Risen Star Stakes | Horse Racing Free Tips

Mandaloun Strengthens Cox’s Derby Hand With Risen Star Triumph

Racing with blinkers for the first time in his fourth career start, Juddmonte Farms Inc.'s Mandaloun – a homebred colt by Into Mischief – overtook Midnight Bourbon in mid-stretch, then held off a late charge from Proxy to win Saturday's Grade 2, $400,000 Risen Star Stakes by 1 1/4 lengths at Fair Grounds in New Orleans, La.

Ridden by Florent Geroux, Mandaloun is trained by Brad Cox, who now has three strong prospects for the Kentucky Derby, including last year's G1 Breeders' Cup Juvenile winner and 2-year-old champion, Essential Quality and Caddo River, who won the Smarty Jones Stakes on opening day of the Oaklawn meet in Arkansas.

Mandaloun ran the 1 1/8 miles in 1:50.39 and paid $6.20 as the favorite. Proxy, a Tapit colt owned and bred by Godolphin, finished second, a half length ahead of Winchell Thoroughbreds' Midnight Bourbon in third. O Besos was 5 3/4 lengths back in fourth and 5-2 second choice Senor Busador fifth in the field of 11 3-year-olds. Defeater and Keepmeinmind were scratched. All starters carried 122 pounds and all competed without the race-day anti-bleeder medication Lasix, a requirement for horses to earn Kentucky Derby qualifying points.

The first four finishers received 50-20-10-5 qualifying points for the Kentucky Derby.

Updated Kentucky Derby leaderboard

Rightandjust, breaking from the outside post position, rushed up to take the early lead from Midnight Bourbon, who was coming a front-running victory over Proxy and Mandaloun last out in the G3 Lecomte Stakes at Fair Grounds. Rightandjust set fractions of :23.65, :48.45 and 1:12.74 for the opening six furlongs.

Midnight Bourbon was just to the outside of Rightandjust's flank heading into the far turn, Mandaloun just behind that pair, and Proxy to his inside.

Midnight Bourbon edged to the lead inside the quarter pole and was confronted by Mandaloun at the furlong grounds after a mile in 1:37.50. Under aggressive handling by Geroux, Mandaloun put away Midnight Bourbon in the final sixteenth of a mile and had enough to withstand a late charge from Proxy.

“Blinkers on was a difference-maker today for sure,” said Geroux. “We knew he needed it racing, but he's been winning without them. He's always been a little funny down the lane. He's never given me his full potential. Today we had the same kind of trip we had in the Lecomte, but when I pushed on the gas today, he responded right away. Last time I feel like he wasn't giving me his best. He was a little more focused. No problem with the distance. We always thought he had the attitude and the pedigree to go further. It's not like I was saving ground all the way around and he got a little bit short at the end. I was pretty much three-wide all the way around there. I think the longer distance is definitely not going to be a problem for him.”

“More than anything, it was just the experience of having the race going two turns under his belt,” Cox said of Mandaloun. “He's had two great works since so we expected him to move forward, the way he was training. I think the blinkers did help out. Florent immediately made a comment after the race. Much more focused in the post parade, more focused on his job. We didn't put a bunch of cup on him, just like a one-inch cup, but it seems to have done the trick to get him mentally over the top, mentally getting him where he needs to be. It (the Louisiana Derby) is definitely going to be in play. We will talk it over with Garrett O'Rourke and the Juddmonte team and come up with a game plan. I'm very proud of the colt. He stepped up and ran a big race today. That (nine furlongs) is a big ask at any time for a Thoroughbred, and then to do it in February of your 3-year-old year. Garrett has made the comment several times that he thinks he's a mile-and-a-quarter-horse and he trains like one. He's got enough speed to be close and he stays on. He's got the physical make-up of a mile-and-a-quarter horse so we're optimistic he'll get better with more ground.”

Michael Stidham, who trains runner-up Proxy, said he was pleased with the colt's race.

“We all know that we're all hoping that we can be as good as we can be on a certain day (for the Kentucky Derby),” Stidham said. “He's inching in the right direction. I talked to Johnny (Velazquez) and his first impression was maybe blinkers. You can see going into the turn he dropped back like he was out and done. And then Johnny had to get after him, and when he did, he engaged again, then it looked like we might even get to the winner. He said if he just holds his position on the turn, he thinks we would have won. So again, I think it's a little bit of greenness and running a little spotty. The main thing is you want them to come out of these races healthy, you have something to work with, and you can inch forward and culminate for the big day in May. We'll experiment with the blinkers in the morning and if we feel like it's an added improvement, we'll try. The (March 20) Louisiana Derby would be the obvious next spot if he's healthy and ready to go. I asked Johnny and he thought the added distance was going to continue to help him, rather than hurt him, and that's huge at this stage.”

