Instilled Regard tops 10 in Risen Star Stakes

Ten 3-year-olds, headed by Lecomte Stakes winner Instilled Regard, were entered Friday for the Grade 2, $400,000 Risen Star Stakes, which will be run Feb. 17 at Fair Grounds.

Instilled Regard, trained in California by Jerry Hollendorfer for owner Lawrence Bests’s OXO Equine, shipped to Fair Grounds and own the Jan. 13 Lecomte by 3 3/4 lengths under Javier Castellano while doing nearly everything right and earning a 92 Beyer Speed Figure. By Arch, Instilled Regard cost more than $1 million at auction, so a graded stakes win of any sort enhanced his chance of becoming a stallion, and now, with the Kentucky Derby 2 1/2 months away, we will see if Instilled Regard can solidify his credentials as an impact player on the Triple Crown trail.

The Risen Star is part of Churchill Downs’s Road to the Kentucky Derby and is the first of seven stakes in the program that offer 85 Derby qualifying points distributed 50-20-10-5 to the first four finishers.

:: ROAD TO THE KENTUCKY DERBY: Prep races, point standings, replays

Instilled Regard won the Lecomte from post 9, and he has a better draw, post 5, for the Risen Star, which, at 1 1/16 miles, is 40 yards longer than the Lecomte. Castellano, who flew to California to work the elite 3-year-old Bolt d’Oro this week, has a return call on Instilled Regard.

Entered to face him were the second- and third-place Lecomte finishers, Principe Guilherme and Snapper Sinclair, both trained by Steve Asmussen. Principe Guilherme (post 9, Florent Geroux) impressively won his first two starts but was caught wide in the Lecomte while facing far stronger competition than he’d yet met, turning in a solid race on which he might build in the Risen Star. Snapper Sinclair (post 4, Adam Beschizza) set and contested a strong early Risen Star pace and held gamely for third while switching from turf to dirt for his 3-year-old debut.

Todd Pletcher entered the Florida-based Noble Indy (post 2, John Velazquez), who has started his career with a maiden sprint win and an allowance route win, both at Gulfstream Park. Also unbeaten in two starts but unraced around two turns is Supreme Aura (post 6, Joe Bravo), a Mike Stidham-trained colt who returned from a long layoff with a sharp Fair Grounds allowance win. Supreme Aura might still be considered for the Southwest Stakes on Feb. 19 at Oaklawn Park, as might High North (post 1, Corey Lanerie), who makes his 3-year-old debut after ending his 2-year-old campaign with a decent fourth-place finish in the Grade 2 Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes at Churchill Downs.

Also entered were Givemeaminit (post 3, Shaun Bridgmohan), the fourth-place finisher in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile; Bravazo (post 7, Gary Stevens) and Kentucky Club (post 8, James Graham), Oaklawn shippers trained by Wayne Lukas; and Ebben, who finished sixth in the Lecomte after breaking from post 12, and landed post 10 for the Risen Star.

The Grade 2, $200,000 Rachel Alexandra Stakes for 3-year-old fillies was drawn with a field of eight and marks the first 2018 start for Monomoy Girl, who drew post 8 and will be ridden by Florent Geroux. Monomony Girl won her first three starts last year, including the Rags to Riches, before running very well finishing a close second in the Grade 2 Golden Rod Stakes to finish her campaign.

While Silverbulletday Stakes-winner Stronger Than Ever is being held out of the Rachel Alexandra, that Jan. 13 race’s runner-up, Wonder Gadot, drew post 4 and will have John Velazquez back in the irons. The rest of the entrants, from the inside out, are Actress on Board, Testing One Two, Classy Act, She’s a Julie, Heavenly Love, and Patrona Margarita.

The Rachel Alexandra is a Kentucky Oaks qualifying race also worth 85 points distributed 50-20-10-5 to the top four finishers.

The Grade 3, $125,000 Mineshaft Handicap for older horses at 1 1/16 miles on dirt drew eight entrants and is headed by 121-pound starting highweight Cedartown. The Grade 3, $150,000 Fair Grounds Handicap at about 1 1/8 miles on turf was drawn with a field of 12. Mr. Misunderstood is the 119-pound starting highweight despite moving from age-restricted competition into a race open to older horses. The card’s other stakes are the first running of the $75,000 Al Stall Memorial for older turf fillies, and the $50,000 Colonel Power, a turf sprint.

First post for the 12-race card is set for 1 p.m. Central.