So Conflated marooned outside in Risen Star

Fair Grounds has rolled out the welcome mat for the Southern California shipper So Conflated – emphasis on “out.”

So Conflated drew the outside post when 14 horses were entered in the Grade 2, $400,000 Risen Star on Thursday in New Orleans. So Conflated, who won the $100,000 California Derby in his most recent start, is trained by Doug O’Neill, owned by Reddam Racing, and will be ridden by Mario Gutierrez, the connections who won the Kentucky Derby last year with Nyquist. O’Neill, ever the optimist, wasn’t fazed by the news of his colt’s wide post.

“That’s all right,” O’Neill said. “We’re excited about the race. This horse can run.”

The Risen Star offers 85 Kentucky Derby qualifying points distributed 50-20-10-5 to the first four finishers. The race, contested at 1 1/16 miles, is carded as the 11th of 12 next Saturday and is one of six stakes on a strong program.

The field drawn Thursday, from the rail out, consists of Girvin, Untrapped, Local Hero, Arklow, Shareholder Value, Guest Suite, Cool Arrow, Mo Town, Takeoff, Sorry Erik, Horse Fly, It’s Your Nickel, and So Conflated.

The first five finishers from the Jan. 21 Lecomte Stakes – Guest Suite, Untrapped, Takeoff, Arklow, and Shareholder Value – return for the Risen Star. Guest Suite could vie for favoritism with Mo Town, who makes his first start since winning the Remsen Stakes last fall at Aqueduct.

Untrapped, who had trouble in the Lecomte, also will have his backers, as will a second horse trained by Steve Asmussen, the sharp last-start maiden winner Local Hero. Girvin has run well in both of his races at this meet, and his trainer, Joe Sharp, also entered the Springboard Mile winner, Cool Arrow.

So Conflated is one of two California shippers for the Risen Star along with longshot Sorry Erik. So Conflated finished third behind the talented American Anthem in his career debut, then was second to another Bob Baffert-trained colt, Dabster, but was placed first via disqualification. So Conflated went to Golden Gate Fields for his stakes and two-turn debut and won the California Derby on a synthetic surface.

“He’s a nice, nice colt getting better and better,” O’Neill said. “He’s physically mature but mentally getting more mature with each workout.”

How bad a draw is post 14 going 1 1/16 miles on the Fair Grounds main track? That’s hard to say since only two horses have raced under such circumstances since 2000. Neither won, nor did five horses who broke from post 13, but posts 12 and 11 have produced their share of winners, so it’s possible that So Conflated wasn’t done in by the draw.

So Conflated ships midweek to Fair Grounds along with his stablemate Shane’s Girlfriend, who will be among the top choices in the Grade 2, $200,000 Rachel Alexandra for 3-year-old fillies. That race, from the inside out, also drew Untapped, Farrell, Majestic Quality, Valadorna, Wicked Lick, and Gris Gris.

Shane’s Girlfriend, who drew post 3, impressively won her career debut and the Delta Princess but was beaten 10 lengths by Unique Bella when third last out in the Santa Ynez Stakes on Jan. 8 at Santa Anita.

“I really think we’ll see a much better performance on the 25th,” O’Neill said.

There are two more Grade 3 races on the card, both for older horses: the Mineshaft, at 1 1/16 miles on dirt, and the Fair Grounds Handicap, at 1 1/8 miles on turf. The Mineshaft field has substance and includes Rise Up, Eagle, December Seven, Dalmore, Mo Tom, Dazzling Gem, Honorable Duty, and International Star.

Granny’s Kitten and Western Reserve head a field of nine in the Fair Grounds Handicap.

3-year-olds in Saturday spotlight

While the Feb. 25 card has two stakes races for 3-year-olds, there might well be 3-year-olds of stakes quality racing on this Saturday’s 11-race Fair Grounds program.

Race 7 is a two-turn maiden dirt race that marks the career debut of Souper Tapit, the first foal to race produced by the Grade 1 winner Zo Impressive. Trained by Mark Casse, the Tapit colt has been working with aplomb for his first start.

Race 9, a two-turn maiden dirt race for 3-year-old fillies, should have Heaven’s Creation and Lilt at the head of the betting. Heaven’s Creation was second and Lilt third behind the talented filly Fault in a Jan. 21 race like this, but Lilt is the pick to turn the tables Saturday.

The featured 10th race, a first-level, two-turn dirt allowance race for 3-year-olds, could produce a Louisiana Derby starter, and Midway Gold might have more two-turn upside than any of the other eight entrants in the Saturday feature.

Trained by Larry Jones, the Brereton Jones homebred is by Haynesfield and out of a Mineshaft mare, a pedigree leaning more toward routes than sprints, but Midway Gold still managed to win his career debut Jan. 8 in a six-furlong race. Grinding away between horses in the final furlong, Midway Gold was up by a neck and galloped out with good energy.

His trainer said shortly after the race that he believed Midway Gold would prove better at longer distances, and Saturday’s race could confirm that belief.