In Equality hits the road for Risen Star

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – In Equality, the third-place finisher in the Grade 3 Jerome Stakes here Jan. 2, was scheduled to leave Belmont Park by van on Friday and head to Louisiana for the Grade 2, $400,000 Risen Star Stakes at Fair Grounds on Feb. 20.

Trainer Leah Gyarmati, who has never run a horse at Fair Grounds, said she found the timing of the Risen Star preferable to last Saturday’s Withers or the March 5 Gotham Stakes at Aqueduct. Running in the Withers would have meant In Equality would have had three races in six weeks, and she didn’t want to wait until March 5 to run him again.

Also, Gyarmati ran Adventist in the Withers, and he finished third, good enough to run back in the Gotham.

Gyarmati said she believes the long stretch at Fair Grounds “might be a good fit” for In Equality, who she thought ran “pretty professional” in the Jerome.

“It’s the time of year you take a shot,” Gyarmati said. “If he shows he’s not that type, you look for a different route.”

In Equality is a son of Quality Road out of the mare Inish Glora. In Equality is a half-brother to Woodbine Oaks winner Roan Inish.