Trafalgar may be back in Risen Star mix

The day after Trafalgar finished fourth in the Jan. 22 Lecomte Stakes at Fair Grounds, his trainer, Al Stall Jr., said Trafalgar was off the trail to the Risen Star Stakes on Feb. 19 at Fair Grounds.

Another day of assessment, however, had Stall and Trafalgar’s owner, the Columbine Stable, reconsidering.

“We might still try the Risen Star,” Stall said.

Trafalgar, from Lord Nelson’s first crop, didn’t run poorly in the Lecomte, but neither did he appear to improve much, if at all, upon a first-level, dirt-route allowance win in his previous start, which came Dec. 2 at Fair Grounds. Trafalgar’s Beyer Speed Figure went from an 82 in his win to an 81 on Saturday, and Trafalgar finished more than four lengths behind the winner, Call Me Midnight. But Trafalgar also had more than three lengths on the fifth-place finisher, has only started in two route races, and only ran in spots during the Lecomte under Colby Hernandez.

“Colby’s having to ride him a little too much to keep him in the race,” Stall said. “We might try him in blinkers.”

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The Lecomte’s top three finishers – Call Me Midnight, Epicenter, and Pappacap – are expected back for the Risen Star, which will draw a major new player in Florida-based Smile Happy, one of the divisional leaders going into his 3-year-old debut.

◗ Saturday’s Fred Aime Memorial Stakes, a turf sprint for fillies and mares, drew an appealing cast of 10 when the race was drawn Jan. 22. Among the entrants are winners of the first two divisional races this Fair Grounds meet. Brooke Marie won the Pan Zareta on Dec. 4, beating Elle Z by a head, and Elle Z came back to romp Jan. 1 in the Nelson J. Menard Memorial, a race Brooke Marie’s connections passed.

◗ Friday’s nine-race program is devoid of any sort of allowance race, with a couple straight maidens the highest-class fare on the racing menu.