The win, which gave him 50 qualifying points for the Kentucky Derby, moved him to the top of the Kentucky Derby standings by 60 points, a total of 10 points since his initial stakes victory in the Remsen Stakes (G2) at Aqueduct racecourse last year. His victory, in a fast time of 1:49.14 over 1 1/8 miles, will also likely plummet his price in Churchill Downs’ Kentucky Derby Future Wager, which concludes on February 15. Rifle runner chestnut colt seems confident that he will start as one of the favorites, if not the cheapest choice, among the individual bets.
“The horse performed really well after a freshen-up and he showed why we chose this race. It took all the effort he had to get there,” trainer Chad Brown said.
Paladin did it. December 20 Gun Runner Stakes winner Chip Honcho, who perked up his ears as he raced unchallenged in the lead through splits of :23.68, :47.49 and 1:11.53, graciously settled for removing the blinders under Luis Saez and ran the best race of his life, but it wasn’t enough. While Chip Honcho initially put aside Paladin’s stalking bid as he moved from third to second on the final turn, he couldn’t shake him.
Paladin, bidding outside the leader under Tyler Gaffalione, doggedly pursued Chip Honcho, passing in the final sixteenth of a mile along the long Fair Grounds stretch.
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“When you visit him, he keeps finding, and he keeps getting better as he goes along,” Gaffalione said.
Brown, who was not on site at Fair Grounds, called Gaffalione’s ride “faultless” in a post-race telephone interview. Asked whether Gaffalione would retain the mount in the future, or whether Flavien Prat would ride him again as he had done in the colt’s first two starts, both wins, Brown said: “Nothing is set in stone either way.”
On Saturday, Prat was in Saudi Arabia, where he won the $2 million Riyadh Dirt Sprint (G2) at Imagination and drove Nysos to a second-place finish in the $20 million Saudi Cup (G1).
The Steve Asmussen-trained Chip Honcho picked up 25 points for his second-place finish and moved into second place on the Kentucky Derby standings with 39 points.
“He moved quickly to get to the front, but I had him leading where I wanted,” Saez said. “He’s been getting a little tired lately. I have a feeling he’s going to be a really nice horse.”
Winner Lecomte Stakes (G3). Golden Age who rallied late to finish a distant third in the Risen Star, added 15 points and is next on the leaderboard with a total of 35 points.
Fourth place Universe gained 10 points to bring his total to 23, and in fifth place Carson Street Added 5 to now have 11 points.
The Risen Star was the first 105-point qualifying race in the Road to the Kentucky Derby series. Most other domestic prep races this winter or spring will be at that threshold or higher. Officials at Churchill Downswhere the Kentucky Derby is held, use qualifying points to promote the Derby and as a preferred system when the race attracts more than the 20-horse capacity.
Brown, Gaffalione and much of the Colt’s ownership group teamed up to capture the Risen Star for the second time in the last three years. In 2024 they won it with Sierra Leone who would win the Blue Grass Stakes (G1) at Keeneland for a second-place finish in the Kentucky Derby when he was hit with a nose Mystical Daan in a three-horse photo finish with Japanese star Forever young .
Prat replaced Gaffalione as Sierra Leone’s rider after the Derby, in which Gaffalione was fined for making contact with third-place Forever Young at the finish. Sierra Leone, who would win the 2024 Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1) under Prat, had a tendency to attack rivals, especially as a young horse. The son of Gun Runner, who retired after a second-place finish in the 2025 Breeders’ Cup Classic, is now listed for $75,000 at Coolmore’s Ashford Stud in Kentucky.
Brook Smith, co-owner of Paladin along with Susan Magnier, Michael Tabor, Derrick Smith, Peter Brant and breeder Summer Wind Equine, said from the winner’s circle, “Maybe you’ll see us in Kentucky in April,” suggesting the Blue Grass.
Brown later confirmed that the Blue Grass is Paladin’s next target. Sierra Leone and Zandon both won that race for Brown after driving in the Risen Star. Zandon took the Blue Grass in 2022 after finishing third in the Risen Star to start his year. He showed that in the Derby.
Good magic also won the Blue Grass for Brown in 2018, although he was preparing for the Fountain of Youth Stakes (G2) at Gulfstream Parkwhere he came third. Good Magic finished second in the Derby to the eventual Triple Crown winner To justify .
Sierra Leone, Good Magic and Zandon gave Brown, a two-time Preakness Stakes (G1)-winning trainer, his best results in the Derby from nine starters.
Paladin, like Sierra Leone, was an expensive purchase as a yearling at Fasig-Tipton’s The Saratoga Sale in Upstate New York. Coolmore’s MV Magnier and Brant’s White Birch Farm signed off on his purchase from the Lane’s End consignment for $1.9 million. The colt, now undefeated in three starts, is the first stakes winner and the first winner for the unraced Carpet mare Secret sigh .
“They are very deserving of having such an exciting horse,” Brown said of his owners. “We know firsthand how difficult it can be to win the Derby. It can only be a matter of inches.”
Together with Further Ad And Brant Paladin is among a group of promising 2026 Kentucky Derby prospects for Gun Runner, who is listed at Three Chimneys Farm this year for $250,000.
Video: Fasig-Tipton Risen Star S. (G2)
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