With just over two weeks left until the running of the Kentucky Derby, Hansen looks tlike he’s slowly fading while a few other horses are making a name for themselves.

Hansen was beaten by Dullahan at Saturday’s Blue Grass Stakes, while Bodemeister had a big win at the Arkansas Derby.

“He looks great this morning, like he hadn’t run at all,” trainer Dale Romans told the New York Daily News. “I think he will run well on dirt.”

That will be the big question anyway. Dullahan has run great on synthetic tracks like the one at Blue Grass, but has yet to win on dirt like at Churchhill Downs. He has a competitive pedigree, though, as the half-brother of 2009 Kentucky Derby winner Mine That Bird. He finished fourth in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile last year at Churchhill Downs. Romans is still looking for his first win at that track.

“He (Dullahan) ran a big race in the Breeders’ Cup last fall and he is better this year,” Romans continued. “He should handle the surface.”

Hansen, a 14/1 favorite to win in Bovada’s 2012 Kentucky Derby Futures page, was also caught late at Keeneland and is showing some signs of slumping.

Meanwhile, Bodemeister and Secret Circle will be hoping to give trainer Bob Baffert his fourth win at Churchhill Downs after finishing 1-2 at the Arkansas Derby. Bodemeister (5/1) has the second best odds to win on Bovada and Secret Circle is 18/1.

Mike Smith has been confirmed to jockey Bodemeister for the big race.
Undefeated Gemologist is another sleeper and could be a good value at 7/1.

Back to Hansen, though. He could have been the favorite to win the Kentucky Derby with a good showing at Blue Grass, the last major derby before May 5. But his poor showing meant Union Rags took over the no. 1 spot in the Associated Press’ Run to the Roses Top-10. Union Rags is the unquestioned leader on Bovada to win the Kentucky Derby at 9/2.

“Maybe (Hansen) could’ve relaxed a little bit more if he didn’t have somebody working on his tail all the time. I don’t know. It kind of hurt me and Mike’s relationship,” owner Kendall Hansen told The Olympian. “We’re going to have to talk it out. It was just a lack of communication. I went to a lot of effort to get this thing.”