The road to the Kentucky Derby escalates this weekend with the Risen Star Stakes at the Fair Grounds on Saturday. This is this first phase of serious qualifying points on the road to the Kentucky Derby.
The winner of the Grade 2 Risen Star will earn 50 points toward running in America’s classic race on the first Saturday in May. The place horse in the mile and a sixteenth Risen Star will earn 20 points, with the third and fourth finishers earning 10 and 5 points respectively.
There are eight prep races on the road to the Kentucky Derby with 50 points to the winner. The others are the Fountain of Youth and the Gotham Stakes on March 4, the Tampa Bay Derby, the San Felipe Stakes on March 11 and the Rebel Stakes on March 18.
On the last weekend of March, the Spiral Stakes and the Sunland Derby are the final preps with 50 points to the winner.
The big hitters on the road to the Kentucky Derby will be in full force with six races in April worth 100 to the winner.
The Risen Star Stakes has not been a great barometer for the Kentucky Derby but the horse this race is named for took the Preakness and Belmont Stakes in 2008. Last year, the Risen Star hero Gun Runner held his own in the Kentucky Derby. After winning the Risen Star, he took the Louisiana Derby and ran well to be third in the Kentucky Derby. He proved that form was no fluke by winning a Grade 1 in his 2016 finale and taking his 2017 debut in the Razorback Handicap on Monday February 20 with a 110 Beyer Speed Figure.
In 2015 International Star won the same two preps that Gun Runner did but he was injured and did not compete in the Kentucky Derby.
The Fountain of Youth has been a more important avenue on the road to the Kentucky Derby over the decades. Tim Tam, Kauai King and the great Spectacular Bid won the Fountain of Youth and not only won the Kentucky Derby but also took another Triple Crown race.
In 2013 Orb, trained by Shug McGaughey, won the Fountain of Youth and then looped the field to win the Kentucky Derby.
The Gotham Stakes, being in New York, has been a solid vehicle on the road to the Kentucky Derby. A number of Gotham Stakes participants have gone on to win at Churchill Downs. In 2009 I’ll Have Another won the Gotham and parlayed that success to the Kentucky Derby.
Looking to the upcoming Risen Star on February 25, the race is setting up as a solid event. A full field is in prospect and bettors will have a variety of options.
There will be several Fair Grounds-based horses in the field and they have to be given a huge look off the mere fact they are comfortable in New Orleans. There will be a couple of tough shippers from Texas in the Risen Star and fans had better not take them lightly.
Guest Suite has an eye on the Risen Star after winning the Lecomte Stakes.
Californians aiming for the Risen Star this Saturday include Sorry Erik, who is stepping way up in class after being claimed in his 2017 debut for $20,000. Another longshot from California that is aiming for the Risen Star is So Conflated. This runner was wide in his debut, was troubled in his second start and eventually put up to first by the stewards.
In his last race, So Conflated raced on the synthetic surface for the first time. He was entered in the California Derby at Golden Gate and he got a dream trip sitting about three lengths off the lead before asserting himself late to win by three-quarters of a length.
The hero of the Risen Star will be looking to not only earn the needed points, but to hold himself in good standing with the track record. The track record at Fair Grounds for a mile and a sixteenth was set way back in 1944 when Pie in Your Eye was timed in 1:42.02. Fifteen years ago the three-year-old filly Take Charge Lady posted the second best clocking of 1:42.09. Those are both legit times and if the winner of the Risen Star Saturday is anywhere near that fast, he will be a handful moving forward.
