2012 Blue Grass Stakes Result: Dullahan Runs Down Hansen Late (with Video)

For a couple of hours leading up to today's Grade 1 Blue Grass Stakes, you might have thought a beauty pageant was taking place at Keeneland instead of a horse race. The "controversy" over the dying blue of Hansen's tail dominated the discussion on Twitter and TVG until Keeneland racing officials required that the tail be returned to it's natural color. Once the sideshow was over, thirteen horses went into the gate Hansen broke alertly and took command of the lead and set solid fractions through the first six furlongs. At the top of the lane, Hansen separated from the field and appeared to be on his way to another wire-to-wire victory, only to see Dullahan make a late charge down the middle of the track to win the Blue Grass Stakes by a length at the wire.

Hansen held on to finished second, Gung Ho was third, while Holy Candy rounded out the Superfecta.

Both Hansen and Dullahan have enough earnings to run in the 2012 Kentucky Derby on the first Saturday in May.

Dullahan is a three-year-old colt by Even the Score out of a Smart Strike mare (Mining My Own), trained by Dale Romans and ridden by jockey Kent Desormeaux. Dullahan is a half-brother to Kentucky Derby winner Mine That Bird.

Below are the payouts, fractions, internal splits and video replay for the Blue Grass Stakes. More on this race later on.

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Result Chart (via DRF.com)