Hansen has been assigned post 9 as the heavy favorite among a field of 10 3-year-olds entered in the $750,000 West Virginia Derby, the Grade 2 race that will be run Saturday for the 43rd time at Mountaineer Park in Chester, W.Va.

Hansen will be ridden by Mike Smith in the 1 1/8-mile West Virginia Derby, replacing regular jockey Ramon Dominguez, who is committed to ride instead at Saratoga. Le Bernardin, winner of the Grade 3 Pegasus at Monmouth Park in his last start, drew post 7 and will be ridden by Mike Luzzi as the logical second choice to Hansen.

The break will be key for Where’s Cain in Thursday’s fourth race at Louisiana Downs. The second-level allowance sprint is one of three high-end races on the card, which begins the meet’s most important week to date. On Saturday, four stakes will be run, led by the $100,000 Prelude, which is the prep for the Grade 2, $500,000 Super Derby on Sept. 8.

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Isn’t He Perfect just can’t wait to get on the road again.

After running one of the fastest 1 1/8-mile races ever at Penn National in a losing cause Saturday night, the Aqueduct-based Isn’t He Perfect heads up the Northway to run in Thursday’s $100,000 Birdstone Stakes, where he will face the Todd Pletcher-trained trio of Alma d’Oro, Colizeo, and San Pablo; 2010 Ohio and Oklahoma Derby winner Pleasant Prince; and Hello Lover, third in the recent Greenwood Cup for Butch Reid.

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – The 2012 Saratoga meeting is only 10 days old, but New York Racing Association officials are already smiling, with both the business and attendance figures up from the corresponding dates of a year ago.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Churchill Downs officials on Tuesday revealed details for the new deluxe seating concept that will be built in the sixth-floor space that has served as the Joe Hirsch Media Center and the Gold Room for high-volume horseplayers since the track underwent a massive renovation completed in 2005.

AUBURN, Wash. - Mike Man’s Gold remained unbeaten in two Emerald Downs starts with an upset victory Sunday in the $45,000 Premio Esmeralda Stakes for 2-year-old colts and geldings.

Confidently ridden by Javier Matias, Mike Man’s Gold moved readily to collar front-runner Cariboo Road midway around the turn and then held off fast-closing Finallygotabentley, with Gallyn Mitchell riding, to prevail by a half length. Mike Man’s Gold ran six furlongs in 1:10.04 and paid $20.20.

Several long prices in Monday's pick-six sequence at Saratoga, which started with a $66,254 carryover, resulted in a double carryover of $239,114 into Wednesday's pick six at the Saratoga Springs, N.Y., track. The sequence will start with Wednesday's fifth race, and two of its legs are $100,000 stakes for New York-breds, the Fleet Indian and the John Morrissey.

On Monday's card, longshot wins by Rosa Salvaje ($41.40) in the $100,000 Shakespeare Caress Stakes and Countknickerbocker ($48.60) in the nightcap guaranteed that the carryover would extend another day.

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. -- While Saginaw returns off a 65-day layoff in Wednesday's co-featured John Morrissey Stakes at Saratoga, Lady On the Run wheels back on just 10 days’ rest in the $100,000 Fleet Indian. After running twice in 17 days in May, Lady On the Run was away for two months before winning the Arctic Queen at Finger Lakes on July 21. Trainer John Morrison said he basically treated that as a workout for Lady On the Run, who ran six furlongs in 1:11.45.

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - Monday’s inaugural running of the $100,000 Shakespeare Caress Stakes was sponsored by William Schettine’s Signature Stallions. So it was only fitting that the race was won by Schettine’s Rosa Salvaje, one of only two New York-breds in the field, who held off a late bid from Holiday for Kitten to register a game neck decision as the second longest price in the field at odds of 19-1.

It appears the first two finishers in Sunday’s Amsterdam, Currency Swap and Doctor Chit, could be headed for a rematch later this month in the Grade 1 King’s Bishop.

Trainer Terri Pompay said the King’s Bishop would be the most logical choice for Currency Swap’s next start, especially considering his affinity for the Saratoga surface, over which he’s perfect in three starts.