Union Rags fires bullet at Fair Hill; Ravelo's Boy zips at Calder

Union Rags fires bullet at Fair Hill; Ravelo's Boy zips at

Calder

Union Rags impressed new rider Johnny Velazquez with a blistering five-furlong

move in a bullet :59 at Fair Hill on Sunday.

Velazquez made the trek down to Maryland to get acquainted with the Michael Matz colt, who

posted the fastest of six works at the distance on the fast main track -- by

three full seconds.

"I'm glad Johnny made the effort to come down and sit on him," Matz said.

"Johnny seemed to like him and he seemed to do that easy enough."

"Excellent, man -- very easy," Velazquez enthused after returning to Belmont

Park. "It was a little faster than we had planned, but it was very easy. Very

impressive. Hopefully, we can keep him like that for Saturday!"

Union Rags, a smashing winner of last fall's Grade 1 Champagne at Belmont,

was most recently a rough-trip seventh in the Kentucky Derby. In the wake of

those woes, connections opted to make a rider switch from Leparoux to Velazquez.

"That was tough," Azpurua said of his time in the academy. "It was hard, hard

work. But when my father passed away suddenly back home, I needed to go back to

my country. That is when I began to train horses. I won over 3,000 races in

Venezuela; won all the biggest races in my country like the Simon Bolivar and

the Presidente de la Republica."

After three decades of success in Venezuela and a 1974 Kentucky Derby

flirtation with brother Leo Azpurua's Set n' Go, who finished 16th to Cannonade,

Azpurua returned to the United States in the late 1970s, and in 1980 he took up

residence at Calder, where he has remained ever since.

"Every day in this game, you learn something new," Azpurua said. "Look at me,

I've been training horses over 60 years, and I tell you right now, every day

this game has a new lesson for me. I think that's why people that get involved

in racing never leave. Every day, there is something new to learn. And if you

listen, and pay attention, it is the horses that are the teachers."  

Having already made 13 starts, Ravelo's Boy has the most race-day experience

of the expected Belmont Stakes starters. But after grabbing a quarter at the

start of the Grade 2 Tampa Bay Derby, Azpurua eased back on the colt, and

Ravelo's Boy hasn't run since that March 10 race, a three-month layoff that is

rare by Azpurua's training standards.

"Coming out of the gate, when he made his first jump, he got crowded and his

front came up a little short. That caused his back leg to reach up and grab the

right front. I thought he showed heart that day to run after that. But when he

came back, I knew that he would need some time off. And that time off has been

very good for him. It has allowed him to mature."

And it is that maturity, that perceived improvement in ability and attitude,

which leads Azpurua to believe his horse will perform to such lofty expectations

on Saturday. And while Azpurua stops shorts of predicting a shocking and

history-thwarting upset in the Belmont, the trainer steadfastly believes his

horse will be competitive come race day.

"When we get to New York, they won't know me, or my horse," the 83-year-old

conditioner said. "All the focus is on the other horse (I'll Have Another), as

it should be. But I believe my horse is going up there to run a good race. And

at the end, I believe we will get noticed."

Azpurua will board a plane bound for New York Monday afternoon to oversee the

arrival of Ravelo's Boy on Tuesday morning.

Alex Solis has the Belmont mount.

Bet the Belmont Stakes at TwinSpires.com