This week we will go into it in more detail Paladina half-length winner of the $500,000 Fasig-Tipton Risen Star Stakes on Feb. 14 at Fair Grounds. He collected 50 points for the win and moved into first place on the The road to the Kentucky Derby standings with a total of 60 points.
Race summary: Paladin improved to 3-for-3 with a determined half-length win in the Risen Star Stakes. Last year he won his career debut via disqualification over Renegade and then defeated Renegade by two lengths in the 1 1/8 mile Remsen Stakes, a $250,000, Grade 2 race on December 6 in New York.
The Gun Runner colt didn’t race again until the Risen Star, but his win at Remsen was flattered when Renegade dominated the Sam F. Davis Stakes by 3 ¾ lengths on Feb. 7 at Tampa Bay Downs.
Paladin followed suit by following the fourth-place pace under Tyler Gaffalione and reeling in runner-up Chip Honcho in deep stretch, with a final quarter mile in :24.82 and a final eighth of a mile in :12.52 to get the job done.
Paladin will be sent to the Toyota Blue Grass Stakes on April 4 in Keeneland.
“He is an incredibly talented horse,” said co-owner Brook Smith. “Hopefully we’ll have him back in Kentucky in April and the Derby a month later.”
Speed figures: Paladin earned a new career-best 93 Beyer Speed Figure for the Risen Star, a six-point improvement over his best tally as a 2-year-old. His Equibase Speed Figure of 93 was three points short of the 96 he earned for winning the Remsen. Perhaps most promising was the 6 ¾ he earned on the Ragozin Sheets (lower is better).
Running Style: Paladin has enough tactical speed to race within a few lengths of the pace and he stalks easily enough that he can still finish quickly. That should allow him to get a good early position in his races up to and perhaps the Kentucky Derby and avoid any problems when he starts his rally.
Family tree notes: Paladin is from the fifth crop of 2017 Horse of the Year Gun Runner, sire of 2024 Breeders’ Cup Classic winner and Sierra Leone champion, as well as champion 2-year-old fillies Echo Zulu and Super Corredora.
Paladin’s dam is the unraced Secret Sigh, by leading sire and stamina influence Tapit. Paladin’s grandmother (maternal grandmother), India, won the 2006 Cotillion Stakes at 1 1/16 miles with Parx Racing.
Derby potential: Trainer Chad Brown has won the Preakness twice and finished second in the Kentucky Derby twice (Good Magic, 2018; Sierra Leone, 2024). Brown has a great chance to win the Derby for the first time with Paladin, who ran a big race on his season debut and should improve with seven weeks’ rest for the Blue Grass Stakes. Bred to enjoy extra distance, he showed grit in the late stages of the Risen Star and is fast enough to be a serious competitor.
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