Senor Buscador leads 13 entrants for Risen Star Stakes

They’ve come out of the woodwork for the Feb. 13 Risen Star Stakes, with 13 entered in the Grade 2, $400,000 steppingstone to the Louisiana Derby and points beyond.

The 1 1/8-mile Risen Star is the first 85-point race on Churchill Downs’s Road to the Kentucky Derby; the top four finishers get 50, 20, 10, and 5 qualifying points respectively, through the system Churchill uses to determine the 20 starting slots available in the Derby.

The field, from the rail out, consists of Starrininmydreams, Proxy, Beep Beep, Carillo, Senor Buscador, Midnight Bourbon, O Besos, Sermononthemount, Defeater, Santa Cruiser, Mandaloun, Keepmeinmind, and Rightandjust.

Midnight Bourbon, Proxy, and Mandaloun filled out the top three places in the Jan. 16 Lecomte Stakes at Fair Grounds; the trio was separated by a length.

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Santa Cruiser, who raced from far, far behind the pacesetters, finished a distant fourth in the Lecomte. Beaten Lecomte favorite Mandaloun will race in blinkers for the first time Saturday.

Senor Buscador’s eye-catching victory in the Springboard Mile at Remington Park earned this field’s top Beyer Speed Figure, 93. Senor Buscador has been based at Sam Houston Race Park with trainer Todd Fincher.

Oaklawn-based Keepmeinmind was a surprise entrant; winner of the Grade 2 Kentucky Jockey Club on Nov. 28 in his most recent start, Keepmeinmind was expected to make his 3-year-old debut Feb. 15 at Oaklawn in the Southwest Stakes. Trainer Robertino Diodoro told Daily Racing Form’s Mary Rampellini that Keepmeinmind was “most likely” still running in the Southwest and was entered at Fair Grounds to “cover our bases.”

Starrininmydreams makes his stakes and 3-year-old debut after winning a maiden sprint and a first-level allowance route last fall in Kentucky for trainer Dallas Stewart. O Besos also tries stakes racing and two turns for the first time after a pair of impressive closing Fair Grounds sprint wins for trainer Greg Foley. Defeater, a debut sprint winner for trainer Tom Amoss, was cross-entered in a Saturday allowance race.

The Grade 2, $300,000 Rachel Alexandra, an 85-point Kentucky Oaks qualifying race distributing points the same as in the Risen Star, attracted a good nine-horse field. From the inside out the entrants in the 1 1/16-mile Rachel Alexandra are Clairiere, Souper Sensational, Moon Swag, Off We Go, Becca’s Rocket, Zoom Up, Littlestitious, Travel Column, and Charlie’s Penny.

Travel Column beat Clariere by one length last November in the Grade 2 Golden Rod and both talented fillies are racing for the first time since. Charlie’s Penny won the Silverbulletday Stakes last month at Fair Grounds by 3 1/4 lengths over Souper Sensational, who had some early trouble in the race.

The Risen Star, immediately preceded by the Rachel Alexandra, is the last of 13 races Saturday on a program with a noon first post. There’s a chance of rain every weekday next week in New Orleans, but the early forecast for Feb. 13 calls for sunshine.

Maxfield is the clear star of the four other undercard stakes. Unbeaten in four starts and a winner of the Grade 1 Breeders’ Futurity at age 2, Maxfield will be favored to win his 4-year-old debut for trainer Brendan Walsh and Godolphin. Maxfield won the Tenacious Stakes on Dec. 19 at Fair Grounds, but came down with a relatively minor virus that kept him out of any potential January racing. Among his six potential opponents in the Grade 3, $200,000 Mineshaft Stakes over 1 1/16 miles is Enforceable, who got a 103 Beyer in a breakout allowance-race win last month at Fair Grounds. Wells Bayou could start in the Mineshaft or opt for the Razorback at Oaklawn.

Eleven were entered Saturday in the Grade 3, $150,000 Fair Grounds Stakes over nine furlongs on turf including the race’s 2020 winner, Factor This.

Logical Myth already has won two turf stakes during the Fair Grounds meet. Other entrants in what shapes up as a highly competitive contest are Set Piece, Danceteria, and Dontblamerocket. Blackberry Wine is cross-entered in the Mineshaft and figures to opt for the dirt race.

The $100,000 Albert M. Stall Memorial drew a dozen entrants including Dalika, trained by Albert M. Stall’s son, Al Stall.

Nine were entered in the $100,000 Colonel Power, a 5 1/2-furlong turf dash for older horses.