Triple Crown update
Graded Kentucky Derby preps in January and early February are all G3s and are worth just 10 qualifying points each to the winners. These halfdozen early races don’t often attract horses who go on to play prominent roles in the Triple Crown. Last year, however, was an exception, as eventual Derby winner (and 2020 Horse of the Year) Authentic won the Sham Stakes on Jan. 4. Four weeks later, Tiz the Law, who subsequently won the Florida Derby, Belmont and Travers, was an easy victor in the Holy Bull.
This year the Sham and Holy Bull were again won by 3-yearolds who appear to have promising futures. In the Sham, Life is Good – who is handled by the well-known California racing firm of Baffert, Smith and West – cruised to victory in the one-mile test as the 1-5 favorite. In the 8½-furlong Holy Bull, Greatest Honour, with Jose Ortiz in the irons, was a nearly sixlength winner for trainer Shug McGaughey and Courtlandt Farm. Life is Good and Greatest Honour are both ranked among the top five Derby contenders
by BloodHorse and Daily Racing Form.
This afternoon the Kentucky Derby trail passes through Louisiana, where a dozen 3-year-olds are expected to line up at Fair Grounds for the Risen Star Stakes. The Risen Star has become more popular since 2013, when its winners were assigned 50 points in the new Derby qualifying system, and the purse was goosed to $400k. Recent alumni of the now nine-furlong G2 race include Gun Runner, Country House and War of Will.
This year’s Risen Star field has attracted the first three finishers from last month’s Lecomte Stakes, Midnight Bourbon, Proxy and Mandaloun. Midnight Bourbon wired the field in the Lecomte but was giving up ground late and may be vulnerable with the added half-furlong of the Risen Star. Mandaloun, the oddson favorite in the Lecomte, is also the likely choice today.
Other entrants include Remington Park stakes winner Senor Buscador, who gets tested for class today. The cleverly named Beep Beep is an increasingly rare Marylou Whitney Stables homebred. Marylou Whitney passed away July 19, 2019 in Saratoga Springs at the age of 93. Beep Beep, a maiden winner, is 20-1 on the morning line.
Keepmeinmind, the early morning-line favorite, was scratched on Thursday and will run instead in the Southwest Stakes on Feb. 20.
Maxfield returns in Mineshaft
The three graded races on the Risen Star undercard include the Mineshaft Stakes, which marks the eagerly awaited 2021 debut of Maxfield. The Godolphin homebred remains undefeated in four career starts but has made it to the races only twice since his lightsout performance in the 2019 Breeders’ Futurity. In his most recent outing, Maxfield was a 2½-length winner of the ungraded Tenacious Stakes Dec. 19 at Fair Grounds.
Among Maxfield’s opponents are fellow 4-yearolds Enforceable and Wells Bayou, both of whom have had success at the Fair Grounds oval. Enforceable won last year’s Lecomte and was runner-up in the Risen Star before finishing seventh in the Kentucky Derby. Wells Bayou won the Louisiana Derby and was second in the Southwest Stakes. In his 2021 return, the Lookin At Lucky colt was third in the Louisiana Stakes, also at Fair Grounds.