With his stature back intact, champion Hansen left Belmont Park on Monday morning on a van bound for Kentucky, but the winner of Saturday’s Grade 3 Gotham Stakes at Aqueduct is expected to return next month for the $1 million Wood Memorial to be run over Aqueduct’s main track on April 7.

Hansen, who spent the winter in south Florida, was scheduled to arrive Monday night at Turfway Park in Florence, Ky. He will stay there until the end of the week, when he will relocate to Churchill Downs’ Trackside training facility, a few miles away from Churchill itself. Trackside opens Friday.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – After Hansen’s authoritative three-length victory in Saturday’s Gotham Stakes, there likely will be several new shooters taking him on in next month’s $1 million Wood Memorial. Perhaps one of those new faces will emerge from Wednesday’s $67,000 first-level allowance feature for 3-year-olds going a mile and 70 yards over Aqueduct’s inner track.

With his victory in the Grade 3 El Camino Real Derby at Golden Gate on Feb. 18, Daddy Nose Best became the first 3-year-old male in 2012 to win a graded stakes at nine furlongs on the main track.

Of course, the El Camino Real Derby was contested over a Tapeta racing surface, a far cry from Churchill Downs dirt. Daddy Nose Best has yet to win from two dirt starts, but those losses occurred sprinting as a juvenile and Daddy Nose Best improved greatly after trainer Steve Asmussen opted to stretch out over a distance of ground.[bc_video_id:244559:]

Sham Stakes winner Out of Bounds came out of a workout at Hollywood Park on Monday morning with a condylar fracture to his left front ankle, an injury that will require surgery and removes him from the Triple Crown, trainer Eoin Harty said Monday.

The injury was discovered not long after Out of Bounds worked five furlongs in 59.20 seconds - the best time of 21 at the distance on Monday - in preparation for a scheduled start on Saturday in the Grade 2, $300,000 San Felipe Stakes at Santa Anita.

OLDSMAR, Fla. – In recent years Tampa Bay Derby has emerged as one of the more popular preps for 3-year-olds with Triple Crown aspirations. Since 2006 at least one Tampa Bay Derby starter has gone on to run in Kentucky Derby, and two of those runners, Street Sense and Super Saver, won the first leg of the Triple Crown. Musket Man finished third in 2009.

The Grade 2, $350,000 Tampa Bay Derby will be run on Saturday, Festival Day, and as many as 10 are expected for the 1 1/16-mile race, according to the track’s stakes coordinator, Gerry Stanislawyzyk.

Midnight Transfer makes his graded stakes debut and first start around two turns in Saturday’s $300,000 San Felipe Stakes over 1 1/16 miles at Santa Anita. The outcome will determine how owner Warren Williamson and trainer Carla Gaines proceed with Midnight Transfer in coming months.

“We might as well figure it out now,” Gaines said.

Sunday at Santa Anita, Midnight Transfer worked a half-mile in 49 seconds under jockey Victor Espinoza, who will ride the Hard Spun colt for the first time on Saturday.

“I was looking for a nice blowout, maybe a little faster than 49,”

Hansen emerged from his three-length victory in Saturday’s Grade 3 Gotham Stakes “great, no worse for the wear,” according to trainer Mike Maker and in all likelihood last year’s 2-year-old champion colt will return to New York for the $1 million Wood Memorial on April 7.

 On Monday, Hansen was scheduled to van from Belmont Park to Turfway Park, where he will reside for a few days before relocating to the Churchill Downs’s Trackside training facility, which is expected to open next Friday.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – After two days of wagering, the mutuel field remained the favorite over Union Rags in Pool 2 of the 2012 Kentucky Derby Future Wager, while the smashing victory in the Gotham Stakes by Hansen made him the solid third choice.

State of Play won a photo over Ill Conceived after the pair hooked up leaving the half-mile pole Saturday in an exciting renewal of the $75,000 John Battaglia Memorial Stakes at Turfway Park in northern Kentucky.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. - Trainer Mike Maker said it was the performance he was expecting. Jockey Ramon Dominguez said it was better than he expected.

Regardless of one’s expectations, Hansen’s three-length victory in Saturday’s Grade 3, $400,000 Gotham Stakes at Aqueduct proved that reports of the demise of last year’s 2-year-old champion colt were a bit premature.