Hansel (March 12, 1988 – June 13, 2017) was an American

Thoroughbred The Thoroughbred is a horse breed best known for its use in horse racing. Although the word ''thoroughbred'' is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thoroughbred breed. Thoroughbreds are ...

racehorse who won the final two legs of the U.S. Triple Crown races in 1991 and was voted the Eclipse Award for Outstanding 3-Year-Old Male Horse. Out of the

mare A mare is an adult female horse or other equine. In most cases, a mare is a female horse over the age of three, and a filly is a female horse three and younger. In Thoroughbred horse racing, a mare is defined as a female horse more than fo ...

Count on Bonnie, his sire was Woodman, a Champion 2-year-old colt in

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

who was a son of the influential Champion sire Mr. Prospector. Woodman also sired the 1994

Breeders' Cup Juvenile The Breeders' Cup Juvenile is a Thoroughbred horse race for 2-year-old colts and geldings raced on dirt. It is held annually in late October or early November at a different racetrack in the United States or Canada as part of the Breeders' Cup W ...

and

Preakness Stakes The Preakness Stakes is an American thoroughbred horse race held on Armed Forces Day which is also the third Saturday in May each year at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Maryland. It is a Grade I race run over a distance of 9.5 furlongs () o ...

winner,

Timber Country Timber Country (foaled April 12,1992 in Kentucky - February 24, 2016) was an American Thoroughbred racehorse who was the first horse to ever win the Breeders' Cup Juvenile and American Triple Crown Classic Race when he won the 1995 Preakness St ...

, as well as the 1999 Canadian Champion 3-Year-Old Colt and

Queen's Plate The King's Plate (known as the Queen's Plate between 1860 to 1901 and 1952 to 2022) is Canada's oldest Thoroughbred horse race, having been founded in 1860. It is also the oldest continuously run race in North America. It is run at a distance of ...

winner, Woodcarver. Hansel's owner was

bank A bank is a financial institution that accepts deposits from the public and creates a demand deposit while simultaneously making loans. Lending activities can be directly performed by the bank or indirectly through capital markets. Because ...

Joe Allbritton Joe Lewis Allbritton (December 29, 1924 – December 12, 2012) was an American banker, publisher and philanthropist. Early life Joe Allbritton was born on December 29, 1924, in D'Lo, Mississippi, the sixth of seven children. His family soon reloc ...

, who raced him under his Lazy Lane Farm banner.

Early years

Hansel was purchased for $150,000 on the advice of Frank Brothers. His name comes from the story of

Hansel and Gretel "Hansel and Gretel" (; german: Hänsel und Gretel ) is a German fairy tale collected by the German Brothers Grimm and published in 1812 in ''Grimm's Fairy Tales'' (KHM 15). It is also known as Little Step Brother and Little Step Sister. Hansel ...

. Hansel had success racing at age two, winning the Grade III

Tremont Stakes The Tremont Stakes is a Listed American Thoroughbred horse race run annually for two-year-olds over the distance of 5½ furlongs on the dirt in early June at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York. The event carries a purse of US$150,000. History First ...

and the Grade II Arlington-Washington Futurity Stakes and finishing second in the Grade I Hopeful Stakes at Saratoga Race Course.

Three-year-old season

In 1991, Hansel began his three-year-old campaign at the end of March when he won the Grade II Jim Beam Stakes at Turfway Park in Florence, Kentucky, in track record time. In April, he finished third in the Grade I

Florida Derby The Florida Derby is an American Thoroughbred horse race for three-year-old horses held annually at Gulfstream Park in Hallandale Beach, Florida. Since 2005, it has been run five weeks before the Kentucky Derby, which is held on the first Sat ...

behind the 1990 U.S. Champion 2-Year-Old

Fly So Free Fly So Free (March 3, 1988 – September 21, 2003) was an American Thoroughbred Champion racehorse. A grandson of U.S. Racing Hall of Fame inductee Damascus, he was owned by New York City Broadway theatre producer and music publishing company ...

and second-place finisher Strike the Gold. Due to the result, jockey Pat Day had pulled out of the 1991 Jim Beam Stakes. Two weeks prior to the Derby, Hansel won the grade two

Lexington Stakes The Lexington Stakes is a Grade III American Thoroughbred horse race for three-year-old horses at a distance of one and one-sixteenth miles on the dirt run annually in April during at Keeneland Race Course in Lexington, Kentucky during their s ...

at Keeneland Racecourse. In the 1991 Kentucky Derby, Hansel was the betting favorite but after a mile tired badly and finished tenth. On the result, Frank Brothers said,"I'd like to be able to give you a reason why he ran so bad, but I just can't". As a result of his poor performance, trainer

Frank Brothers Frank L. Brothers (born October 24, 1946, in New Orleans, Louisiana) is a former American Thoroughbred racehorse trainer from 1980 to 2009 with a career win percentage of just over 23%, winning 2,291 races, including 262 stakes winners of which 5 ...

initially decided to skip the

. However, after a good workout by Hansel and encouragement from Hall of Fame trainer

Jack Van Berg John Charles "Jack" Van Berg (June 7, 1936 in Columbus, Nebraska – December 27, 2017) was an American Hall of Fame horse trainer. Born into a horse racing family, his father was the Hall of Fame trainer, Marion Van Berg. Both father and son hav ...

