Girvin looks good to go in Louisiana Derby

NEW ORLEANS -- Girvin came out of the Risen Star Stakes as well as he went into it, according to trainer Joe Sharp. Making just his third start and racing around two turns on dirt for the first time, Girvin won the Risen Star on Saturday at Fair Grounds by two lengths over Untrapped. If all goes well with the colt, Girvin will make his next start April 1 in the $1 million Louisiana Derby,

Girvin, a Tale of Ekati colt owned by Brad Grady and ridden by Brian Hernandez Jr., ran 1 1/16 miles in 1:43.08 and got career-best 93 Beyer Speed Figure. Sharp returned late Sunday morning from saddling stakes runners on Saturday night at Sam Houston Race Park and said Girvin had come out of the Risen Star in good condition.

"He was 100 percent. Timing-wise, the Louisiana Derby sets up great," Sharp said.

Girvin overcame not just inexperience but a disrupted schedule this winter to earn 50 Kentucky Derby qualifying points in the Risen Star, assuring a berth in the Derby if Girvin makes it to the race. Girvin was the sharpest sprint maiden winner of the Fair Grounds meet when he made his career debut Dec. 9, but Sharp moved the colt to his string at the Evangeline Downs Training Center shortly thereafter, and Girvin got stuck there – and went through a minor hoof issue -- when Fair Grounds came under a general quarantine after horses here tested positive for equine herpesvirus.

That forced Girvin’s connections to miss an intended start Jan. 21 in the Lecomte Stakes, and to get Girvin two-turn experience, Sharp ran him Feb. 4 in the Keith Gee Memorial, a one-mile grass race. Girvin, who did not move fluidly on turf, finished second but gained seasoning while racing inside and behind a slow pace, and the race served its purpose.

“He’s just a good horse,” said Sharp.

Girvin came into Sharp’s barn in September – and wouldn’t have come at all had things gone as planned for owner Brad Grady. Grady and Bobby Dodd, operating as Grand Oaks, buy yearlings to re-sell as 2-year-olds, and Girvin, a $130,000 yearling purchase, was entered in but withdrawn from three auctions during 2016.

“They were going to pinhook him, and for one reason or another, he didn’t make it,” said Sharp.

Now, if things go well, Girvin is taking his connections to the Kentucky Derby.

“It’s just 60 days,” said Sharp, who began training on his own in 2014. “It’s kind of a weird situation – hasn’t really sunk in yet.”