Hansen is spending the winter at Gulfstream Park, where trainer Mike Maker has mapped out a schedule that allows Hansen to remain in Florida and get two or three preps before the May 5 Kentucky Derby.
Mike Maker is steadily rising among the nation’s trainers, and this year he will guide Hansen, the champion 2-year-old male of 2011 and a leading contender for the Kentucky Derby on May 5. Yet, befitting his personality, Maker prefers to stay off to the side.
Churchill Downs has scheduled its three Kentucky Derby Future Wager weekends for Feb. 10-12, March 2-4, and March 30-April 1.
.jpg)
Junebugred put himself on the 3-year-old fast track Monday at Oaklawn Park, when he won the $100,000 Smarty Jones at Oaklawn Park by a neck over Reckless Jerry. It was another length back in third to the multiple Grade 2 winning filly and favorite On Fire Baby.
Could there be another Animal Kingdom residing on the backstretch at Tampa Bay Downs? Saturday morning, State of Play, a horse with several similarities to the 2011 Kentucky Derby winner, breezed a leisurely five furlongs over the Tampa Bay main track in 1:03.
Secret Circle, the winner of the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Sprint in November and second to Out of Bounds in the Sham Stakes on Jan. 7, is being considered for the $250,000 Southwest Stakes over a mile at Oaklawn Park in Arkansas on Feb. 20, Baffert said.
Countdown to the Crown returns for a seventh season online as one of the most comprehensive handicapper’s scouting reports of the 3-year-old scene. Posted each Friday at DRF.com from Jan. 6 through the Belmont Stakes, Countdown keeps you apprised of the rising stars of the 3-year-old class from the maiden ranks through the Grade 1 stakes.
Union Rags, runner-up in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile and among the finalists for an Eclipse Award in the 2-year-old division, breezed an easy three furlongs in 38.35 seconds at Palm Meadows on Wednesday in the first work of his 3-year-old campaign.
As solid a race as Alpha ran winning Saturday’s $150,000 Count Fleet Stakes at Aqueduct, if he is going to become a legitimate contender for the Kentucky Derby, he is going to have to behave better in the starting gate. That’s why
Trainer Mike Maker continued his dominance of Turfway Park when he swept the top two spots Saturday night in the 24th running of the $50,000 Turfway Prevue at the Florence, Ky., track.