“He made a solid run. He faced a little more pace pressure this time than he did in the Lecomte. But I think you see the top-3 there are extremely tough horses and are going to be heard from again.”

Midnight Bourbon's jockey, Joe Talamo, was impressed with the fight his mount showed down the stretch. “I was smiling the whole way,” Talamo said. “He still has some upside. Obviously the winner got to me and went by, but what impressed me the most was he was still fighting the whole way. A lot of horses, when they get passed, they cave in, but he was still fighting. I still believe the further the better with him. You're never going to get everything your own way but the other horse (sixth-place finisher Rightandjust) was going pretty hard, and that didn't help us. I would have liked to have sat a little off, but that first eighth (of a mile) didn't help but I was proud of him.”

Produced from the Empire Maker broodmare, Brooch, a Group 2 winner in Ireland, Mandaloun was winning for the third time in four starts. He won on debut at Keeneland last October going six furlongs, then added a seven-furlong allowance victory at Churchill Downs the following month. The Lecome on Jan. 16 was his initial two-turn test and 2021 debut.

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Lecomte Runners Rematch in Risen Star

The top four finishers from the GIII Lecomte S. Jan. 16 take their next steps down the GI Kentucky Derby trail Saturday in the GII Risen Star S. at Fair Grounds. A $525,000 KEESEP buy, Lecomte winner Midnight Bourbon (Tiznow) was second in the GIII Iroquois S. at Churchill in September and was third in Belmont's GI Champagne S. in October. The bay took the field wire-to-wire in the Lecomte, besting Proxy (Tapit) by a length.

“I think the distance is right in his wheelhouse and we're excited about running him in this series because of the distance of these preps,” said trainer Steve Asmussen. “He's an efficient mover with a high cruising speed and horses like that can be very effective at Fair Grounds. We were very pleased with how he started off the year and this is the next step.”

A second-out graduate here in November, Proxy captured a 1 1/16-mile allowance in NOLA Dec. 19 prior to the Lecomte. Juddmonte homebred Mandaloun (Into Mischief) opened his account with a pair of wins, debuting at Keeneland in October and then at Churchill Nov. 28. Prepping for this with a best-of-35 five panels here Feb. 6, the bay adds blinkers for this event. Lecomte fourth-place finisher Santa Cruiser (Dialed In) broke his maiden at third asking at Churchill Nov. 15 before taking the leap to graded company.

'TDN Rising Star' Carillo (Union Rags) looks to make yet another headline if he pulls off the upset here. The bay was quite impressive when capturing his career bow at Aqueduct Jan. 8 for the estate of his late breeder Paul Pompa and trainer Chad Brown. The bay topped the Keeneland January sale days later, selling to bloodstock agent Lauren Carlisle for $875,000, and was sent to Tom Amoss. He makes his first start for Amoss and new owners Greg Tramontin, Joel Politi, Brittlyn Stable and Asaro Enterprises in the Risen Star.

“He trains like he ran and shows a great deal of stamina in the mornings and in his workouts,” Amoss said. “He shows a very good turn of foot at the end. The horse is pretty straightforward since I've gotten him. He needs to show he can make the transition from one to two turns but he's not the only horse like that at this time of year. All things point to that being something he's going to successfully do but he hasn't done it at this point.”

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Equibase Analysis: Santa Cruiser Poised To Upset Risen Star

The Grade 2, $400,000 Risen Star Stakes will be the 13th race on the 13th day of February with a field of 13 going to post at the Fair Grounds in New Orleans, La.. If you don't have a case of triskaidekaphobia, defined as fear or superstition about the number 13, this is a fantastic race.

Midnight Bourbon leads the field off his win in the Grade 3 Lecomte Stakes last month, the local prep for the Risen Star. Proxy finished one length behind in second behind the wire-to-wire winner, with Mandaloun another head back in third, and both attempt to turn the tables on Midnight Bourbon in the Risen Star. Similarly, Santa Cruiser will try to improve off his troubled fourth place effort in the race.

Senor Buscador won the Springboard Mile Stakes impressively by five and three-quarter lengths in December at Remington Park and will attempt to win his second stakes in a row. Then there are a number of recent maiden or allowance winners stepping into stakes company and hoping to make their mark as they head into the Louisiana Derby next month, and hopefully earn points on the Road to the Kentucky Derby. That group consists of Carillo, Defeater, O Besos, Rightandjust, Sermononthemount and Starrininmydreams. Beep Beep rounds out the field coming into the race off a fourth place effort behind Rightandjust in an allowance race at Fair Grounds.

