Behrens is a retired American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 Thoroughbred

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...

 racehorse

Horse racing

Horse racing is an equestrian sport that has a long history. Archaeological records indicate that horse racing occurred in ancient Babylon, Syria, and Egypt. Both chariot and mounted horse racing were events in the ancient Greek Olympics by 648 BC...

. Out of the mare

Mare (horse)

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 age three and younger. However, in Thoroughbred horse racing, a mare is defined as a female horse more than four years old; in harness racing a mare is a...

 Hot Novel, he was sired by the 1981 Kentucky Derby

Kentucky Derby

The Kentucky Derby is a Grade I stakes race for three-year-old Thoroughbred horses, held annually in Louisville, Kentucky, United States on the first Saturday in May, capping the two-week-long Kentucky Derby Festival. The race is one and a quarter mile at Churchill Downs. Colts and geldings carry...

 and Preakness Stakes

Preakness Stakes

The Preakness Stakes is an American flat Thoroughbred horse race for three-year-olds held on 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 on dirt. Colts and geldings carry 126 pounds ; fillies 121 lb...

 winner, Pleasant Colony

Pleasant Colony

Pleasant Colony was an American Thoroughbred racehorse who won the first two legs of the 1981 U.S. Triple Crown series....

.

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 1997 at Gulfstream Park

Gulfstream Park

Gulfstream Park Racing & Casino is a racetrack and county-approved racino in Hallandale Beach, Florida, in the United States. During its annual meet, which spans December through April, it is one of the most important venues for horse racing in America....

 in Hallandale Beach, Florida

Hallandale Beach, Florida

Hallandale Beach is a city in Broward County, Florida, United States. The city is named after Luther Halland, a worker for Henry Flagler's Florida East Coast Railroad. As of the 2010 census, the population was 37,113...

. 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

Belmont Park

Belmont Park is a major thoroughbred horse-racing facility located in Elmont in the Town of Hempstead in Nassau County, New York, on Long Island adjoining New York City. It first opened on May 4, 1905...

 in Elmont, New York

Elmont, New York

Elmont is an unincorporated census-designated place located in the northwest corner of the Town of Hempstead in Nassau County, New York, along its border with the borough of Queens in New York City...

, won the Dwyer Stakes

Dwyer Stakes

The Dwyer Stakes is an American Grade II stakes race for three-year-old thoroughbred racehorses held annually at Belmont Park racetrack in Elmont, Long Island, New York. Run in early July, it is open to three-year-old horses and is raced over a distance of 1 1/16-miles on dirt...

. In the August Travers Stakes

Travers Stakes

The Travers Stakes is an American Grade I Thoroughbred horse race held at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, New York.First held in 1864, it was named for William R. Travers, the president of the old Saratoga Racing Association. His horse, Kentucky, won the first running of the Travers...

 at Saratoga Race Course

Saratoga Race Course

Saratoga Race Course is a Thoroughbred horse racing track in Saratoga Springs, New York, United States. It opened on August 3, 1863, and is the oldest organized sporting venue of any kind in the United States. It is typically open for racing from late July through early September.-History:John...

, Behrens finished second by a nose to Deputy Commander

Deputy Commander

Deputy commander was a rank in the London Metropolitan Police which existed between 1946 and 1968.In 1946, the rank of chief constable, which was between superintendent and deputy assistant commissioner, was renamed deputy commander. At the same time, the rank of deputy assistant commissioner was...

, then in September scored a 5¾ length win in the Pegasus Handicap

Pegasus Stakes

The Pegasus Stakes is an American Grade III Thoroughbred horse race run annually in June at Monmouth Park Racetrack in Oceanport, New Jersey.An event for three-year-olds of either gender, it is contested at a mile and an eighth on the dirt, and offers a purse of $250,000.There was no race run in...

 at the Meadowlands Racetrack

Meadowlands Racetrack

The Meadowlands Racetrack is a horse racing track at the MetLife Sports Complex in East Rutherford, New Jersey, United States.The track hosts both thoroughbred racing and harness racing...

 in New Jersey

New Jersey

New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...

 in which he beat a field that included the heavily favored Touch Gold

Touch Gold

Touch Gold is an American Thoroughbred racehorse best known as the winner of the Classic Belmont Stakes in which he ended Silver Charm's bid for the U.S.Triple Crown....

