Kentucky Derby 2012 Results: Taking a Look at Union Rags' Flop on the Big Stage

While much of the 2012 Kentucky Derby audience was captivated by I'll Have Another's final sprint to beat out Bodemeister for the win, Union Rags finished in the middle of the pack after grand expectations.

'Rags was one of the names casual Derby fans learned quick during coverage of the spectacle, as many commentators saw the Dixie Union colt as a legitimate contender to take home the first place finish last Saturday. Instead, Derby viewers (and many gamblers) saw the horse they expected to see near the front of the pack almost jogging around the Churchill Downs track for much of the race.

For those watching on television, 'Rags was almost out of the picture for much of the race, as he spent much of the race closer to the 12th and 13th place horses instead of the first or second place colts.

Union Rags' jockey, Julien Leparoux told The Boston Globe after the race: "He broke a step slow and he usually breaks well from the gate, then he got bumped and we dropped back."

From there, Union Rags found himself stuck in the crowd that was the middle of the pack after climbing out of the third-to-last place spot the horse found himself at through the first turn of the "Most Exciting Two Minutes in Sports."

As the Derby field turned for the home stretch, Leparoux and his horse tried desperately to make up for lost time, finding a few openings to weave their way from the bottom three racers into the crowded middle pack as I'll Have Another began his gallop towards immortality.

"I had nowhere to go where I could make a move, I knew it was going to be a tough comeback" the jockey told The Globe.

It's hard to imagine after watching Union Rags' performance at the 138th Kentucky Derby that the horse had a 5/1 chance of winning the whole thing.

What the horse's performance did show some genetic-enthusiasts of the racing world is that sometimes it's not all about who sired your horse. Leading up to the race, 'Rags was compared to his jockey's previous horse, Barbaro, who won the 2006 running of the Derby, but those comparisons are a thing of the past after that porous showing.

Union Rags will be lucky if he gets a shot at the Preakness Stakes in Maryland.