The first race with 105 qualifying points on the 2024 Road to the Kentucky Derby takes place Feb. 17 with the $400,000 Risen Star Stakes (G2) at Fair Grounds Race Course and Slots and the field appears worthy of the added points up for grabs.
Four horses currently ranked in BloodHorse's Derby Dozen—Track Phantom (fourth), Sierra Leone (fifth), Honor Marie (ninth), and Catching Freedom (10th)—are in the 12-horse lineup, which also includes the promising maiden graduate Hall of Fame.
Front-running Track Phantom, one of two entries for trainer Steve Asmussen along with Hall of Fame, will attempt to win his third stakes in Louisiana this winter at the New Orleans track. The Quality Road colt won the Dec. 23 Gun Runner Stakes and the Jan. 20 Lecomte Stakes (G3), beating the talented Nash, among other runners.
"I think the Lecomte was as easy on him as you could have wanted it to be, with him still getting something out of it," Asmussen said.
Those victories followed a maiden triumph at Churchill Downs Nov. 25 in his third career start for owners L and N Racing, Clark Brewster, Jerry Caroom, and Breeze Easy.
His jockey in two of his three prior wins, Joel Rosario, stays aboard him, and Ricardo Santana Jr. picks up the ride on stablemate Hall of Fame.
Track Phantom is more accomplished than Hall of Fame, though the latter is talented and held in high regard by Asmussen, the winningest trainer in North American history. After a debut second at Churchill Downs in the fall, the Gun Runner colt won a Jan. 20 maiden race at Fair Grounds by 10 1/4 lengths. His time for 1 1/16 miles was 1:44.27, faster than Track Phantom's clocking of 1:44.73 against better opposition a couple of hours later in the Lecomte, though he was asked for more late by Rosario.
"He was ridden much more aggressively (in his maiden win) because he's playing a little catch-up on a horse like Track Phantom, but the ability is there," Asmussen said.
Two Seven-Figure Buys
- Hall of Fame was a $1.4 million yearling purchase by M.V. Magnier in 2022 at The Saratoga Sale at Fasig-Tipton. He races for owners associated with John Magnier's Coolmore Susan Magnier, Michael Tabor, Derrick Smith, Westerberg, Gandharvi, and Brooke Smith.
- His auction price made him one of the most expensive purchases of the 346 early nominees to the Triple Crown, though not the richest. That distinction belongs to Sierra Leone, a $2.3 million buy at the same sale for M.V. Magnier and White Birch Farm.
Hall of Fame's owners are also associated with Sierra Leone, as is Peter Brant, who heads White Birch Farm.
A debut winner going a mile at Aqueduct Racetrack Nov. 4, Sierra Leone finished second, beaten a nose by Dornoch , in the Dec. 2 Remsen Stakes (G2) there. His experience in the Remsen, where he rallied from last to take command in midstretch before being out-gamed by a gritty Dornoch, gave him a prior try at the 1 1/8-mile distance of the Risen Star.
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Tyler Gaffalione rides the Chad Brown trainee, who races with blinkers added, an equipment change designed to keep him focused.
Brown's former assistant Whit Beckman, who began his domestic training career in 2021, also participates in the race with comebacking Honor Marie, winner of the Nov. 25 Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes (G2) at Churchill Downs in the final start of his 2-year-old season.
Also with a last-out stakes victory around two turns is Catching Freedom, winner of the Jan. 1 Smarty Jones Stakes at Oaklawn Park for trainer Brad Cox.
"We're going to need to improve off the Smarty Jones," Cox said. "Physically, he looks great. He's had a good bit of time between races. He shipped back here and is moving well, so we'll see if he's up for it."
The Risen Star is the second-richest race for 3-year-old males of the racing season at Fair Grounds, surpassed only by the $1 million Louisiana Derby (G2) on March 23. The 1 3/16-mile Louisiana Derby offers 200 qualifying points toward the May 4 Kentucky Derby (G1).
The Risen Star's Derby Impact
Three Risen Star participants have won the Kentucky Derby: War Emblem, sixth in the 2002 Risen Star; Country House , second in the 2019 race; and Mandaloun , first in 2021. Both Country House and Mandaloun won the Kentucky Derby via disqualification.
Many of its top performers have contended in the first leg of the Triple Crown in recent years. Last year's Risen Star winner, Angel of Empire , ran third in the Derby, while the show finisher from the Risen Star, Two Phil's , was second to Mage . Two years ago, Epicenter and Zandon — 1-3 in the Risen Star—were 2-3 in the Run for the Roses behind 80-1 upsetter Rich Strike .
Kentucky Derby qualifying points are distributed on a 50-25-15-10-5 basis to Saturday's top five finishers.
Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots, Saturday, February 17, 2024, Race 14Entries: Risen Star S. (G2)
PP Horse Jockey Wgt Trainer M/L 1 1Tizzy Indy (KY) James Graham 122 J. Keith Desormeaux 50/1 2 2Awesome Ruta (KY) Mitchell Murrill 122 Joseph M. Foster 30/1 3 3Honor Marie (KY) Rafael Bejarano 122 D. Whitworth Beckman 6/1 4 4Sierra Leone (KY) Tyler Gaffalione 122 Chad C. Brown 4/1 5 5Moonlight (KY) Florent Geroux 122 Todd A. Pletcher 12/1 6 6Real Men Violin (KY) Brian Joseph Hernandez, Jr. 122 Kenneth G. McPeek 8/1 7 7Hall of Fame (KY) Ricardo Santana, Jr. 122 Steven M. Asmussen 6/1 8 8Catching Freedom (KY) Luis Saez 122 Brad H. Cox 5/1 9 9Cardinale (KY) Flavien Prat 122 Todd A. Pletcher 12/1 10 10Resilience (KY) John R. Velazquez 122 William I. Mott 12/1 11 11Track Phantom (KY) Joel Rosario 122 Steven M. Asmussen 7/2 12 12Bee Dancer (KY) Corey J. Lanerie 122 Dallas Stewart 20/1
