Instant Coffee will wait for Louisiana Derby

Confirming what seemed all but certain when the colt didn’t post a timed workout last weekend, trainer Brad Cox said Tuesday that Instant Coffee won’t run in the Risen Star Stakes on Feb. 18 at Fair Grounds and will await the $1 million Louisiana Derby on March 25.

Entries for the Risen Star and the rest of the Feb. 18 Fair Grounds races are to be taken Saturday. Instant Coffee is the fifth-ranked horse this week on Daily Racing Form’s Derby Watch after wins last November in the Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes and on Jan. 21 in the Lecomte Stakes at Fair Grounds, his 3-year-old debut. Instant Coffee, by Bolt d’Oro, already has accumulated 32 Kentucky Derby qualifying points, the second-highest total in the system used to determine the 20 horses that can start in the Derby.

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Instant Coffee won his career debut going seven furlongs at Saratoga in September and was fourth the next month trying two turns in the Grade 1 Breeders’ Futurity at Keeneland, won narrowly by subsequent Breeders’ Cup Juvenile hero Forte over Loggins, the fastest 2-year-old Cox trained during 2022. Loggins went out of training with an unspecified injury last October and has yet to be cleared to return to the track.

While Instant Coffee finished about seven lengths behind Loggins in the Breeders’ Futurity, he occupies a lofty spot in the division because few 3-year-olds truly have distinguished themselves yet this year. Extra Anejo, who looked like an elite talent winning his lone start last October, has resumed training after recovering from an injury of his own but is weeks away from working for the first time in months. Loggins seemingly is too far behind now to make the Derby, and uncertainty still swirls around the bevy of high-level 3-year-olds trained by Bob Baffert, currently banned from 2023 Derby participation.

Instant Coffee boosted his top Beyer Speed Figure from 82 to 92 in the Lecomte. Stamina, consistency, and professionalism mitigate his lack of brilliance, and Instant Coffee still appears to be an improving colt.

“He’s a solid, honest horse,” said Cox, who expects Instant Coffee to work this weekend at Fair Grounds.

Cox has such a deep roster of 3-year-old dirt horses that he’s likely to enter three in the 1 1/8-mile Risen Star – Victory Formation, Angel of Empire, and Tapit’s Conquest. Another colt, Tapit Shoes, is aimed at a first-level, dirt-route allowance race on the Feb. 18 Fair Grounds card. Verifying, Giant Mischief, and perhaps one other horse are intended for Oaklawn Park’s next Derby prep, the Rebel Stakes on Feb. 25.

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Victory Formation has started his career with three wins and aced his two-turn debut winning the Smarty Jones at Oaklawn by three lengths. He’s been breezing at Fair Grounds, while Smarty Jones runner-up Angel of Empire stayed at Oaklawn. Victory Formation’s recent workout times were notably fast.

“I think he’s going to like the mile and an eighth,” Cox said.

Tapit’s Conquest finished a troubled second on the Lecomte undercard in a first-level, dirt-route allowance race and stands to improve in the Risen Star.

◗ Banishing, who had to be scratched from a Jan. 18 allowance race start after getting cast in his stall the night before, got back on the Fair Grounds work tab Sunday with a bullet five furlongs in 1:01, fastest of 31 drills at the distance that morning. The Godolphin homebred trained by Brendan Walsh was a second-start maiden winner Dec. 26, making a fine visual impression trying two turns for the first time while earning a 90 Beyer. He could return to racing Feb. 18 at Fair Grounds, most likely in allowance competition.

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