I'm going to pick Santa Cruiser for the upset in the Risen Star, even after finishing fourth and nearly 10 lengths behind the top three finishers in the Lecomte Stakes last month. The reason is a simple one: I feel if not for significant trouble at the start of that race Santa Cruiser would have at least finished second. Additionally, he had been off for two months prior to the Lecomte so he has improving to do second off the layoff. Last summer, Santa Cruiser debuted at six furlongs and finished third, then stretched out to seven furlongs and improved to finish second. When stretched out again to a mile in November, Santa Cruiser won while leading from the start but it was not an easy win as he was headed after six furlongs and had horse come to him on both sides in the stretch, digging in and drawing off. That effort earned a strong 95 Equibase Speed Figure, the best maiden winning figure in the field.

Rested to return as a 3-year-old off that win, Santa Cruiser was decently regarded by bettors at seven to one in the Lecomte Stakes but got bumped and shut off at the start, losing more than a few lengths. Not asked for any speed while last of eight for the first half-mile, Santa Cruiser showed a decent amount of ability and instinct, passing all but the three who were well ahead when the field turned for home. Getting a jockey change to Adam Beschizza, who is fighting for the riding title head and head with James Graham, and with a clean start and better early position as compared to the Lecomte, Santa Cruiser can be in the thick of the action from the start and post the upset win in this year's Risen Star.

Midnight Bourbon has done little wrong in five career starts to date, finishing second in the Iroquois Stakes in only the second start of his career last summer then winning the Lecomte Stakes last month. The 99 figure is the second best earned by any horse in the Risen Star field to date and it is likely to be improved upon as Midnight Bourbon is making his second start after three months off. Although he won the Lecomte leading from start to finish, Midnight Bourbon has shown the ability to pass horses such as in the Iroquois when fifth in the early stages then first with an eighth of a mile to go before settling for second. Being a half-brother to 2017 Louisiana Derby winner Girvin, there's little doubt this colt can run as well or better at the nine furlong trip of the Risen Star as he did in the shorter Lecomte Stakes and as such Midnight Bourbon could be a formidable opponent once more.

Senor Buscador stretched out off a visually impressive seventh to first win at five and one-half furlongs in his November debut to win the Springboard Mile Stakes just as impressively in his second career start the next month. In that race, Senor Buscador was last of 10 for the first half-mile and more than 10 lengths back, but went from eighth to first on the turn while circling the field wide, eventually drawing off to a five and three-quarter length win. The 107 figure is by far the best earned by any horse in the Risen Star field and being as this race will be only the third start of his career, Senor Buscador has every right to improve off the effort. His pedigree also suggests the mile and one-eighth trip will be within his reach, as he is a half-brother to 2018 Sunland Park Derby winner Runaway Ghost. Additionally, a STATS Race Lens query shows how well trainer Todd Fincher does keeping his horses in top form, having won eight of 27 (30%) dirt route races over the past few years when his horse won its previous start.

A number of other horses have a chance to finish second or third, including the Lecomte second and third place finishers, Proxy (97 figure) and Mandaloun (97 figure), respectively. However watching the race not only were they no match for Midnight Bourbon I felt both ran pretty evenly in the last eighth of a mile and I don't expect enough improvement to turn the tables in the Risen Star.

The rest of the field, with their best representative Equibase Speed Figures, is Carillo (86), Defeater (84), O Besos (94), Rightandjust (90), Sermononthemount (72), Starrininmydreams (88) and Beep Beep (91).

Win Contenders:
Santa Cruiser
Midnight Bourbon
Senor Buscador

Risen Star Stakes – Grade 2
Race 13 at Fair Grounds
Saturday, February 13 – Post Time 7:18 PM E.T.
One and One Eighth Miles
3-Year-Olds
Purse: $400,000

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Senor Buscador Takes His Show On The Road In Saturday’s Risen Star

It's 712 miles from Remington Park in Oklahoma City to Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots in New Orleans. Trainer Todd Fincher always wanted to make the trip to the historic local oval, but he never had the right horse for the journey. He does now. Fincher rolls into town with the undefeated Senor Buscador, who rates as an exciting newcomer in a sterling renewal of Saturday's $400,000 Risen Star (G2), presented by Lamarque Ford-Lincoln.

