Hansel (USA)
March 12, 1988 – June 13, 2017
Woodman (USA) x Count On Bonnie (USA), by Dancing Count (USA)
Family 2-w
March 12, 1988 – June 13, 2017
Woodman (USA) x Count On Bonnie (USA), by Dancing Count (USA)
Family 2-w
A good racehorse whose career was repeatedly derailed by injuries, Hansel reached his peak in the late spring of 1991, when he won the Preakness Stakes (USA-G1) and Belmont Stakes (USA-G1). He was not nearly as successful at stud as he had been as a racer.
Race record
14 starts, 7 wins, 2 seconds, 3 thirds, US$2,936,586
1990:
1991:
Honors
Eclipse Award, American champion 3-year-old male (1991)
Assessments
Rated at 122 pounds on the Experimental Free Handicap for American juvenile males of 1990, 4 pounds below champion Fly So Free.
Highweighted at 126 pounds on the Daily Racing Form's Free Handicap for American 3-year-old males of 1991, 3 pounds above Dinard, Strike the Gold, and Best Pal.
As an individual
A bay horse, Hansel was handsome, masculine and well-balanced with a good deal of quality. Those who knew him well described him as being highly intelligent. He disliked running in close quarters and could be thrown off his game if boxed in early in a race. He had a history of respiratory bleeding while racing and was retired after tearing a tendon sheath while finishing second in the 1991 Travers Stakes. As an aged stallion, he was described as “a consummate gentleman” by Lazy Lane Farm's general manager, Frank Shipp.
As a stallion
According to records kept by The Jockey Club, Hansel sired 221 winners (50.7%) and 16 stakes winners (3.7%) from 436 named foals.
Notable progeny
Loving Claim (USA)
Connections
Hansel was bred in Virginia by Marvin Little, Jr., and was owned by Joe Albritton's Lazy Lane Farm, which had purchased him for US$150,000 from the 1989 Keeneland September yearling sale. He was trained by Frank Brothers. He was sold to Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum in September 1991 and entered stud in Kentucky in 1992 at Gainsborough Stud. He was moved to Questroyal Stud in New York for the 1998 and 1999 breeding seasons and was then sold to Japanese interests. After standing at Hidaka Stallion Station in 2000-2005, he returned to the United States in January 2006 and stood the remainder of his stud career at Lazy Lane Farm in Upperville, Virginia, before being pensioned in 2012. He was euthanized due to the infirmities of old age in June 2017 and was buried at Lazy Lane.
Pedigree notes
Hansel is inbred 4x5 to two-time American Horse of the Year Native Dancer. He is a full brother to Grade 2-placed listed stakes winner Lahint.
Count On Bonnie, the dam of Hansel, never raced but is a full sister to 1978 Puerto Rican champion imported 3-year-old male Shake Shake Shake amd a half sister to Pot of Gold (by Search for Gold), dam of 1985 Canadian champion older male Ten Gold Pots (by Tentam) and second dam of Grade 2 winner Anet and Fantastic Story, the champion imported stayer of 2005 in Trinidad and Tobago. Count On Bonnie is also a half sister to Come Now (by Nearctic), dam of Canadian stakes winners Come Lucky Chance (by Jammed Lucky) and Regal Stafford (by Vice Regent) and second dam of 1997 Canadian champion 3-year-old male Cryptocloser; to Beau Arctic (by Champlain), dam of multiple Canadian stakes winner Sageata (by Dangblastit); and to El Hamo (by Search for Gold), dam of listed stakes winner Exquisite Mistress (by Nasty and Bold), second dam of Grade 2 winner Ready's Gal and third dam of Grade 2 winner Ready to Please and Grade 3 winner Machen.
Count On Bonnie was sired by the winning Northern Dancer horse Dancing Count from Buena Notte, whose sire Victoria Park won the 1960 Queen's Plate and was that year's Canadian Horse of the Year. A half sister to stakes winner Military Bearing (by Vice Regent), Buena Notte, was produced from the minor Italian stakes winner Midinette II, a half sister to 1961 Premio Ellington winner Mileto (by Ocarina) and a daughter of two-time Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe winner Tantième and 1950 Italian champion 2-year-old filly Milonga III (by Arco).
Books and media
Fun facts
Last updated: December 28, 2023
Race record
14 starts, 7 wins, 2 seconds, 3 thirds, US$2,936,586
1990:
- Won Arlington-Washington Futurity (USA-G2, 7FD, Arlington Park)
- Won Tremont Breeders' Cup Stakes (USA-G3, 5.5FD, Belmont)
- 2nd Hopeful Stakes (USA-G1, 6.5FD, Saratoga)
- 3rd Sapling Stakes (USA-G2, 6FD, Monmouth)
1991:
- Won Preakness Stakes (USA-G1, 9.5FD, Pimlico)
- Won Belmont Stakes (USA-G1, 12FD, Belmont)
- Won Lexington Stakes (USA-G2, 8.5FD, Keeneland)
- Won Jim Beam Stakes (USA-G2, 9FD, Turfway Park; new track record 1:46.70)
- 2nd Travers Stakes (USA-G1, 10FD, Saratoga)
- 3rd Haskell Invitational Handicap (USA-G1, 9FD, Monmouth)
- 3rd Florida Derby (USA-G1, 9FD, Gulfstream Park)
Honors
Eclipse Award, American champion 3-year-old male (1991)
Assessments
Rated at 122 pounds on the Experimental Free Handicap for American juvenile males of 1990, 4 pounds below champion Fly So Free.
