The Risen Star attracted a field of eight, including three who won stakes races. Paladin won the Grade 2 Remsen Stakes in December, while Golden Tempo won the Grade 3 Lecomte Stakes in January. The eventual stakes winner is Chip Honcho, who won the Gun Runner Stakes in December before finishing in fourth place in the Lecomte. Colt Forty Seven is the only one of the other five to take two wins: a sprint and a turf route, claiming both races.
The other four other runners are first-time winners: Universe won his debut at Saratoga last summer and finished second in both the Grade 3 Street Sense Stakes in October and the Grade 2 Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes in November, but in his most recent start, the Smarty Jones Stakes in January, he finished seventh. Carson Street earned his first win in December at Fair Grounds, leading the stretch at the time but finishing third in the Lecomte. Courting won in New York last fall and then finished fourth in the Remsen, and Quality Mischief earned his first win at Horseshoe Indianapolis last October and most recently finished fourth in the Gun Runner and fifth in the Lecomte.
Win Contenders and Analysis: Golden Age and Paladin are the only recent stakes winners in the Risen Star field, and I think Golden Tempo will probably be better value as a win bet, while Paladin will likely be the overtime favorite. Golden Tempo has won both of his career starts, and both took place at Fair Grounds. He took a first sprint race on December 20, before winning the Lecomte on January 17. In both races Golden Tempo started in 10e and rallied to fourth place on the eighth pole, and in the Lecomte he inhaled the three horses in front of him, earning an Equibase Speed Figure of 85.
Paladin has also won both of his two career races, although in his first career start he actually finished second, but was awarded the win when first-place finisher Renegade was disqualified. In his second race, Paladin earned an Equibase Speed Figure of 96, winning the Remsen Stakes from Renegade on December 6. Renegade returned for his three-year-old debut last Saturday and won the Sam F. Davis Stakes. Paladin is trained by Chad Brown, who recently found success in the Risen Star with 2024 winner Sierra Leone.
Carson Street has improved in his last two races, winning at Fair Grounds on December 4, earning an Equibase rating of 80, and then earning an 84 in the Lecomte. In the Lecomte, Carson Street moved into third place early before moving into second and taking the lead at the three-quarter pole, where he extended his lead by half a length at the start of the final eighth, but could not hold it and finished third behind Golden Tempo, but only a length behind. This colt should improve again on Saturday, and if his odds are close to the 15-1 they had in the Lecomte, he could be a good win bet and should also be used in exactas and trifectas.
The rest of the field, with their best representative Equibase speed figures, are: Chip Honcho (87), Colt forty-seven (75), Courting (85), Quality disaster (86), and Universe (91).
Win contenders in preference order:
Golden Age
Paladin
Carson Street
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