After Proving Doubters Wrong, Union Rags Goes Back to Being a Horse The Triple Crown series is now in the books. I'll Have Another emerged on the national stage with two brilliant stretch drives to take the first two legs, the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness Stakes. Sadly for horse racing, he was not able to compete in the final leg because of a tendon injury and is now retired. Union Rags was one of the leading contenders coming into the Kentucky Derby. If any horse was going to win the Triple Crown this year, many thought he was the horse. A beautiful animal, with tremedous presence, Union Rags was nearly champion 2-year-old. His preparations this year had not all gone as planned, but he looked fantastic on Derby day. But that day was not for Union Rags, who ran a troubled seventh. Michael Matz decided to skip the middle jewel of the crown and focus on preparing his colt for the Belmont Stakes. A rider switch was made, but questions were being asked. Can this horse, by Dixie Union, get the mile-and-a-half distance? Pedigree pundits doubted it. Russell Jones, who helped buy the horse back for his owner, Phyllis Wyeth, was adamant that he could. There was enough stamina on the female line of his family to compensate. But Jones would have to say that, he is invested in the horse. No matter, there were other doubts. Does the horse have the courage to fight out a tough battle? The Derby highlighted some of those questions when he backed out of a hole, coming out of the gate. Is Union Rags just a super talented horse who has flaws? Well the Belmont proved all the naysayers wrong. Under terrific handling by Johnny Velazquez, Union Rags showed that he could handle the extra distance, and to do so, he ran into a narrow hole up the fence to deny the Baffert team just before the wire. It was a huge performance from the colt who had people whispering about him before his very first start last year. It has now set up all kinds of possibilities for the Union Rags team going forward for a summer and fall campaign. But before we hit the second half of the season, there will also be some time to unwind a little. Less than 14 hours after storming down the lane at Belmont Park to remind everybody why we loved him as a 2-year-old, Union Rags was back in his paddock at Fair Hill, just being a horse.