Beyers on Risen Star Day tell a very unusual story

NEW ORLEANS – In terms of Beyer Speed Figures, the 3-year-olds were all upside down Saturday at Fair Grounds. Angel of Empire won the Grade 2, $400,000 Risen Star Stakes running 1 1/8 miles in 1:51.47, good for an 89 Beyer. Earlier on the card, Denington ran down Cagliostro in a firstlevel allowance race, going 1 1/16 miles in 1:44.41, which yielded a 91 Beyer. And fastest of all was first-time starter Bishops Bay, who in race 5 whistled six furlongs in 1:10.07 and got a 97 Beyer.

Angel of Empire, a 13-1 surprise for trainer Brad Cox, who won four of Saturday’s 13 races, upped his top figure four points off the 85 he got finishing a distant second last month to Victory Formation in the Smarty Jones Stakes. Victory Formation, the Risen Star favorite, took a serious step back Saturday, fading to finish ninth with no apparent excuse. Tapit’s Conquest, a third Cox runner in the Risen Star, loomed at the eighth pole before flattening out and finishing fourth.

All three horses, Cox said, appeared Sunday morning to have come out of the Risen Star in good shape. Cox doesn’t know what he’ll do with Victory Formation, who lost for the first time in four starts, and from the way Cox talked about things, Angel of Empire is far from certain to run back here March 25 in the $1 million Louisiana Derby. Cox referenced Angel of Empire’s previous experience at Oaklawn Park, where he was based before the Smarty Jones and until about a week before the Risen Star.

“The Arkansas Derby is a Grade 1, and that means something,” he said.

Cox definitely is pointing Instant Coffee, the Lecomte winner who skipped the Risen Star, to the Louisiana Derby, and he may be inclined to run Tapit’s Conquest in the race. Tapit’s Conquest still is growing up mentally, and connections believe he can improve upon the Risen Star, where he looked like he might win a furlong out. Still another Louisiana Derby possible from the Cox barn is Tapit Shoes, who was a good third in the allowance race Denington won – after kicking Cox in the thigh while being saddled before the race.

Cox also trains Bishops Bay, an Uncle Mo colt bet down to odds-on favoritism in his debut. Green in the post parade and not fully focused on racing, Bishops Bay still turned in the fastest maiden performance of the Fair Grounds meet and appears to be a real talent. Cox will look for a first-level allowance, possibly another sprint. Cox also trained the race’s runner-up, First Mission, beaten three-quarters of a length after failing to switch leads. He’ll stretch out to a maiden route for his next start.

Trainer Kenny McPeek came out of the day with two potential Louisiana Derby starters, Denington and Risen Star runner-up Sun Thunder. Denington, exiting a series of stakes races with blinkers removed after a one-start experiment, ran the best race of his career, coming with a strong late run under Corey Lanerie to nail the promising colt Cagliostro by a neck. Sun Thunder, fourth over a sloppy track in the Southwest at Oaklawn, his stakes debut, fought hard along the inside as the Risen Star runner-up.

“My first instinct is to run them both here since they both like the track, but there’s nothing set in stone yet,” said McPeek, who will nominate the pair to the Blue Grass Stakes

Cagliostro, an eye-catching debut maiden route winner here in January, took a major step forward in his second start and ought to benefit from the experience. After making the lead in upper stretch, Cagliostro appeared to lose focus before battling to the wire. Trainer Cherie DeVaux said Monday she was inclined to try Cagliostro in the Louisiana Derby.

Also pointing to the Louisiana Derby is Baseline Beater, who won a maiden route race Saturday for trainer Neil Pessin.

Two Phil’s, a solid third in the Risen Star, won’t run in the Louisiana Derby but is a possible starter in the Blue Grass, trainer Larry Rivelli said.

Pretty Mischievous turns tables

Pretty Mischievous was beaten more than five lengths by Hoosier Philly last November in the Golden Rod Stakes, but Saturday’s Rachel Alexandra turned out far different. Winner of the Untapable Stakes here in December, Pretty Mischievous was held out of the Silverbulletday Stakes last month to point to the Rachel Alexandra and came through with a three-quarterlength win over Florida shipper Miracle.

Pretty Mischievous came out of the race in good shape, said trainer Brendan Walsh, who trains the filly for Godolphin, and is likely to run back in the Fair Grounds Oaks, though the Ashland at Keeneland isn’t immediately ruled out. Pretty Mischievous ran 1 1/16 miles in 1:45.15 and got an 83 Beyer, a career best.

Meanwhile, Hoosier Philly finished third, almost eight lengths behind Miracle, while suffering her first defeat after three easy wins at age 2. Bet down to 2-5 and a mere 11-1 in the most recent Kentucky Derby futures pool, Hoosier Philly stumbled significantly at the start and got stuck in last behind a slow pace. What concerned trainer Tom Amoss was her inability to make up any ground in the homestretch.

“What you have to concern yourself with is the last portion of the race,” Amoss said. “Even with all the trouble, I expected her to punch home. She didn’t. Whether that’s because she hadn’t run since November and our preparation, I don’t know, but moving forward, that’s certainly going to be in my mind.”

Plans for Hoosier Philly are to be determined, though she’s a possible starter in the Fair Grounds Oaks.

Muniz next for Two Emmys

Two Emmys got a 99 Beyer Speed Figure winning the Fair Grounds Stakes by 4 1/4 lengths, came out of the race in good shape, and to some degree will follow the same path he took a year ago, according to trainer and part owner Hugh Robertson. Two Emmys won the $300,000 Muniz Memorial last March and likely will be the horse to beat in the 2023 renewal of that race next month.

“He ate up last night and is the same today,” Robertson said Sunday. “He’ll run next month and then get a break.”

Robertson realizes the 2023 older-male turf division looks soft right now. Two Emmys started last June in a minor stakes race at Hawthorne, but Robertson could aim higher this year.

◗ Lake Lucerne, finally landing a first stakes win in the Albert M. Stall Memorial, has been retired and will be bred this year, trainer Brendan Walsh said. A 6-year-old Godolphin homebred by Dubawi out of Round Pond, Lake Lucerne went 4-1-5 during a 23-start career.

◗ Evan Sing, who got a careerbest 95 Beyer winning the Colonel Power Stakes, will make his next start in the $350,000 Shakertown on April 8 at Keeneland, trainer Al Stall Jr. said.