Risen Star Stakes (Grade 2) (KYD)- $400.000 Purse
FG- For Three Year Olds
One Mile and One Eighth on the Dirt
February 13, 2021

The Risen Star Stakes provides a big step closer to the KYD at the beginning of May in that it is the first 50-point prep race of the year. It will be two more weeks until we see the next one, so it would make sense for some of the better hopefuls at this point of the year to be running in the Risen Star. It should come as no surprise, then, that we have a fantastic field. You won’t want to miss this race. Last year, we saw Spirited Stride get the win here, a victory that seemed to place him as one of the frontrunners for the KYD and he would fulfill those expectations by running third in the race, for Mb Stables. Two years ago, this race showcased our eventual winner, as Beach Dandy took home the win. Other well known winners of the Risen Star include Fusion, Pinnacle West, and Moment Of Madness. Looking at the past winners list, you see several that have gone on to become excellent sires, but they were fantastic racehorses, too. Here is a look at the field of twelve!

#1- Shalangar B B (Iolaus Racing, ridden by S R Bahen)- Takes on the big boys for the first time, and draws the rail for the attempt. He’s won two of three thus far in his career, and he comes off a three length win in an optional claimer at SA at a similar distance. Since then, he has been working very well, and will make his first start of 2021 here. You can see why the trainer is confident, but there are strong foes in the gate with him

#2- The Bounder (The Sidley Stud, ridden by L Saez)- The Ginger Haggis colt has won two of six for his career so far, and one of them is a stake, $100.000 Bongard, for New Yorkers, at BEL. In his two races since then, he has been in the graded ranks, but has finished near the back. One of those, however, was a tenth place result in the Nashua where he was still within a length! Has not raced since the end of November, and looks like he was idle on the farm for a little while. Let’s see how that affects him.

#3- Dutty John Crow (Night Rider Stables, ridden by J R Leparoux)- All of three races so far have been with the CA-bred tag associated with it, and he has won two of them. Most recently, he took home the $100.000 King Glorious Stakes at LA, with a sharp looking 91 SRF at a mile. Showed a lot of improvement in that race from his maiden win, and that kind of effort again here could make him a spoiler against more well known commodities. Don’t be surprised if he is a threat late.

#4- Oleg (Arindel, ridden by S X Bridgmohan)- After a strong weekend last week in the races I covered, Arindel hopes to strike gold with Oleg, who made quite an impression in winning the Great White Way as a maiden in December. He followed that up well by placing second right here in the Lecomte, and he will get his chance at revenge on Proud Crown in this race. The top three finishers from that race are here. Be looking for him in the stretch, as he likes to do his best running late.

#5- Evergreen (Mb Stables, ridden by A Cedillo)- The first of three that Mb Stables will have in the gate, and one that has two graded wins to his credit already, Most recently, he won the Grade 3 Sham Stakes at SA at the start of the year. As a two year old, he won the tough Grade 1 Summer Stakes, a turf race that allowed him to run in the BC Juvenile Turf. He was sixth in that race, but ready to show that just because he is named Evergreen, he doesn’t have to race on the green.

#6- Fauci (D J C Racing Stables, ridden by N Juarez)- It took this gelding by Local Hero five races to break his maiden, so maybe he should have just gone Oleg’s route and skipped the maiden’s entirely after the first one. But any horse named Fauci does not need advice from me, and after he did break his maiden, he followed it up nicely with a win in the Grade 2 KY Jockey Club. Hasn’t raced in a couple months, and his last work isn’t the greatest, but there could be a valid reason for it.

#7- Familiar Moon (John Henry, ridden by R Bejarano)- After running third in the Remsen at AQU, Aer Stables decided, “I don’t need you, I got Locamotive”, and sold the gelding to John Henry for $300.000. Familiar Moon would make his debut for John Henry a month after the sale, and did so right here in the Lecomte. He ran third again, being beaten by Proud Crown and Oleg, but if he just needed a little more distance, he gets that in this race. Good horse, but is looking for that signature win against this company, still.

#8- Proud Crown (Mb Stables, ridden by T Gaffalione)- Now, we have our winner from the Lecomte, and he might just be getting started. He ended up being an excellent private sales purchase by Mb Stables, from Tiratzo, for $250.000. It was just a couple weeks after he broke his maiden, so he was still very unproven at this level. With Mb Stables, he has thrived, winning an ungraded stake before heading to the Grey Stakes (Grade 3), and running second. After about two months, he got that win in the Lecomte. There’s the feeling on this one that he could have great things in store for him. Watch for him both here, and over the next couple months as a threat in any prep race.

#9- Howl Of The Hound (Mb Stables, ridden by J R Velazquez)- Our final runner in this field by Mb Stables, and one that has simply been perfect for his career. Howl Of The Hound has run four times thus far, and each time, he has ended up in the winners circle. He has been gradually brought along in terms of his distance, and he continues to respond. After winning a NM-bred stake, he took the Hope Stakes at DMR before winning the LA Futurity two months ago. It’s not going to be easy to go a perfect 5-for5, but if he does, then we need to start talking about him as one of the leading KYD threats.

#10- Angelino (Nakamura Stables, ridden by V R Carrasco)- Looking for a big win, or at least a great race against his company. He won one of his first four races, and would ultimately be gelded in December. The trainer was hoping that could get him more consistency, but he did not run well in the KY Jockey Club, running 12th, and six lengths behind the race-winning, Fauci, who he’ll see again here. He did bounce back from that well in California, taking the $200.000 CA Cup Derby, but now needs to show that form against unrestricted company.

#11- Afterburner (Fractious, ridden by D Davis)- He would love to make his sire proud, as Pinnacle West is a former Risen Star winner, doing so back in 2015. At the moment, he seems to have a good chance to do so, as he is a two-time graded winner already. His last race was a win in the Grade 2 Remsen, and if you go back to last fall, you will see his win in the Grade 3 Iroquois. That win got him to the BC Juvenile, but he struggled in that race. Five days later, he paid the price for that, in terms of a geld.

#12- Viral Breakdown (Aer Stables, ridden by A Beschizza)- On the outside, we get a filly taking on the boys. She’s done this before, and made the boys jealous in the Smarty Jones just two weeks ago, getting the win. Overall, she has been excellent since her debut race, with four wins and a second after the first race. All of her other starts have been against fillies. Getting the weight allowance is nice, but it will take a big effort here to beat the caliber of opposition she sees as this is a much stronger field.

Prediction: 4-8-9-11

— NS

Categories: Grade II, STAKES ARTICLES