An
overflow field of 15 young Thoroughbreds has been drawn for Saturday’s 40th
running of the $400,000 Risen Star Stakes (G2) at the Fair Grounds racetrack
and it appears that several of them, depending on their level of development, could
have the potential to step up and earn graded-stakes honors. Only 14 horses are
eligible to enter the starting gate, but a recent post at the Downey
Profile notes that Departing,
Sunbean, and He’s Had Enough will be
scratched from the race.
Trainer
Chad Brown’s Normandy
Invasion has been installed as the tepid 5-2 morning line favorite. But, he hasn’t raced in over three months and
he’s making his 3-year-old debut in what appears to be a contentious field. If
Normandy Invasion repeats the form he displayed as a 2-year-old, he should be
competitive but I’m not too keen on him for the win.
Trainer
Steve Asmussen’s best hope for Derby glory this year could be, perhaps, Proud Strike who’s been tabbed
with morning-line odds of 8-1. Proud Strike has been on my watch list since
last fall. However, I did not mention him in my 2013
Kentucky Derby Outlook
because I could not find any videos of his previous races. In addition to
pedigree, I always like to view videos of previous races to see if the horse
has the will to win.
Nevertheless,
I’ve been looking forward to see how Proud Strike would fare as a 3-year-old. And,
I wasn’t disappointed he finally broke his maiden in his 3-year-old season
debut at the Fair Grounds on January 12. The fractional splits and final time
of 1:46.18 was not too impressive. But his Brisnet Pace Figures are a little
above par for this race and his final speed figure of 98 is not too far off the
mark.
Proud
Strike has room to improve in his second start of the season and he picks up
the services of veteran jockey Gary Stevens who came out retirement this year
to resume racing. Stevens knows how to handle a young colt and he’s had his
share of classic victories, winning the Kentucky Derby (G1) three times in 1988,
1995 and 1997. He also won the Preakness Stakes (G1) twice in 1997 and 2001,
and he’s a three-time winner of the Belmont Stakes (G1) with victories in 1995,
1998 and 2001.
Smart Strike, the sire of
Proud Strike, has proven to be an outstanding sire of champions and classic
champions. He sired the Classic Champion Thoroughbreds Curlin and Lookin at Lucky and he’s
the damsire of the 2009 Kentucky Derby winner Mine That Bird.
In
addition, Smart Strike is the sire of numerous Canadian Sovereign Award
winners: Soaring Free, Portcullis, Added Edge, Eye of the Sphynx, Gold Strike; and Smart
Strike is the sire of the American Eclipse Award winner English Channel.
The
tail-female line of Proud Strike is pretty good, too, descending from the fifth
dam and outstanding Matriarch of the Turf Gallorette. The tail-female
line is also reinforced with the dual Classic Champion Thoroughbreds Pleasant Colony, The Minstrel, and Native Dancer.
If
Proud Strike continues to move forward, he should be competitive in the Risen
Star Stakes (G2).
As
the leading trainer with five horses in the Churchill Downs Leaderboard top 20, trainer Todd Pletcher ships
Palace Malice (8-1) in from Gulfstream Park. He comes into the race with a
second-place finish in his debut as a 3-year-old in a 7-furlong sprint over a
sloppy track at Gulfstream Park on January 19. His pace figures in that race
are mostly above par and his final speed figure of 101 is right on the mark.
Palace
Malice has yet to run in a route race. However, if he’s anything like his sire
Curlin, a classic champion son of Smart Strike, or his damsire, Royal Anthem, an
outstanding turf horse who did his best racing at 10-furlongs and further
winning the Fairway Stakes, King Edward VII Stakes (Group 2) and Juddmonte
International Stakes (Group 1) in England as well as the Canadian International
Stakes (G1), then, Palace Malice should run better as the races get longer.
A
recent bullet workout on February 17 could have him ready to run a good race and
I look for Palace Malice to be competitive.
Hall
of Fame trainer Bob Baffert, currently ranked second with four horses in the
Churchill Downs top 20 leaderboard, ships in California invader Code West who looks like he
could be competitive in the Risen Star. In five starts, Code West has never
been out of the money and in his last race he finished second to Baffert’s
other trainee Super
Ninety Nine who recently won the Southwest Stakes (G3) at Oaklawn Park.
