Hansen, the juvenile champion of 2011, worked five
furlongs in 1:02.80 on Saturday morning at the Trackside Training
Center in Louisville in preparation for the Grade 1, $1 million Travers
on August 25 at Saratoga Race Course.
“He worked pretty good; everything is on schedule,” said trainer Michael Maker. “He’s going to fly up Monday.”
Hansen is expected to be one of the principal
pace-setters in the 1 ¼-mile Travers. The gray or roan son of Tapit won
the Grade 3 Gotham this year at Aqueduct Racetrack, finished second on
the Polytrack in the Grade 1 Blue Grass Stakes at Keeneland and won
the Grade 3 Iowa Derby by 10 lengths. In his most recent start, Hansen
raced under heavy pressure in the Grade 2 West Virginia Derby and
finished fourth.
“I texted with [Maker], and he said the horse went very
well and is very happy,” said owner Dr. Kendall Hansen, reached by
telephone. “He ran recently, so it’s just a maintenance work. I’m glad
the long-term weather looks like moderate temperatures because his two
worst races were in the heat.”
Three-time Travers-winning jockey Javier Castellano picks
up the mount on Hansen, who Maker said would gallop again on Tuesday
or Wednesday.
Dr. Hansen said he would likely arrive in Saratoga on Friday, the day before the race.