Hansen early favorite in the Blue Grass Stakes
April 11, 2012LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) - Kentucky Derby hopeful Hansen leads a field of 13 3-year-olds for Saturday's $750,000 Blue Grass Stakes at Keeneland.
The near-white colt, trained by Michael Maker and ridden by Ramon Dominguez, will start from the No. 4 post as the 6-5 morning-line favorite for the 1 1/8th-mile race over Polytrack.
Hansen, with four victories in five starts, won the Breeders' Cup Juvenile in November and most recently the Gotham Stakes last month.
Dullahan, trained by Dale Romans, and Howe Great, trained by Graham Motion, are the second choices at 6-1.
The winner will have enough graded stakes earnings to qualify for next month's Derby. The last horse to win the Blue Grass and Derby was Strike the Gold in 1991.