Oxbow, trained by Hall of Fame
Trainer D. Wayne Lukas, already has a gate-to-wire win over this track in the
Le Comte Stakes (G3) on January 19 and if he repeats the form of that race, he
should be competitive in the Risen Star.
*****
As
phase two of the “Road To The Kentucky Derby” kicks off this weekend, under the
new scoring system implemented by Churchill Downs to determine eligibility for
horses to enter the Derby starting gate, the winner of the Risen Star (G2) will
receive 50 points while second-place will yield 20 points, the third-place
finisher will receive 10 points and the fourth-place finisher will receive 5
points.
Here’s
a look at the current top 20 list:
Kentucky
Derby 2013 Leaderboard
(Updated
February 19, 2013)
Individual Leaders ranking,
total points, Trainer, Non-Restricted Stakes Earnings
1
= Shanghai Bobby, 24, Todd Pletcher, $1,731,000
2
= Goldencents, 24, Doug O’Neill, $740,000
3
= Oxbow, 11, D. Wayne Lukas, $180,000
4
= Violence, 10, Todd Pletcher, $495,000
5
= Itsmyluckyday, 10, Eddie Plesa, Jr., $393,600
6
= Overanalyze, 10, Todd Pletcher, $296,381
7
= Uncaptured, 10, Mark Casse, $292,374
8
= Den’s Legacy, 10, Bob Baffert, $265,000
9
= Power Broker, 10, Bob Baffert, $210,000
10
= Super Ninety Nine, 10, Bob Baffert, $200,000
11
= Will Take Charge, 10, D. Wayne Lukas, $152,971
12
= Falling Sky, 10, John Terranova II, $122,500
13
= Flashback, 10, Bob Baffert, $120,000
13
= Revolutionary, 10, Todd Pletcher, $120,000
15
= Dynamic Sky, 8, Mark Casse, $271,668
16
= He’s Had Enough, 6, Doug O’Neill, $430,000
17
= Fear The Kitten, 6, Mike Maker, $84,890
18
= Tesseron, 5, Josie Carroll, $49,017
19
= Bern Identity, 4, Kelly Breen, $572,000
20 = Capo Bastone, 4, Todd
Pletcher, $246,000
Kentucky
Derby 2013 Leaderboard
(Updated
February 24, 2013)
Individual Leaders ranking,
total points, Trainer, Non-Restricted Stakes Earnings
1
= Ive Struck a Nerve, 51, Keith Desormeaux, $268,000
2
= Orb, 50, Shug McGaughey III, $240,000
3
= Violence, 30, Todd Pletcher, $575,000
4
= Shanghai Bobby, 24, Todd Pletcher, $1,731,000
5
= Goldencents, 24, Doug O’Neill, $740,000
6
= Code West, 20, Bob Baffert, $80,000
7
= Oxbow, 16, D. Wayne Lukas, $196,000
8
= Speak Logistics, 11, Eddie Pleasa, Jr., $52,500
9
= Itsmyluckyday, 10, Eddie Plesa, Jr., $393,600
10
= Overanalyze, 10, Todd Pletcher, $296,381
11
= Uncaptured, 10, Mark Casse, $292,374
12
= Den’s Legacy, 10, Bob Baffert, $265,000
13
= Power Broker, 10, Bob Baffert, $210,000
14
= Super Ninety Nine, 10, Bob Baffert, $200,000
15
= Will Take Charge, 10, D. Wayne Lukas, $152,971
16
= Falling Sky, 10, John Terranova II, $122,500
17
= Flashback, 10, Bob Baffert, $120,000
17
= Revolutionary, 10, Todd Pletcher, $120,000
19
= Palace Malice, 10, Todd Pletcher, $40,000
20
= Dynamic Sky, 8, Mark Casse, $271,668
Risen Star Stakes (G2), Fair
Grounds, February 23, 2013
1.
Ive Struck a Nerve, 50
2.
Code West, 20
3.
Palace Malice, 10
4.
Oxbow, 5
Fountain of Youth Stakes (G2),
Gulfstream Park, February 23, 2013
1.
Orb, 50
2.
Violence, 20
3.
Speak Logistics, 10
4.
Majestic Hussar, 5
