Behrens (horse)

Thoroughbred racehorse infobox
horsename = Behrens


caption =
sire = Pleasant Colony
grandsire = His Majesty
dam = Hot Novel
damsire = Mari's Book
sex = Stallion
foaled = 1994
country = United States flagicon|USA
colour = Bay
breeder = Joanne Nor
owner = William Clifton, Jr. and Rudlein Stable
trainer = H. James Bond
record = 27: 9-8-3
earnings = $4,563,500
race = Dwyer Stakes (1997)
Pegasus Handicap (1997)
Massachusetts Handicap (1999)
Suburban Handicap (1999)
Oaklawn Handicap (1999)
Gulfstream Park Handicap (1999, 2000)
awards =
honours =
updated= August 16, 2008

Behrens (foaled 1994 in Kentucky) is a retired American Thoroughbred racehorse. Out of the mare Hot Novel, he was sired by the 1981 Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes winner, Pleasant Colony.

Raced by William Clifton, Jr. and the Rudlein Stable of Donald and Anne Rudder, Behrens did not race until age three when he made a winning debut in January of 1997 at Gulfstream Park in Hallandale Beach, Florida. He did not race for another six months as a result of arthroscopic surgery for an ankle chip. On his return to competition, Behrens won again then in July at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York, won the Dwyer Stakes. In the August Travers Stakes at Saratoga Race Course, Behrens finished second by a nose to Deputy Commander, then in September scored a 5¾ length win in the Pegasus Handicap at the Meadowlands Racetrack in New Jersey in which he beat a field that included the heavily favored Touch Gold. In that year's Breeders' Cup Classic, Behrens disappointed his backers with a seventh-place finish.

At age five Behrens had his best season in racing. His wins in 1999 included the Grade I's Gulfstream Park Handicap and Oaklawn Handicap, the Grade II Suburban Handicap, plus the Massachusetts Handicap in which he defeated Real Quiet. In addition, Behrens earned second-place in the Donn Handicap, Whitney Handicap and the Jockey Club Gold Cup Stakes.

As a six-year-old, Behrens won his second straight Grade I Gulfstream Park Handicap, was second to Dubai Millennium in the Dubai World Cup, and had seconds in the Woodward Stakes and Suburban Handicap. In 1999 he again finished seventh in the Breeders' Cup Classic.

Retired to stud duty, Behrens currently stands at Victory Rose Thoroughbreds in Vacaville, California.

References

* [http://www.pedigreequery.com/behrens Behrens' pedigree and partial racing stats]
* [http://www.victoryrose.com/images/Behrens08stats.pdf Behrens' statistics at Victory Rose Thoroughbreds]
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yQPS-eRBuVo Video at YouTube of Behrens' win in the 1999 Massachusetts Handicap]