Anneau d'Or hitting road for Risen Star

ARCADIA, Calif. – Anneau d’Or, second in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile on Nov. 1 at Santa Anita, will begin his 3-year-old campaign in the Grade 2 Risen Star Stakes on Feb. 15 at Fair Grounds as a prep for the Grade 1 Santa Anita Derby on April 4, trainer Blaine Wright said Friday.

Anneau d’Or, who is in training at Golden Gate Fields, was second in the Grade 2 Los Alamitos Futurity on Dec. 7 in his most recent start, finishing a neck behind Thousand Words.

Wright said he will add blinkers to Anneau d’Or for the Risen Star.

“We’re hoping it puts him over the top,” he said.

Joel Rosario is booked to ride Anneau d’Or, replacing Juan Hernandez, Wright said.

The $400,000 Risen Star Stakes is run at 1 1/8 miles and will be the first start for Anneau d’Or outside of California. Owned by Peter Redekop, Anneau d’Or won his debut on Sept. 29 at Golden Gate Fields.

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“We decided to do something different,” Wright said of the race schedule. “We want to try the Santa Anita Derby after and we wanted to give him more than a month between races.

“It will be interesting to see how he does when he travels. We have every reason to think he will travel well.”