Run at 1 1/8 miles, the Risen Star is the 13th and final race on a six-stakes card billed as Louisiana Derby Preview Day. It is by far the deepest and most competitive Kentucky Derby presented by Woodford Reserve (G1) prep to date and will offer a total of 85 Derby qualifying points to the top four finishers (50-20-10-5). The $300,000 Rachel Alexandra (G2) presented by Fasig-Tipton, at 1 1/16 miles, will be offered for 3-year-old fillies, with the same 85 qualifying points up for grabs for the Longines Kentucky Oaks (G1). In addition, four stakes for older horses will also be presented on the card – the $200,000 (G3) Mineshaft at 1 1/16 miles, the $150,000 Fair Grounds (G3) at 1 1/8 miles on turf, the $100,000 Colonel Power Stakes at 5½ furlongs on turf, and the $100,000 Albert M. Stall Memorial Stakes for fillies and mares at 1 1/16 miles on turf.

Joe Peacock Jr.'s homebred Senor Buscador (post 5 at 6-1 on Mike Diliberto's morning line with Luis Quinonez to ride) went from an unraced maiden in early November to a wise guy Kentucky Derby contender a little more than six weeks later, as he parlayed a 5 ½-furlong maiden win at Remington Nov. 6 into a dominant 5 ¾-length win in the Springboard Mile there Dec. 18. With Senor Buscador an unknown no more, Fincher had plans to make. Fair Grounds, with a long stretch and the Risen Star, which is followed by the March 20 TwinSpires.com Louisiana Derby (G2) at 1 3/16 miles, made perfect sense. Saturday can't come soon enough.

“I've never been there, it's a big race, there's Kentucky Derby points on the line and I'm really looking forward to it,” Fincher said. “I think the distance is absolutely in his favor. My wish list would be two preps and hopefully qualify for the Kentucky Derby.”

Senor Buscador, a son of Mineshaft, has lagged in last in both starts before unleashing a devastating stretch run to win going away, though it was the two-turn Springboard Mile that really got people talking. Last on the backstretch in the field of 10, he delivered an extended wide run, circled the field, and drew off with ease by 5 ¾ lengths. And while he's been a turtle early in his races and a hare late, Fincher says it's not necessarily by design.

“He has more speed than you've seen but he just does his own thing,” Fincher said. “We didn't teach him to do that. We taught him to come from behind but not walk out of the gate and do a slow roll before he does anything. He's so nerve-racking to watch him run. They get so far back and you think 'What the heck.' But he makes it work.”

Fincher and the Peacock family have had a long relationship and he's trained several of Senor Buscador's siblings, including his half-brother Runaway Ghost, who won the Sunland Derby (G3) in 2018 but was forced to miss the Kentucky Derby that year with an injury. Fincher knew his little brother had a pedigree to be a runner, but also knew you can't count on anything in this game.

“We hoped he would develop into this kind of horse but you get let down too many times,” Fincher said. “We knew he could run quite a bit but we didn't have any idea he could be this level, but we hoped. But you just never know until you see it on the track. There are no similarities (among his siblings), they are all different. The Peacocks have been great to me and I've been very fortunate to have them in my corner and we're really looking forward to seeing what Senor Buscador can do.”

Winchell Thoroughbreds' Midnight Bourbon (post 6 at 6-1 with Joe Talamo) led every step of the way in the local Jan. 16 Lecomte (G3), but has shown plenty of versatility in his career as well. The son of Tiznow took advantage of an alert beginning from his rail draw and had plenty left in reserve while winning his first start of the year for trainer Steve Asmussen. Midnight Bourbon showed promise at 2, hitting the board twice in graded stakes but looked like a more polished product in his 3-year-old debut. With the distance of the Risen Star and Louisiana Derby a bit longer than the typical mid-winter Derby prep, Asmussen expects Midnight Bourbon to only get better.

“I think the 1 1/8 miles is right in his wheelhouse and we're excited about running him in this series because of the distance of these preps,” Asmussen said. “He's an efficient mover with a high cruising speed and horses like that can be very effective at the Fair Grounds. We were very pleased with how he started off the year, and this is the next step.”

Godolphin's homebred Proxy (post 2 at 8-1 with John Velazquez), a 3-year-old son of Tapit, has progressed nicely in New Orleans this winter for trainer Mike Stidham, as he led gate-to-wire over maidens then did the same against allowance foes in December, before stepping up and running a strong second in the Lecomte. For Stidham, seeing Proxy settle a bit off the pace in the Lecomte and battle on late against much tougher horses was a sign he's moving in the right direction, though he also feels there's still more room for improvement.

