Expectations high for Instilled Regard in Risen Star

NEW ORLEANS – Hall of Famer Jerry Hollendorfer has been training horses since 1979. Thirty-seven editions of the Kentucky Derby have come and gone since he saddled his first horse, and Hollendorfer has been in seven of them now.

For years and years as he built up the strongest Northern California stable ever assembled, Hollendorfer never saw the cream of a given foal crop, prime prospects who wouldn’t have to boldly outrun pedigree and purchase price to get on the Triple Crown trail.

Times have changed. Young horses of quality have started coming each season. Last year, Battle of Midway was third in the Derby, Hollendorfer’s best finish yet, and he might have an even better prospect for 2018.

While the Hollendorfer-trained Kanthaka won the seven-furlong San Vicente Stakes last weekend at Santa Anita, it’s Instilled Regard, a seven-figure yearling purchase owned by Lawrence Best’s OXO Equine, who already is proven around two turns. After a narrow loss in the Grade 1 Los Alamitos CashCall Futurity, Instilled Regard shipped to Fair Grounds and won the Lecomte Stakes on Jan. 13, and the colt is back in New Orleans as the favorite for Saturday’s Grade 2, $400,000 Risen Star Stakes.

“He’s farther along right now than Battle of Midway was,” Hollendorfer said by phone this week.

Hollendorfer, who keeps his cards close to the vest, isn’t shying away from the D word.

“We’re trying to take things step by step,” Hollendorfer said. “The Kentucky Derby is America’s race. It might not be the richest one, but it’s the one everyone wants to win. Of course I’d like to win the Derby. It’s not going to kill me if I don’t. But I’d like to win it.”

Instilled Regard, listed at 8-5 on the Fair Grounds morning line, drew post 5 and will have Javier Castellano aboard for the second straight start. He’s one of 10 entrants in the 1 1/16-mile Risen Star, but Kentucky Club, one of two D. Wayne Lukas-trained entrants, along with Bravazo, is not expected to ship from Oaklawn Park.

The Risen Star is part of Churchill Downs’s Road to the Kentucky Derby and awards 85 Derby qualifying points to the first four finishers, distributed 50-20-10-5. Carded as race 9 and set for 5:05 p.m. Central, it’s the last of six stakes on a 12-race card that starts at 1 p.m. Saturday’s weather forecast calls for partly sunny skies, a high of 78 degrees, and a 20 percent chance of showers.

Instilled Regard, a handsome, athletic, and relaxed colt by Arch, arrived here Wednesday and shipped without incident. Other than switching back to his incorrect lead in upper stretch, he did everything right in the Lecomte, breaking sharply, settling nicely, and responding immediately when asked for run. Instilled Regard won by 3 3/4 lengths, has trained well since, Hollendorfer said, and could work out an ideal trip stalking a solid pace in the Risen Star.

Principe Guilherme, a Tapit colt trained by Steve Asmussen, won his first two starts – a Churchill sprint and a Fair Grounds route – by 18 combined lengths, but after easy trips in those races, he was caught wide from an outside draw in the Lecomte and proved no match for Instilled Regard while edging stablemate Snapper Sinclair for second.

“I was disappointed he didn’t win, but you get back and watch it and you feel better,” said Asmussen. After the Lecomte, “he stayed in the feed tub, went back to the track good. He’s not worried about losing. He’s got class.”

Snapper Sinclair bid for the Lecomte lead, pressed a strong pace, and held well while racing on dirt for the first time since July.

“He’s a very athletic horse, always impressive,” said Assmussen, who expects Snapper Sinclair to lead. “I can envision a scenario where the front end goes easier for him this time.”

Noble Indy, drawn in post 2, has shown speed in his two starts, both Gulfstream Park wins, and trainer Todd Pletcher believes the horse has stamina to match his pace.

“He gives us the impression a mile and an eighth is within range,” Pletcher said.

High North, expected to be cross-entered Friday in Monday’s Southwest Stakes at Oaklawn, starts for the first time since a troubled fourth Nov. 25 in the Kentucky Jockey Club, where he was hampered by a loose horse.

“He really had a bad trip and came back with a cut in his stifle area,” said trainer Brad Cox. “He’s trained really well down here.”

Bravazo was eighth in the Kentucky Jockey Club. He earned a career-best 89 Beyer Speed Figure in winning an Oaklawn allowance last out, though he did get an ideal setup stalking a scalding pace, and had to work to nip one of the pacesetters.

Supreme Aura has started his career with two sprint wins, and though his pedigree suggests routes, his compact, powerful body does not.

“He’s talented and fast, and the distance question will be answered Saturday,” said trainer Mike Stidham.

Givemeaminit, who will be off the pace, has made his last two starts against Louisiana-breds but ran three times in Grade 1 competition as a 2-year-old, finishing third in the Hopeful and fourth in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile. Trainer Dallas Stewart added blinkers for his last start and has been pleased with their effect.

“He only won a maiden race, but it was the way he did it and the way he worked after that,” said Stewart. “It’s a great race. We’ll get a good line on him and know where we’re going.”

Everyone knows where they hope to be going – Churchill Downs on the first Saturday in May.

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