Rags was the only horse Wyeth had in training when he was 2. During the colt-s 3-year-od season, she expanded her racing stable with a half-share in a claiming horse.
- Union Rags has a unique entry in his stallion career in Heneral Kalentong, a Triple Crown winner in the Philippines.
Photo credit
Photo taken by Jessica Morgan at Churchill Downs in 2011 during workouts for the Breeders' Cup Juvenile. Used by permission.
Last updated: August 17, 2024