LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Juvenile champion Hansen will not run in the Preakness on Saturday.
The near all-white colt won the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile in November and the Gotham Stakes in March to put him among the favorites at the Kentucky Derby. But Hansen, who had sprinted to the front in his other starts, was caught in traffic and never a factor. He finished ninth.
Owner Kendall Hansen says that he would love to take Hansen to Baltimore and enjoy all the Preakness festivities, but that it’s not in the best interest of the horse to run the 1 3/16-mile Preakness on two weeks’ rest.
The owner says he expects Hansen’s next race to be the Woody Stephens Stakes on June 9.
