Hansen will likely make his final Kentucky Derby prep in the Blue Grass rather than the Wood Memorial, his owner said Thursday. The news led trainer Kiaran McLaughlin to say Alpha will be shipped back to New York for the Wood rather than run in the Louisiana Derby.

Hansen’s owner and namesake, Dr. Kendall Hansen, said he probably won’t confirm the move until next week, but that “it’s very probable” the colt will make his next start in the $750,000 Blue Grass at Keeneland on April 14 rather than one week earlier in the $1 million Wood Memorial at Aqueduct as originally scheduled.

A soft spot in the stakes schedule enables Turfway Park to command center stage Saturday with its key Kentucky Derby prep, the Grade 3, $500,000 Vinery Spiral Stakes, the race that proved the springboard to success for last year’s Derby winner, Animal Kingdom. Among the handful of stakes on the Spiral undercard are the Grade 3, $100,000 Bourbonette Oaks and the $75,000 Rushaway.

There are only two other graded stakes Saturday, and they are both Grade 3, 1 1/2 mile races: the $150,000 Pan American on the turf at Gulfstream Park and the $100,000 Tokyo City Cup at Santa Anita.

Leonard Blach and trainer Tim Ice were adversaries during the 2009 Triple Crown series, when Blach co-raced Kentucky Derby winner Mine That Bird and Ice sent out Summer Bird to take the Belmont Stakes.

Sunday, the men will be on the same team. No Spin, co-owned by Blach and trained by Ice, is one of eight 3-year-olds set to start in the Grade 3, $800,000 Sunland Park Derby. Entries for the 1 1/8-mile race were drawn on Wednesday.

There are no marquee names scheduled to run in the Grade 3, $500,000 Spiral Stakes at Turfway Park on Saturday, kind of like how it looked on the eve of the race last year. But, it turned out, that look was an illusion.

The Spiral was won by Animal Kingdom, who was making his stakes debut and had yet to run on dirt. But six weeks later, Animal Kingdom won the Kentucky Derby and followed that with a second-place finish in the Preakness Stakes, performances that helped him secure the Eclipse Award as champion 3-year-old male for 2011.

ARCADIA, Calif. – Drill, the winner of two graded stakes for sprinters but winless in four races around two turns, is bound for the $750,000 Blue Grass Stakes at Keeneland on April 14, trainer Bob Baffert said on Wednesday.

The winner of the Grade 2 San Vicente Stakes over seven furlongs at Santa Anita on Feb. 19, Drill will start in the longest race of his career in the Grade 1 Blue Grass, which is run over 1 1/8 miles and is a key prep for the Kentucky Derby on May 5.

WHO’S HOT
There were no changes to the list of 20 horses on this week’s Derby Watch, but there was some adjustment to their rankings. The unbeaten Gemologist, who returned with a sharp allowance victory last week at Gulfstream Park, is now the fifth choice at 10-1 on the Kentucky Derby Future Book line of Mike Watchmaker, Daily Racing Form’s national handicapper, after being 20-1 a week ago.

Doug O’Neill already has a leading candidate for the May 5 Kentucky Derby in I’ll Have Another, winner of the Grade 2 Robert Lewis Stakes last month at Santa Anita. But it never hurts a trainer to have a little backup.

Add Alpha’s name to the list of probable Louisiana Derby starters. Alpha, winner of the Withers Stakes at Aqueduct in his most recent start, had been under consideration for both the Wood Memorial and the Florida Derby in recent weeks, but now seems likely to ship to New Orleans from Florida next week.

“The chances are very good that we’re coming that way,” trainer Kiaran McLaughlin told the Fair Grounds publicity department.

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Trainer Allen Milligan, who has established himself as one of the leading trainers in this region, will be branching out when the Oaklawn Park meet closes next month. Milligan said he will have a division of horses at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ky., for the first time in his career, with the group to include the Arkansas Derby-bound Jake Mo.

Shraded Edge, who is being pointed to next month’s Grade 2, $350,000 Oaklawn Park Handicap, and I Am Awesome, who seeks his fourth win at the meet Thursday, also will be part of Milligan’s 12-horse string at Churchill.

Say this for trainer Larry Jones. He knows how to stay busy.

Saturday, Jones saddled 2011 Horse of the Year to an easy victory in the New Orleans Ladies Stakes, her 2012 debut. Monday, Jones hooked his horse trailer up to his pickup and drove from New Orleans to Hot Springs, Ark., where Joyful Victory had finished third on Saturday in the Azeri Stakes. Jones pulled into the barn area, loaded up Joyful Victory, and not long after was headed south again, arriving at Fair Grounds in the evening.