For Kendall Hansen, a blue T-shirt delivered the message after the near-white colt he named for himself won the $400,000 Gotham Stakes at Aqueduct: ''The Great White Hope,'' spelled out in white, complete with a white horse and a red rose replacing the letter ''o.''
Translation? See you in Kentucky for the Run for the Roses on May 5.
''I hope that's right,'' Hansen said Saturday on his way for a champagne toast with family and friends after Hansen's impressive three-length victory over My Adonis in one of New York's prep races on the road to the Kentucky Derby.
''To see him relax and finish up strong, that's really all I wanted,'' said Hansen, who wanted to dye his 3-year-old colt's tail and mane blue for the race but the New York stewards denied his request. ''This is perfect. I'm a little bit more relaxed when he's tucked in and just tracking another horse and just takes it easy.''
Hansen, who is listed as a gray horse but appears nearly white, confirmed his status as a leading Derby contender after leaving 12 rivals with the blues on a sunny day at the Big A. The striking son of Tapit swept into the lead around the far turn and was a white blaze all the way to the finish line.
Hansen, who has won four of five career starts, rebounded from his only defeat — by five lengths to the now-sidelined Algorithms in the Holy Bull at Gulfstream Park on Jan. 29. However, Hansen is the only 3-year-old with a victory over early Derby favorite Union Rags, having beaten the Fountain of Youth winner in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile by a head to clinch the Eclipse Award as champion 2-year-old male.
Hansen covered 1-1/16 miles in 1 minute, 43.84 seconds under jockey Ramon Dominguez and returned $3.60 for a $2 win bet. Hansen earned $240,000 for the win and boosted his career earnings to $1,473,305.
Finnegans Wake was third, and Tiger Walk was fourth, followed by Pretension, Stealcase, Raconteur, King and Crusader, Side Road, Done Talking, Dan and Sheila, Suns Out Guns Out, and Maan.
Hansen broke from the gate decently in his first race since stumbling at the start of the Holy Bull. He took to the outside in the large field and bided his time just off the leader King and Crusader. He was ready to roll when Dominguez asked him around the turn.
''He really took the step forward,'' Dominguez said. ''He actually did it better than I expected; he was so relaxed. Awesome. Galloped out like a freight train, too.''
Hansen, the majority owner with partner Sky Chai Racing, named the horse for himself after trainer Mike Maker told him the colt looked like he was something special. At this point, Hansen has done little to knock that notion.
The colt likely will return to the Big A for the $750,000 Wood Memorial on April 7 for his final prep before heading to the Derby.
Hansen, who operates a pain-management center in Crestview Hills, Ky., has owned horses for 30 years. By far, this is the best one he's had.
''We're trying to get all the bugs worked out,'' Hansen said. ''And I think he took another step forward with this race.''
In earlier races on the card, heavily favored It's Tricky made a successful 4-year-old debut and won the $200,000 Top Flight Handicap by 2-3/4 lengths over Love and Pride, and 7-2 third choice Calibrachoa held off Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile winner Caleb's Posse by a neck and won the $200,000 Tom Fool Handicap for the second year in a row.
