Calhoun planning to start three in Risen Star

Mailman Money was marked down for the Feb. 15 Risen Star Stakes after he won a first-level, two-turn dirt allowance race Jan. 12 at Fair Grounds, but it turns out he’ll be just one of three horses trainer Bret Calhoun plans to enter Saturday for the Risen Star.

Digital has come out of a Jan. 18 allowance race in good enough form for Calhoun and owner Tom Durant to aim him for the Risen Star, a decision firmed up after Digital turned in a strong breeze this past weekend, and Calhoun said he’ll also enter the recent maiden winner Mr. Big News in the Risen Star.

Whether Mr. Big News gets into the race depends on how many entrants the Risen Star ultimately attracts on entry day, Feb. 8. As of Sunday, there were at least 15 possible entrants – one more than the maximum 14 starters – for the Risen Star, which has been lengthened this year from 1 1/16 miles to 1 1/8 miles.

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Mailman Money, Digital, and Mr. Big News posted timed workouts on Saturday, a hectic work morning at Fair Grounds, where 126 half-mile drills and 49 five-furlong works were recorded. Mailman Money went five furlongs in 1:02.80, Digital a half-mile in 47.80 seconds, and Mr. Big News a half in 48.80.

Digital had his first work since a highly rated second-place finish to Risen Star hopeful Blackberry Wine in a Jan. 18 Fair Grounds allowance race, Digital’s two-turn debut following a second to Mailman Money in a Churchill maiden sprint and a Fair Grounds maiden sprint win. Digital got a 92 Beyer Speed Figure for his allowance race, Blackberry Wine a robust 94.

“He worked alone, but he went much quicker than I wanted first work back,” said Calhoun, who won the 2019 Louisiana Derby with By My Standards. “That said, he came out of it good and did it extremely easy.”

Calhoun thought Digital, a lighter-framed colt by Into Mischief out of Cool Spell, by Grand Slam, seemed slightly tired the day after his last race, but Digital quickly rekindled his spark. Calhoun isn’t excited about stretching Digital to 1 1/8 miles or running back in one month but said he and Durant decided the circumstances of the Risen Star outweighed shipping Digital for his next start. There’s a first-level dirt allowance race for 3-year-olds scheduled for the Feb. 15 card, but that race also will be carded at 1 1/8 miles.

Mailman Money, by Goldencents out of Running Debi C, by Unbridled’s Song, followed his debut victory with a 5 3/4-length score in a 1 1/16-mile first-level allowance moved from turf to dirt because of a wet course.

“He’s a big-striding horse, and I think the mile and an eighth will suit him just fine,” Calhoun said.

The Risen Star distance is a major motivator for entering Mr. Big News, Calhoun said. Mr. Big News is a son of Giant’s Causeway and the Galileo mare Unappeased, and his female family is laden with long-distance turf influences. Mr. Big News was a fourth-start maiden winner Jan. 20 at Fair Grounds, a race that yielded a 78 Beyer.

“His numbers aren’t going to look quite as good, but the distance is a big factor for him and he worked really well yesterday,” Calhoun said Sunday.

Anneau d’Or, who nearly won the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile and was a close second to high-level performer Thousand Words in the Los Alamitos Futurity, figures to be favored in the Risen Star, which also could lure the first five finishers from the Lecomte – Enforceable, Silver State, Mr. Monomoy, Finnick the Fierce, and Scabbard.

‘Finnick’ looking for better trip

Rey Hernandez is based at a training center near Lexington, Ky., but the trainer and part-owner of Finnick the Fierce left the gelding in New Orleans after a fourth-place finish in the Lecomte Stakes.

Finnick the Fierce worked a half-mile in 49.60 seconds on Jan. 30 at Fair Grounds and will start Feb. 15 in the Risen Star Stakes, Hernandez confirmed Sunday. Finnick the Fierce’s peak performance in a four-start career came Nov. 30 in the Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes, where he closed stoutly to finish second by three-quarters of a length, defeated by Silver Prospector but just in front of Tiz the Law, who returned to win the Holy Bull Stakes this past Saturday with a 100 Beyer Speed Figure.

Finnick the Fierce, owned in partnership with Dr. Arnaldo Monge, lost his right eye as a foal, making his rail draw in the Lecomte especially difficult. Because of his field of vision, Finnick the Fierce generally will need an outside run to be most comfortable, but he was extremely wide in the Lecomte.

Carroll back at Fair Grounds

Five-pound apprentice rider Declan Carroll has left New York and moved his tack back to Fair Grounds, where he rode last winter.

Carroll, the son of David Carroll and Kim Carroll, respectively Fair Grounds-based assistant trainer and exercise rider for trainer Mark Casse, went to New York last fall but struggled to gain traction there. At the end of the fall Belmont meet and this winter at Aqueduct, Carroll compiled a record of 13-17-18 from 167 mounts. During January, Carroll won just two races from 44 mounts.

Carroll was named to ride horses on the Wednesday program and is being represented by agent Richie Price. Price was booking mounts for Marcelino Pedroza and Jack Gilligan, both of whom are currently out of action due to injury.

Carroll said his longer-term plan is to ride at Woodbine this year, provided he’s approved for a Canadian visa.

◗ The highest-class races on a modest nine-race program Wednesday are a second-level turf-route allowance with a $20,000 claiming option and a first-level dirt-sprint allowance, both spots restricted to Louisiana-breds.