Mandaloun favored to give Cox repeat win in lengthened Louisiana Derby

It was last year that the Risen Star was lengthened a sixteenth of a mile to 1 1/8 miles, and the Louisiana Derby a sixteenth of a mile to 1 3/16 miles. Brad Cox admits his immediate reaction was thumb’s down.

“I thought it was very odd, different,” the trainer recalled this week.

Then he won the Risen Star with Mr. Monomoy. And he won the Louisiana Derby with Wells Bayou. The idea is growing on him. Give it two thumbs up. Way up.

Cox this year is hoping to again win both races, but this time with the same horse. Mandaloun improved sharply in the Risen Star, with the addition of blinkers making a noticeable difference in the way he finished off the race compared to his prior start in the Lecomte, when he suffered his lone loss. He’ll try to repeat the quality of his Risen Star effort and move forward as one of the top contenders for the May 1 Kentucky Derby six weeks hence when he heads a field of eight in the Grade 2, $1 million Louisiana Derby on Saturday at Fair Grounds.

They’ve rounded up plenty of the usual suspects based in New Orleans this season. Proxy, Midnight Bourbon, and O Besos – second through fourth, respectively, in the Risen Star – return, as do Risen Star also-rans Rightandjust and Starrinmydreams.

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The two new faces are intriguing. Hot Rod Charlie, last year’s runner-up in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile, ships in from Santa Anita following a third-place finish in his 2021 debut in the Robert Lewis, out of which he’s turned in a series of increasingly eye-catching works. Run Classic dives into the deep end of the pool following a sharp win against maidens last month in only his second start.

This is the first of the final round of Derby preps that offers the maximum value of points, 170, with 100 for first and 40 for second.

The Louisiana Derby is the last of 14 races to be run Saturday at Fair Grounds on a card that ends with four straight Grade 2 stakes – the New Orleans Classic for older dirt horses, the Muniz Memorial Classic for older grass runners, and the Fair Grounds Oaks for Kentucky Oaks aspirants. There are four other stakes, beginning with the day’s opener at 11:20 a.m. local time.

There is a pick five on the final five races, and a pick four on the final four. Cox potentially could hole out the card, as he has runners in the last five races, culminating with Mandaloun, who figures to be favored for the fifth time in five starts.

Mandaloun, by Into Mischief, got a career-best Beyer Speed Figure of 98 in the Risen Star, pulling clear late under regular rider Florent Geroux after stalking the pace. He should get a similar trip here.

“There’s a long run to the first turn. I would expect him to be forwardly placed,” Cox said on a national teleconference earlier this week. “He appears to have enough speed and talent to put himself where he needs to be early in a race and then finish with the stamina he has in his pedigree and what he displays training.”

Trainer Mike Stidham is hoping the addition of blinkers to Proxy for this race – a suggestion of jockey John Velazquez – brings a similar reaction in his Tapit colt as to how they aided Mandaloun last time. Proxy was second in both the Lecomte, to Midnight Bourbon, and the Risen Star. If these three are taking turns beating one another, it’s his turn.

“If we can get him to be a little more focused and stay engaged throughout the race I think we have a big chance,” Stidham said.

Midnight Bourbon was never headed in the Lecomte, and was beaten less than two lengths in the Risen Star.

“For a big horse, he’s very, very athletic,” said Joe Talamo, who rides him for the third straight time. “Amazing how good a gate horse he is. He breaks sharp for a horse that big.”

Hot Rod Charlie runs in the name of Leandro Mora, owing to his boss, Doug O’Neill, serving a brief suspension when entries for this card were taken last Saturday. Mora already is in Dubai for next week’s World Cup card, so he dispatched another assistant, Sabas Rivera, to handle details in New Orleans. But his phone worked halfway around the world.

“Very impressed with how he’s training,” Mora confirmed of Hot Rod Charlie’s recent drills.

Starrininmydreams, who won his first two starts, bombed badly in the Risen Star, finishing ninth, but his trainer, Dallas Stewart, said he was discovered to have a dental problem.

“We pulled a couple of caps,” Stewart said. “He’s good now. It was just bad timing.”