“He's still a work in progress but I like having a 3-year-old that I think has something left that we haven't seen yet,” Stidham said. “He's still figuring it out, both mentally and physically. But in his works, and in his races, he seems to be getting a little better, and I think that's where he is right now. Now that we're getting into these longer races, it starts to separate them a little bit, and I think that's really going to help my horse, and I'm not sure that's the case for everybody.”

Juddmonte Farms' homebred Mandaloun (post 11 at 9-2 with Florent Geroux) was a somewhat disappointing third at odds-on in the Lecomte for trainer Brad Cox after chasing the pace while wide throughout. The son of Into Mischief entered that race 2-for-2 off sprint wins in Kentucky but didn't kick on quite enough through the lane behind Midnight Bourbon. Cox has opted to add blinkers to Mandaloun for the Risen Star. He is looking for a more focused performance, and has been extremely pleased by his two works with them.

“I feel like the works with blinkers have shown some progression and he can take that next step forward with them and have more focus late,” Cox said. “He was right there in the Lecomte and he was wide. The two horses that finished in front of us had a little more seasoning and I think he got a lot out of that race.”

Cypress Creek Equine, Arnold Bennewith, and Spendthrift Farm's Keepmeinmind (post 12 at 3-1 with David Cohen) would bring plenty of class should he make the trip from Oaklawn Park for trainer Robertino Diodoro. The deep closing son of Laoban was third to 2-year-old champion Essential Quality in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile at Keeneland in November then won Churchill's November 28 Kentucky Jockey Club (G2) to end his campaign. Keepmeinmind is also entered to run in the Feb. 15 Southwest (G3) at Oaklawn, but with a few potential pitfalls, Diodoro wants to have options.

“We just wanted to cover our bases,” Diodoro said. “We are concerned with the weather in Arkansas, and we're also concerned with a short field as well. The rumor is it could be a five or six-horse field. That's good for a speed horse, but with his (Keepmeinmind's come from behind) running style, I'm not doing backflips over that, to be honest. We're going to make a decision by Wednesday.”

Trainer Tom Amoss has an uncoupled pair of Union Rags colts in Greg Tramontin, Joel Politi, Brittlyn Stable, and Asaro Enterprises' Carillo (post 4 at 15-1 with James Graham) and Nice Guys Stables, Manganaro Bloodstock, and Steve Hornstock's Defeater (post 9 at 12-1 with Dean Saenz), and both will look to bridge the gap from a one-turn debut win to the grade 2 ranks. The former won going a one-turn mile at Aqueduct Jan. 8 for trainer Chad Brown and was subsequently purchased Jan. 14 for $875,000 out of a dispersal sale from the Estate of the late Paul Pompa, while the latter pulled clear late going 6 furlongs locally Jan. 2 and defeated a strong field that included third-place finisher Gershwin, who impressed breaking his maiden here Feb. 6. Carillo hasn't been with Amoss long but shows two local works, which give his trainer reason for optimism.

“He trains like he ran and shows a great deal of stamina in the mornings and in his workouts,” Amoss said. “He shows a very good turn of foot at the end. The horse is pretty straight forward since I've gotten him. He needs to show he can make the transition from one to two turns, but he's not the only horse like that at this time of year. All things point to that being something he's going to successfully do, but he hasn't done it at this point.”

Completing the Risen Star field from the rail out: trainer Dallas Stewart Racing Stable's and WinStar Farm's homebred Starrininmydreams (post 1 at 12-1 with Brian Hernandez Jr.), undefeated in a pair of Churchill starts at 2 and making his stakes and 3-year-old debut; Marylou Whitney Stables' homebred Beep Beep (post 3 at 20-1 with Miguel Mena), fourth in a strong local optional-claimer January 16 for trainer Norm Casse; Barrett Bernard, Tagg Team Racing, and West Point Thoroughbreds' O Besos (post 7 at 12-1 with Marcelino Pedroza), an easy stretch running winner of a pair of sprints at the meet for trainer Greg Foley; Kevin Porter's Sermononthemount (post 8 at 50-1 with Declan Carroll), a 7-furlong allowance winner at Delta Downs January 21 for trainer Tim Dixon; Calumet Farm's homebred Santa Cruiser (post 10 at 15-1 with Adam Beschizza), fourth after a slow break in the Lecomte for trainer Keith Desormeaux; and Wayne T. Davis' Rightandjust (post 13 at 15-1 with Mitchell Murrill), who wired Beep Beep and eight others in the optional-claimer off the claim for trainer Shane Wilson.

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