"I don't know why I just felt lucky. I was pulling for that from the beginning – 14 or 15," said Hansen, whose horse by the same name starts with 10-1 odds as the fifth choice with no winner coming from No. 14 post in 51 years. "You have to breathe through times like that, but yeah, it was interesting. I had a good feeling, though."
Bodemeister was made the early 4-1 favorite for the Kentucky Derby on Wednesday, with Union Rags a close second choice at 9-2 in a full field of 20 horses. Gemologist is third at 6-1 followed by Dullahan at 8-1 and Hansen, the near all-white colt who won the Breeders' Cup Juvenile in November.
"To have an adrenaline rush with little peas coming out of a bottle is kind of fun," said Hansen, who operates a pain management clinic in Crestview Hills, Ky.
Meanwhile, the focus remains squarely on the top choices – Bodemeister in the No. 6 post, where six winners have started, and Union Rags in No. 4, where Super Saver won in 2010.
"My original thought was that I wasn't crazy about it, but where everybody is, I don't think it's so bad," Union Rags trainer Michael Matz said.
Bodemeister, trained by three-time Derby winner Bob Baffert, is the stronger of his two horses, having won the Arkansas Derby by 9 1/2 lengths in the most dominating performance of the Derby prep races. His other, 50-1 shot Liaison, landed the No. 20 spot for Saturday's race.
It's the third time the Hall of Fame trainer has had the early Derby favorite. The first two didn't work out.
Lookin At Lucky drew the inside post in 2010, got trapped along the rail and finished sixth. In 2001, Point Given was the heavy favorite and wound up fifth. He went on to win the Preakness and Belmont stakes, the final two legs of the Triple Crown.
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