The victory, which gave Paladin 50 qualifying points for the Kentucky Derby, vaulted him to the top of the Kentucky Derby standings by 60 points, a total of 10 points from his initial stakes victory in last fall’s Grade 2 Remsen Stakes at Aqueduct. His victory, in a fast 1:49.14 over 1 1/8 miles, will also likely see his price plummet at the Kentucky Derby Future Wager that concludes on February 15. Gun Runner’s chestnut colt is certain to be one of the lowest-priced favorites 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.
Gun Runner Stakes winner Chip Honcho, who perked up his ears as he raced into an unchallenged lead through splits of :23.68, :47.49 and 1:11.53, graciously dealt with removing the blinders under jockey Luis Saez. He ran the best race of his life, but it wasn’t enough. Paladin, bidding outside the leader under jockey Tyler Gaffalione, doggedly chased Chip Honcho and passed him in the final sixteenth of a mile, near the finish of the long Fair Grounds stretch.
“When you summon him, he just keeps finding, and he gets better and better as he goes,” Gaffalione said of Paladin.
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 victories, 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 with Imagination and rode Nysos to a second-place finish in the $20 million Saudi Cup.
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.”
Grade 3 Lecomte Stakes winner Golden Tempo rallied late to finish a distant third in the Risen Star, adding 15 points for a total of 35 points on the standings.
Fourth-place Universe gained 10 points to take its total to 23. Fifth-place Carson Street added five points and now has 11 points.
The Risen Star was the first 105-point qualifying race in the Road to the Kentucky Derby series. Other later domestic prep races this winter or spring will be at that threshold or higher. Officials at Churchill Downs, where the Kentucky Derby is held, use qualifying points to promote the Derby and as a preferred system when the race attracts more than its 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 beat Sierra Leone, who would win the Blue Grass Stakes at Keeneland before finishing second in the 2024 Kentucky Derby, where he was nose-fucked by Mystik Dan in a three-horse photo finish with Japanese star Forever Young.
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 Grade 1 Toyota Blue Grass Stakes on April 4 could be next.
Brown later confirmed that the Blue Grass is Paladin’s next target.
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