So Conflated will scratch from Risen Star to await Gotham

NEW ORLEANS – Plans for the three horses who as of Friday afternoon were going to scratch from Saturday’s Risen Star Stakes are in various states of certainty.

So Conflated, who didn’t ship to Fair Grounds from Santa Anita for trainer Doug O’Neill, is being rerouted to next Saturday’s Gotham Stakes at Aqueduct, O’Neill confirmed via text message.

O’Neill said So Conflated, who turned in two solid dirt maiden races before winning the California Derby over the synthetic Tapeta surface at Golden Gate Fields, was taken out of the Risen Star strictly because he had drawn post 14, a very difficult spot with a relatively short run to the first of the race’s two turns.

It’s Your Nickel, another Risen Star scratch, also was poorly drawn in post 13, but trainer Ken McPeek said post position was only one factor in his withdrawal.

“That was part of it, but there are some other options for him,” McPeek said. “We’re looking at the Battaglia at Turfway.”

The John Battaglia Memorial Stakes is run March 4 over Turfway’s synthetic Polytrack surface.

Takeoff won a maiden dirt route and finished a decent third in the Lecomte Stakes here Jan. 21, but trainer Mark Casse and owner John Oxley decided that the Risen Star was too much for the colt.

“I’m just trying to be realistic,” Casse said. “I think it was a tall task at this point in his career. We’re just going to look for something else.”

Takeoff, by Arch, cost $550,000 at auction. Casse has said several times he thinks Takeoff is destined to be better on turf than dirt. One option would be a first-level grass allowance here.