Sports

Union Rags jockey believes I’ll Have Another can be beat

A BELMONT CHANGEUP: Union Rags, who finished seventh at the Kentucky Derby, will have a new jockey, John Velazquez, for Saturday’s Belmont Stakes. (
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It’s time to put up or shut up for Union Rags in Saturday’s Belmont Stakes. No more excuses. The towering bay son of Dixie Union, a leading member of this 3-year-old crop since his 5 1/4-length victory in last year’s Champagne Stakes at Belmont Park, has lost three of his last four starts, with alibis in each one.

In the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile, Union Rags went wide and missed by a head. In the Florida Derby, he was boxed in traffic and finished third. In the Kentucky Derby, he lost his chance when he was squeezed back at the break.

Many of Union Rags’ former fans have jumped off the bandwagon as he heads toward his showdown with Triple Crown hopeful I’ll Have Another in the 144th “Test of the Champion,” figuring he’s just a horse who finds trouble. One thing is for sure: No apologies will be accepted if he gets bollixed up again going 1 1/2 miles around the wide, sweeping turns of “Big Sandy.”

Looking to change his luck, trainer Michael Matz made a jockey switch from Julien Leparoux to John Velazquez, who will be inducted into the Racing Hall of Fame this August.

“[Union Rags] has been very unlucky,” said Velazquez, who had a similar rough trip in the Derby aboard Went the Day Well. “He didn’t break very good and got shut off right from the gate. It’s one of those things you can’t help.

“But he finished up really well [closing from 18th to seventh]. If he breaks well in the Belmont and gets a good position where he’s comfortable, with that nice stride he has and a controlled pace, I think he definitely has a really good chance to win the whole thing.”

The big question, Velazquez said, is which horses can handle the distance.

“If my horse runs his race, I think he can beat I’ll Have Another fair and square,” he said. “I’m going to keep him in my sights, that’s for sure. And you have to pay attention to Dullahan, who’s a very nice horse as well.”

Two of the biggest victories in Velazquez’ career — when he won the 2007 Belmont on the filly Rags to Riches, and last year’s Kentucky Derby on Animal Kingdom — came when he picked up the mount from another jockey right before the race.

“This one might be a nice pickup as well,” he said.

Actually, Velazquez was meant to ride Union Rags all along. When the colt’s former rider, Javier Castellano, opted instead to ride Algorithms in the Feb. 26 Fountain of Youth — which Union Rags won by four lengths — Velazquez was offered the mount. But he was scheduled to ride Animal Kingdom in the Dubai World Cup the same day as the Florida Derby, and so Matz tabbed Leparoux instead.

Last Sunday, Velazquez climbed aboard Union Rags for the first time, working the colt a sharp five furlongs in :59, in company, at the Fair Hill training center in Maryland.

“The work was really impressive,” he said. “He was very strong. I never had to ask him to do anything. He went on his own. Hopefully he comes to the race the same way.”