Smile Happy gets focus as 10 enter Risen Star Stakes
A diverse talented group of 10 3-year-olds was entered Saturday for the Grade 2, $400,000 Risen Star Stakes, the last of 13 races on a stakes-packed card Feb. 19 at Fair Grounds.
Smile Happy, who drew post 8, rates among the early Kentucky Derby favorites and is the likely Risen Star chalk as he ships from Florida to make his 3-year-old debut for Lucky Seven Stable and trainer Kenny McPeek. Smile Happy, by Runhappy out of Pleasant Smile, by Pleasant Tap, was an eye-catching dirt-route debut winner at Keeneland last October, returning to win what appears to have been a strong renewal of the Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes by more than three lengths on Nov. 27. Smile Happy, with Corey Lanerie named to ride, has been working toward his season debut at Gulfstream Park, but McPeek several weeks ago chose the Risen Star for the colt’s 2022 return.
From the rail out, the field for the 1 1/8-mile Risen Star includes Pappacap (Tyler Gaffalione), Russian Tank (Jose Vega), Trafalgar (Colby Hernandez), Tawny Port (Florent Geroux), Epicenter (Joel Rosario), Pioneer of Medina (Luis Saez), Zandon (Jose Ortiz), Smile Happy, Bodock (Marcelino Pedroza Jr.), and Slow Down Andy (Mario Gutierrez).
Trainer Keith Desormeaux didn’t enter Call Me Midnight, who upset the Lecomte Stakes on Jan. 22 at Fair Grounds. Desormeaux and owner Peter Cantrell a couple weeks ago began leaning toward passing on the Risen Star and pointing to the Louisiana Derby on March 26, and followed through with that plan.
Epicenter, Pappacap, and Trafalgar, respectively the second-, third-, and fourth-place Lecomte finishers, return for the Risen Star. Epicenter lost by a nose to Call Me Midnight while turning in the top Lecomte performance, holding gamely after contesting a very strong pace. Pappacap, second in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile to Corniche, has a new jockey, Tyler Gaffalione, replacing Joe Bravo. Pappacap’s trainer, Mark Casse, has been hoping Pappacap could pull an outside trip in the Risen Star after getting stuck inside his last three starts, but post 1 complicates that. Trafalgar, beaten 4 1/4 lengths in the Lecomte, his stakes debut, will race for the first time in blinkers.
Slow Down Andy ships from California and in his most recent start, on Dec. 11, won the Los Alamitos Futurity over Messier, who returned to romp Feb. 6 in the Robert Lewis Stakes at Santa Anita, earning a class-best 103 Beyer Speed Figure. Zandon jumped from a debut sprint win to finish second, beaten a nose, in the nine-furlong Remsen Stakes on Dec. 4 at Aqueduct.
Pioneer of Medina shipped from Florida and won a dirt-route, first-level allowance on the Lecomte undercard, and trainer Todd Pletcher sends him back to New Orleans for his stakes debut. Tawny Port and Bodock, both trained by Brad Cox, have started their careers with two wins, but both will be sternly tested in this race. Russian Tank merits massive longshot status.
The Risen Star is the first 85-point scoring race on the Churchill Downs Inc. “Road to the Kentucky Derby,” which determines the 20-horse Derby field. Those points are awarded 50-20-10-5 to the top four finishers.
Similarly, the Grade 2, $300,000 Rachel Alexandra Stakes is the first North American 85-point race on the “Road to the Kentucky Oaks,” and this 1 1/16-mile fixture drew 11 horses. The field, from the rail out, is La Crete, North County, Miss Mattie B, Dream Lith, Divine Huntress, Candy Raid, Turnerloose, Goddess of Fire, Awake At Midnyte, California Angel, and Hidden Connection.
Awake At Midnyte could be favored for trainer Doug O’Neill, owner Paul Reddam, and jockey Mario Gutierrez, the same group that runs Slow Down Andy in the Risen Star. Awake At Midnyte earned a field-best 90 Beyer Speed Figure finishing second by three quarters of a length Jan. 8 at Santa Anita in the Grade 2 Santa Ynez, narrowly defeated by the high-quality Bob Baffert-trained Under the Stars. Awake at Midnyte, who has raced three times, in her debut defeated Adare Manor, another Baffert charge and an electric winner of the Feb. 6 Las Virgenes Stakes.
Hidden Connection, impressive in capturing the Pocahontas Stakes in September, makes her first start since a disappointing fourth-place finish in the BC Juvenile Fillies. Dream Lith won the Grade 2 Golden Rod on Nov. 27 at Churchill in her most recent start, while rail-drawn La Crete was best last month in a soft renewal of the Silverbulletday at Fair Grounds. Divine Huntress, trained by Graham Motion, looked good enough to contend in a race like this when she romped in a Parx Racing dirt-route allowance on Jan. 19. North County, unbeaten in three starts, skipped the Silverbulletday after winning the Untapable Stakes on Dec. 26 at Fair Grounds.
The Grade 3, $150,000 Fair Grounds Stakes over 1 1/8 miles on grass drew a fascinating field of 11 that includes Forty Under, Halo Again, and Two Emmys, the top three finishers – separated by less than one length – in the Colonel E.R. Bradley Stakes last month at Fair Grounds. Two Emmy, who set the pace and tired slightly late to finish third, should be set for meaningful improvement in the second race of his form cycle but drew post 11.
Trainer Chad Brown, who has Zandon for the Risen Star, entered Adhamo, an Irish-bred 4-year-old who established himself as a solid Group 3-level performer during his two seasons racing in France. Santin, a blue-blooded Godolphin homebred, won a maiden race at Indiana Grand, an allowance at Keeneland, and missed by a neck Nov. 27 in the Grade 1 Hollywood Derby, a very promising 3-year-old season for trainer Brendan Walsh, who ships the colt from Palm Meadows to make his 4-year-old debut. Largent, a Grade 2-winner in 2021 who likely was a short horse when beaten as the odds-on favorite in the Jan. 8 Tropical Turf, his first race back from a long break, also ships from Florida for Todd Pletcher.
Out of nowhere, the Grade 3, $250,000 Mineshaft, for older horses over 1 1/16 miles on dirt, came up with a deep, interesting 11-horse field. Among the entrants are Miles D., third in the Travers and winner of the Nov. 27 Discovery in his most recent start; Olympiad, who won his two-turn debut for trainer Bill Mott last month at Gulfstream Park with a 101 Beyer; and multiple graded-stakes winner Midcourt, in from California to race on Lasix in Louisiana. Silver Prospector, scratched at Oaklawn on Feb. 12, O Besos, Happy American, and Untreated lend depth to the race.
A competitive field of 10 older female turf-route horses went into the $100,000 Albert M. Stall Memorial, while the mighty Just Might tops the $100,000 Colonel Power Stakes. Among Just Might’s rivals in the Colonel Power, a 5 1/2-furlong turf sprint, is Toro Strike, a Group 3-winning sprinter in England who makes his North American debut for trainer Todd Pletcher.