Lukas sends Bravazo to Risen Star Stakes

Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas has decided to run Bravazo in the Grade 2 $400,000 Risen Star Stakes Saturday at Fair Grounds Race Course in New Orleans.

Citing the possibility the Grade 3 $500,000 Southwest Stakes on Monday could split because of a rush at the entry box, Lukas previously said Bravazo could run in Oaklawn’s second major Kentucky Derby prep rather than ship to Louisiana.

“He could go there, and he could stay here,” Lukas said. “The split here, with $500,000 on both sides, I like the idea of running out of my own barn. The 50 points down there is definitely a consideration.”

Lukas said he was informed Tuesday by Oaklawn racing secretary Pat Pope a split would not happen, allowing the trainer to finalize his shipping plans.

Lukas already has Grade 1 winner Sporting Chance penciled in for the Southwest, which offers 17 points to the top four finishers (10-4-2-1) toward starting eligibility for the Kentucky Derby. The Risen Star awards 85 points to the top four finishers (50-20-10-5).

Bred and owned by Calumet Farm, Bravazo finished second in the Grade 1 $500,000 Breeders’ Futurity on Oct. 7 at Keeneland before winning a split allowance/optional claimer going a mile Jan. 13 at Oaklawn in his 3-year-old debut.

Lukas also entered another Calumet Farm homebred, Kentucky Club, in the Risen Star. Kentucky Club broke his maiden for a $30,000 claiming tag Jan. 27 at Oaklawn.

“The 50 points, you can’t overlook that any more in today’s program,” Lukas said. “Plan on having two (in the Southwest). I plan to enter two and hope to get a split.”

The Kentucky Derby is limited to 20 starters, with points earned in designated races like the Southwest and Risen Star used to determine starting eligibility if the first leg of the Triple Crown overfills.

Both the Southwest and Risen Star are 1 1/16 miles.

Bravazo and Kentucky Club drew posts 7 and 8, respectively for the Risen Star. Post positions for the Southwest will be drawn today.

Sporting Chance completed major preparations for the Southwest with a 5-furlong work over a muddy surface Monday morning. The son of 2000 Horse of the Year Tiznow covered the distance in 1:00.40 – second-fastest of 15 times recorded at 5 furlongs.

Sporting Chance breezed by himself, although he was joined by another horse near the half-mile pole.

“I wanted to work alone, but it worked out all right,” Lukas said. “It was not by design, but it worked out all right.”

Sporting Chance will make his 3-year-old and two-turn debut in the Southwest, which is expected to attract a large field. He has not started since winning the Grade 1 $350,000 Hopeful Stakes Sept. 4 at Saratoga after having a knee chip removed following the 7-furlong race.

Kentucky Club is now headed to the Southwest. Lukas said he would not race Bravazo against the Grade 1 winner Sporting Chance.

A $575,000 Keeneland September Yearling Sale graduate, Sporting Chance is owned by Lukas’ longtime clients, Robert Baker and William Mack. Sporting Chance has won 2 of 3 career starts.

Oaklawn’s four-race Kentucky Derby prep series continues with the Grade 2 $900,000 Rebel Stakes on March 17 and the Grade 1 $1 million Arkansas Derby on April 14.

Pope previously said there was a distinct possibility the Southwest Stakes would split if it closed with 18-20 entries. Each division would have been worth $500,000, carry Grade 3 status and offer 17 total points towards Kentucky Derby eligibility.

Oaklawn has split the Southwest three other times in the 53-year history of the race with the most recent being in 2012, when each division carried a $250,000 purse.

The Oaklawn racing department lists 10 other probables for the Southwest: Combatant, trainer Steve Asmussen,; Ezmosh, Brad Cox; Impact Player, Todd Pletcher; Mourinho, Bob Baffert; My Boy Jack, Keith Desormeaux; Retirement Fund, Asmussen; Road to Damascus, Pletcher; Seven Trumpets, Dale Romans; Zing Zang, Asmussen; and Zulfikhar, Baffert.

Combatant worked a half-mile in :50.60 over a sloppy surface Wednesday morning. Mourinho and Combatant finished 1-2, respectively, in the $150,000 Smarty Jones Stakes Jan. 15, Oaklawn’s first of four two-turn preps for the Kentucky Derby.