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Hansen to train at Turfway for Wood

Hansen benefited from switching to a new bit, and losing the blinkers, in the Gotham (Deborah Kral/Horsephotos.com) Grade 3 Gotham winner Hansen, who was resting comfortably in his stall at Belmont Park Sunday morning, is scheduled to depart Monday by van for Turfway Park, where he will prepare for a likely return to New York for the Grade 1, $1 million Wood Memorial on April 7. The 2011 juvenile champion emerged from Aqueduct Racetrack's 1 1/16-mile Gotham in good order, said trainer Michael Maker's assistant, Nelson Donis. "He came back good, ate everything up, and is good today," said Donis of Hansen, currently the third choice behind "all others" and Union Rags in Pool 2 of the Kentucky Derby Future Wager.  Running without blinkers for the first time in the Gotham, Hansen demonstrated he was not a one-dimensional speed horse as he came from off the pace for a solid three-length victory. The near-white colt was also outfitted with a new bit for the race.

"That's my job," Maker said after the race regarding the changes. "Hopefully we can keep it figured out the next couple of months."

Along with Hansen, Gotham runner-up My Adonis is targeting the 1 1/8-mile Wood as his final stepping stone to the May 5 Derby.

Wood Memorial Day is also expected to feature Millionreasonswhy, a Grade 1 Kentucky Oaks hopeful who is slated to make her next start in the Grade 3 Comely, also on April 7, trainer Ignacio Correas IV confirmed Sunday.

Millionreasonswhy returned from her runner-up performance in last year's Grade 2 Adirondack with a win in Saturday's Wide Country Stakes at Laurel Park. In the seven-furlong Wide Country, her first start since August, Millionreasonswhy stalked the pace and wrested command from Dance to Bristol in midstretch, going on to defeat that rival by 1 1/4 lengths. It was an additional 12 3/4 lengths back to third-place finisher Officer's Holiday.

"You can never say with 100 percent certainty, but we'll probably run at Aqueduct," Correas said. "She came out of the race great, and we're going to for it. We wanted to see her run a good race. Not necessarily win, but run strong to the wire and try hard. She had been training well and did what I expected."

Owned by Sagamore Farm, Millionreasonswhy has made two starts in New York, winning the Grade 2 Matron in July at Belmont Park and finishing second by a neck to eventual champion two-year-old filly My Miss Aurelia in the Adirondack at Saratoga Race Course.

Correas said the grueling Adirondack, in which My Miss Aurelia gained the upper hand late following a lengthy stretch battle, prompted him to give Millionreasonswhy time off following the race.

"It was a race that could break a horse's heart," Correas said. "She wasn't the same filly after the race as she had been going into it, so we decided to give her some time off. She came back the same horse."

Correas said that if Millionreasonswhy performs well in the one-mile Comely, the filly could go on to compete in the 1 1/8-mile Kentucky Oaks.

"I thought we'd go seven furlongs to a mile and then maybe the Kentucky Oaks," Correas said. "I don't think distance will be an issue."

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