. In that year's Breeders' Cup Classic

Breeders' Cup Classic

The Breeders' Cup Classic is a Grade I Weight for Age thoroughbred horse race for 3 year olds and older run at a distance of 1¼ miles on dirt. It is held annually at a different racetrack as part of the Breeders' Cup World Championships...

, 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

Gulfstream Park Handicap

The Gulfstream Park Handicap is a race for thoroughbred horses run at Gulfstream Park each year. The race is open to horses age four and up, willing to race one mile on the dirt...

 and Oaklawn Handicap

Oaklawn Handicap

The Oaklawn Handicap is an American Thoroughbred horse race held annually during the first week of April at Oaklawn Park Race Track in Hot Springs, Arkansas....

, the Grade II Suburban Handicap

Suburban Handicap

The Suburban Handicap is an American Grade II Thoroughbred horse race run annually at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York. Open to horses age three and older, it is run at the classic one-and-one-quarter mile distance on dirt for a $400,000 purse....

, plus the Massachusetts Handicap

Massachusetts Handicap

The Massachusetts Handicap, frequently referred to as the "MassCap", is an American flat Thoroughbred horse race for three-year-olds and up held annually at Suffolk Downs in Boston, Massachusetts. It is currently an Ungraded stakes race run over a distance of 9 furlongs on dirt. The race received...

 in which he defeated Real Quiet

Real Quiet

Real Quiet was an American Champion Thoroughbred racehorse. He was nicknamed "The Fish" by his trainer, due to his narrow frame....

. In addition, Behrens earned second-place in the Donn Handicap

Donn Handicap

The Donn Handicap is an American Thoroughbred horse race run annually in late January/early February at Gulfstream Park in Hallandale Beach, Florida.The race is named after the Donn family, who for many years owned and operated the racetrack....

, Whitney Handicap

Whitney Handicap

The Whitney Handicap is an American Grade 1 handicap race for Thoroughbred racehorses three years of age and older run at a distance of 1⅛ miles. In 2007, the Breeders' Cup Ltd...

 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

Dubai Millennium

Dubai Millennium was a Thoroughbred racehorse and sire, bred in the United States but trained in the United Kingdom and Dubai during his racing career which ran from 1998 and 2000. He is notable for winning a series of major races in 1999 and 2000 including the Dubai World Cup...

 in the Dubai World Cup

Dubai World Cup

The Dubai World Cup is a Thoroughbred horse race held annually since 1996 and from 2010 at the Meydan Racecourse in the city of Dubai, United Arab Emirates...

, and had seconds in the Woodward Stakes

Woodward Stakes

The Woodward Stakes is an American Grade I stakes race and is one of the premier races for older thoroughbred horses in the United States. Named for prominent racehorse owner, George Nicholas Woodward, it is run at 1⅛ miles on the dirt for a purse of $750,000.The Woodward was run as a handicap in...

 and Suburban Handicap

Suburban Handicap

The Suburban Handicap is an American Grade II Thoroughbred horse race run annually at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York. Open to horses age three and older, it is run at the classic one-and-one-quarter mile distance on dirt for a $400,000 purse....

. In 1999 he again finished seventh in the Breeders' Cup Classic.

Retired to stud

Stud (animal)

A stud animal is a registered animal retained for breeding. The terms for the male of a given animal species usually imply that the animal is entire—that is, not castrated—and therefore capable of siring offspring...

 duty, Behrens currently stands at Victory Rose Thoroughbreds in Vacaville, California

Vacaville, California

Vacaville, California is a city located in the northeastern portion of the San Francisco Bay Area in Solano County. The city is nearly half way between Sacramento and San Francisco on I-80. It sits approximately from Sacramento, and from San Francisco...

.