Hansen ruled out of the Woody Stephens due to a low red blood cell count
Dr. Kendall Hansen, who campaigns, Hansen, in partnership with Sky Chai Racing, said that it is devastating not to go and compete in the Preakness Stakes and then in the Belmont Stakes, as the connections decided to skip both races after the Tapit colt finished a dismal ninth in the Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs on 5 May, 2012.
Trained by Michael Maker, Hansen this year raced four times and went on to land a single race and twice finished as a runner up, before succumbing to a gruelling Run for the Roses.
The light gray colt won the Grade 3 Gotham Stakes this year at Aqueduct, and he was the 2011 juvenile champion after winning the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile last fall at Churchill Downs.
Hansen, the 3-year-old colt, was set to make his first appearance after the Kentucky Derby disappointment in the Wood Stephens Stakes at Belmont Park on 9 June, 2012, but a low red blood cell count ruled him out of the race.
According to trainer Michael Maker, the count was a bit lower than usual, and he doesn’t want to take any chances with Hansen. The plan is to let him recover and then look for some other races in the near future.
Kendall Hansen is going to sit out the most of June with Hansen, but he sees an opportunity to run in the Grade 3 Iowa Derby at Prairie Meadows on 30 June, 2012.
“It’s a nice race because it’s 1 1/16 miles and Hansen is three-for-three at that distance,” said Kendall Hansen.
Out of Sir Cat mare Stormy Sunday, Hansen surely relishes his chances over at 1 1/16 miles, as he won his second career start at that distance by winning the Kentucky Cup Juvenile, and then going on to win the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile. The Grade 3 Gotham Stakes is also run over a distance of 1 1/16 miles.
“We’ll just relax and go through the pain of not participating (on Belmont Day) and shoot for Iowa,” said Kendall Hansen. “I still feel Hansen is going to have a big year; it will just be down the road.”
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