, for whom he had worked as an assistant, Brothers changed his mind and shipped the colt to

Pimlico Race Course Pimlico Race Course is a thoroughbred horse racetrack in Baltimore, Maryland, most famous for hosting the Preakness Stakes. Its name is derived from the 1660s when English settlers named the area where the facility currently stands in honor of Ol ...

. Hansel beat the Preakness field of eight by seven lengths. He finished ahead of place runners Corporate Report and Mane Minister with Best Pal and Strike the Gold finishing fifth and sixth respectively. In the

1991 Belmont Stakes The 1991 Belmont Stakes was the 123rd running of the Belmont Stakes at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York held on June 8, 1991. With a field of eleven horses, Hansel won by a head over 1991 Kentucky Derby winner Strike the Gold in front of a c ...

, Hansel had to race without

Lasix Furosemide is a loop diuretic medication used to treat fluid build-up due to heart failure, liver scarring, or kidney disease. It may also be used for the treatment of high blood pressure. It can be taken by injection into a vein or by mouth ...

, a drug used to control bleeding that the NYRA had banned at the time. As a result, bettors made Strike the Gold their first choice. However, Hansel held off a late charge by Strike the Gold to win the Belmont Stakes by a head, with Mane Minister finishing third as he had in the Derby and Preakness. Hansel became the first "Dual Classic Winner" to win the last two jewels of the Triple Crown since

Risen Star Risen Star (March 25, 1985 – March 13, 1998) was an American Thoroughbred racehorse who won the Preakness Stakes and Belmont Stakes in 1988. Background The dark bay colt was the son of the great Triple Crown winner Secretariat and out of ...

in 1988. He was awarded the fifth $1,000,000 Chrysler Triple Crown Bonus. Hansel also finished second to Corporate Report in the 1991

Travers Stakes The Travers Stakes is an American Graded stakes race, Grade I Thoroughbred horse race held at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, New York. It is nicknamed the "Mid-Summer Derby" and is the third-ranked race for American three-year-olds acco ...

at Saratoga. He was then named

American Champion Three-Year-Old Male Horse The American Champion Three-Year-Old Male Horse is an American Thoroughbred horse racing honor awarded annually in Thoroughbred flat racing. It became part of the Eclipse Awards program in 1971. The award originated in 1936 when both ''Turf & Sport ...

winning the

Eclipse Award The Eclipse Award is an American Thoroughbred horse racing award named after the 18th-century British racehorse and sire, Eclipse. An Eclipse Award Trophy is presented to the winner in each division that is made by a few small selected American ...

by a comfortable margin over the other finalists.

Retirement

In early September 1991, Hansel was sold to Sheik Maktoum bin Rashid Al Maktoum and was retired at the end of the racing season to stand at

stud Stud may refer to the following terms: Animals * Stud (animal), an animal retained for breeding ** Stud farm, a property where livestock are bred Arts and entertainment * Stud (band), a British progressive rock group * The Stud (bar), a gay ba ...

at the Sheik's Gainsborough Stud. Under the terms of the sale, Joe Lewis Allbritton retained breeding interest in him. During the 1998 and 1999 breeding seasons, Hansel was sent to stand at Questroyal Stud, LLC. in

Claverack, New York Claverack is a town in Columbia County, New York, United States. The population was 6,021 at the 2010 census. The town name is a corruption for the Dutch word “Klaverakker” for "Clover Fields" or "Clover Reach". In 1705, the first discovery ...

, after which he was sent to breeders in Japan, where he remained until 2006. He returned home to stand at Allbritton's Lazy Lane Farm in

Upperville, Virginia Upperville is a small unincorporated town in Fauquier County, Virginia, United States, along U.S. Route 50 fifty miles from downtown Washington, D.C., near the Loudoun County line. Founded in the 1790s along Pantherskin Creek, it was originally ...

(formerly Isabel Dodge Sloane's Brookmeade Stud), and stood there until he was pensioned in 2012. Hansel was euthanized on June 13, 2017, due to infirmities of old age at his home farm. Hansel sired five graded stakes winners, most notably the French Gr.I winner Loving Claim and multiple graded stakes winner Guided Tour, who earned more than $1.9 million. Hansel is the broodmare sire of five graded stakes winners, including Sharp Humor, who won the Gr.II

Swale Stakes The Swale Stakes is a Grade III American Thoroughbred horse race for three year old horses at the distance of seven furlongs on the dirt held annually in January at Gulfstream Park, Hallandale Beach, Florida. The event currently carries a purse ...

. Prior to his death, Hansel was the oldest living winner of the Preakness and Belmont Stakes.

Pedigree

References

Lazy Lane Farm official website

Hansel's pedigree and racing stats

{{Belmont Stakes Winners 1988 racehorse births 2017 racehorse deaths Racehorses bred in Virginia Racehorses trained in the United States Preakness Stakes winners Belmont Stakes winners Eclipse Award winners American Grade 1 Stakes winners Thoroughbred family 2-w