Highweighted at 126 pounds on the Daily Racing Form's Free Handicap for American 3-year-old males of 1991, 3 pounds above Dinard, Strike the Gold, and Best Pal.
As an individual
A bay horse, Hansel was handsome, masculine and well-balanced with a good deal of quality. Those who knew him well described him as being highly intelligent. He disliked running in close quarters and could be thrown off his game if boxed in early in a race. He had a history of respiratory bleeding while racing and was retired after tearing a tendon sheath while finishing second in the 1991 Travers Stakes. As an aged stallion, he was described as “a consummate gentleman” by Lazy Lane Farm's general manager, Frank Shipp.
As a stallion
According to records kept by The Jockey Club, Hansel sired 221 winners (50.7%) and 16 stakes winners (3.7%) from 436 named foals.
Notable progeny
Loving Claim (USA)
Connections
Hansel was bred in Virginia by Marvin Little, Jr., and was owned by Joe Albritton's Lazy Lane Farm, which had purchased him for US$150,000 from the 1989 Keeneland September yearling sale. He was trained by Frank Brothers. He was sold to Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum in September 1991 and entered stud in Kentucky in 1992 at Gainsborough Stud. He was moved to Questroyal Stud in New York for the 1998 and 1999 breeding seasons and was then sold to Japanese interests. After standing at Hidaka Stallion Station in 2000-2005, he returned to the United States in January 2006 and stood the remainder of his stud career at Lazy Lane Farm in Upperville, Virginia, before being pensioned in 2012. He was euthanized due to the infirmities of old age in June 2017 and was buried at Lazy Lane.
Pedigree notes
Hansel is inbred 4x5 to two-time American Horse of the Year Native Dancer. He is a full brother to Grade 2-placed listed stakes winner Lahint.
Count On Bonnie, the dam of Hansel, never raced but is a full sister to 1978 Puerto Rican champion imported 3-year-old male Shake Shake Shake amd a half sister to Pot of Gold (by Search for Gold), dam of 1985 Canadian champion older male Ten Gold Pots (by Tentam) and second dam of Grade 2 winner Anet and Fantastic Story, the champion imported stayer of 2005 in Trinidad and Tobago. Count On Bonnie is also a half sister to Come Now (by Nearctic), dam of Canadian stakes winners Come Lucky Chance (by Jammed Lucky) and Regal Stafford (by Vice Regent) and second dam of 1997 Canadian champion 3-year-old male Cryptocloser; to Beau Arctic (by Champlain), dam of multiple Canadian stakes winner Sageata (by Dangblastit); and to El Hamo (by Search for Gold), dam of listed stakes winner Exquisite Mistress (by Nasty and Bold), second dam of Grade 2 winner Ready's Gal and third dam of Grade 2 winner Ready to Please and Grade 3 winner Machen.
Count On Bonnie was sired by the winning Northern Dancer horse Dancing Count from Buena Notte, whose sire Victoria Park won the 1960 Queen's Plate and was that year's Canadian Horse of the Year. A half sister to stakes winner Military Bearing (by Vice Regent), Buena Notte, was produced from the minor Italian stakes winner Midinette II, a half sister to 1961 Premio Ellington winner Mileto (by Ocarina) and a daughter of two-time Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe winner Tantième and 1950 Italian champion 2-year-old filly Milonga III (by Arco).
Books and media
- Hansel is one of 50 Thoroughbreds profiled in Royal Blood: Fifty Years of Classic Thoroughbreds. Published in 1994 by The Blood-Horse, Inc., the book features text by Jim Bolus and illustrations and commentary by Richard Stone Reeves.
- Hansel is profiled in Chapter 12 of Avalyn Hunter's American Classic Pedigrees 1914-2002 (2003, Eclipse Press).
Fun facts
- Following Hansel's win in the Preakness Stakes, jockey Jerry Bailey was to have been given a new car as the winning rider. He asked that for the value of the car to be donated to the Jockeys' Disabled Riders Fund instead.
- Hansel won the Belmont Stakes on three shoes, having lost his right front shoe sometime during the race.
- Hansel is the name of one of the title characters from the classic fairy tale "Hansel and Gretel," one of the stories collected by the Brothers Grimm.
- Hansel has been honored by stakes races at Turfway Park, Laurel and Colonial Downs.
Last updated: December 28, 2023