Chad Brown-trained Triple Crown hopeful Zandon will make his next start in the Grade 2 Risen Star Stakes on Feb. 19 at the Fair Grounds in New Orleans, La., reports the Daily Racing Form. The 3-year-old son of Upstart, second by a nose in the G2 Remsen last out, has been working steadily at Payson Park in Indiantown, Fla. since late December.
“We went back and forth on whether to start out with him here,” Brown told DRF, referring to the G3 Holy Bull this Saturday at Gulfstream Park in Hallandale Beach, Fla. “But we prefer the longer distance of the Risen Star, and it has more points.”
The Holy Bull is run at 1 1/16 miles, and offers 10 points on the Road to the Kentucky Derby to the winner, while the Risen Star is held over 1 1/8 miles and offers 50 points.
Meanwhile, his Grade 1-winning stablemate Jack Christopher (Munnings) has not yet made it back to the work tab after being scratched from the Breeders' Cup Juvenile and later undergoing surgery to repair a shin issue.
“He is back galloping, and we're happy about that, but we are certainly behind with him,” Brown told DRF. “We're just going to have to take it week to week with him. We are not going to rush the horse just to make the Derby. The owners are completely on board with that.”
Read more at the Daily Racing Form.
