Imperia invades for Risen Star Stakes
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NEW ORLEANS – When looking for the winner of the Risen Star Stakes on Saturday at Fair Grounds in Louisiana, casting an eye toward Florida has been a wise play in recent years.
Four of the last five Risen Star winners shipped here from Florida, and there are two candidates to extend that run.
International Star shipped for the Lecomte Stakes here last month and won, and he is back again Saturday. Imperia ended his 2-year-old campaign with a rousing second at Churchill in the Grade 2 Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes, his dirt debut, and has shipped in for trainer Kiaran McLaughlin.
A third Florida shipper, J S Bach, will be scratched after spiking a fever this week.
That the Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes was run over the same surface as the Kentucky Derby was not lost on McLaughlin, who readily acknowledged that he and Imperia’s owner, Godolphin, would love to get the colt to the Derby. It takes qualifying points to reach the Derby these days, and there are 85 of them (distributed 50-20-10-5 to the top four finishers) available in the Risen Star. The race has been Imperia’s target for quite some time now, and McLaughlin has trained him to be ready.
“The way the new points system is, you pretty much have to be ready to go over there if you only have a couple chances,” McLaughlin said. “If he likes the Fair Grounds, we’ll go back for the Louisiana Derby.”
Ten are entered in the 1 1/16-mile Risen Star, the 11th of 12 races on an excellent card that starts at 12:30 p.m. Central. There are five other stakes on the card: The Duncan F. Kenner and the Bayou, $60,000 races with shorter fields, and two Grade 3s for older horses, the Mineshaft on dirt and the Fair Grounds Handicap on turf. There’s an all-stakes pick 4 (50-cent minimum) landing on the Risen Star.
:: ROAD TO THE KENTUCKY DERBY: Prep races, point standings, replays
KEY CONTENDERS
IMPERIA (Last 3 Beyers: 94-73-82)
• Started his career on turf only because connections wanted to run him two turns, and there were no such races on dirt at Saratoga. “He always trained real well on the dirt,” said McLaughlin. “We just decided to try [the Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes] after the Breeders’ Cup instead of waiting till February and March and being behind the eight ball.”
• Left Florida because the same connections have Frosted for the Fountain of Youth Stakes, and Imperia’s late-running style better suits Fair Grounds.
INTERNATIONAL STAR (Last 3 Beyers: 90-84-74)
• Finished some five lengths behind Imperia in the Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes but ran a career-best race here in winning the Lecomte, a performance that didn’t surprise trainer Mike Maker. “We felt we ran him back a little too quick after the Breeders’ Cup,” he said.
• Maker said International Star is “a horse that doesn’t carry a whole lot of flesh,” and he has trained him accordingly since the Lecomte. Still, Maker said the colt “looks fabulous now.”
• Post 10 is not a great concern for a late runner who will drop in for position.
TIZNOW R J (Last 3 Beyers: 85-86-69)
• Third in the Lecomte with a subtly difficult trip, the bulky young colt was put in a tight spot during a stop-and-go trip.
• His major work for this race, a six-furlong drill Feb. 9, was timed in 1:11.80, the fastest six-furlong workout recorded this winter at Fair Grounds. Trainer Steve Asmussen said Tiznow R J has trained “impressively” since the Lecomte.