Union Rags, Kentucky Derby Pick, Forged at Saratoga It was one of those soggy Saratoga afternoons last August, with rain beating on the red and white awnings and sending railbirds for cover under the eaves of the betting windows. The feature that day was for 2-year-old colts going six and a half furlongs, and in the paddock Union Rags let the water bead on him without flinching. He was something to look at when standing so still. He was absolutely breathtaking in motion. Union Rags rocked out of the gate that day as if he were aboard a Jet Ski and whooshed down a sloppy track with two rivals at his neck. They were running lickety-split quarter-miles. On the turn, the other two appeared to hit a bog and stopped running. But not Union Rags: he hit the stretch with a nearly four-length lead and splashed to the finish line a winner by more than seven lengths. Then and there, I had my Kentucky Derby horse. Union Rags reaffirmed my endorsement by rolling to a five-length victory in the Champagne Stakes at Belmont Park in October. But it was in defeat at the Breeders" Cup Juvenile here at Churchill Downs in November that I fell hard for this son of Dixie Union. Union Rags was caught four wide heading into the final turn and was fanned even wider coming out of it. He looked hopelessly beaten. Instead of quitting, he bore down harder. Union Rags angled toward the middle of the track and thundered past one horse after another. In midstretch, Union Rags's lack of seasoning showed, and he swerved to the outside. Again, it looked like a momentum killer. But in an instant, the colt was back on line vaulting down the stretch with dead aim on the leader, a white horse named Hansen. The wire got there a head before Union Rags did, but it did not matter. It was a determined and beautiful performance. Ballet has Baryshnikovs and Nureyevs. Horse racing has Secretariats and Zenyattas. Union Rags is a long way from being a virtuoso, but he has showed flashes of something: that blend of talent and charisma that you cannot define, but that you know is rare. When Union Rags made his debut as a 3-year-old in February by decimating his rivals in the Fountain of Youth, my Derby preparations pretty much ended. It was clear Union Rags was better this year than he was last. That is what you want to see from a Kentucky Derby-bound contender. Even after Union Rags followed it with a near miss after a troubled trip in the Florida Derby in March, there was little reason to panic, although the chattering class on the backside did anyway. The colt was knocked for having a nose for trouble, for lacking maturity and even for perhaps battling a phantom ailment. The sport always traffics in opinions, information and misinformation. If I hadn't been standing in the rain in Saratoga last August, perhaps I would have joined in. On a swampy track that day, before a crowd of die-hard racing fans, Union Rags showed us something special. We were in on the secret. There was no need to worry about his performance in the Florida Derby. Even Baryshnikov must have landed funny once a while. Union Rags will face Hansen again. He is a good one. Union Rags will also face seven other rivals who competed beneath the Twin Spires in the Juvenile last November. He will have to be faster than Creative Cause, Dullahan and Take Charge Indy - the third-, fourth- and fifth-place finishers that day. A late-developing colt named Bodemeister is the morning-line favorite to capture the 138th running of the Kentucky Derby. He ran away with the Arkansas Derby by more than nine lengths. This is a good, competitive bunch of 3-year-olds, and horseplayers and horse lovers alike should be grateful. Union Rags was my horse last August. He is my pick on the first Saturday in May.