Expert Pick of the Week: 2024 Risen Star Stakes

Feb 14, 2024 John Mucciolo/TwinSpires.com

A dozen talented three-year-olds will run 1 1/8 miles on the Fair Grounds dirt in Saturday’s $400,000 Risen Star (G2). The 2024 Road to the Kentucky Derby challenge series will reward the top five finishers a total of 105 points (50-25-15-10-5) towards a start in the Derby on May 4.

The well-bred #4 Sierra Leone will make his sophomore debut in this spot for conditioner Chad Brown and looms large if he picks up where he left off in his brief juvenile campaign. By Gun Runner, the whopping $2.4 million yearling purchase was unveiled at Aqueduct on Nov. 4, and came home swiftly following a slow start to win by 1 1/4 lengths.

In his second and final appearance as a two-year-old, the Kentucky-bred was last early on, but unleashed a huge late burst to miss by a nose under the line in the Remsen (G2) on Dec. 2. The dark bay will be equipped with blinkers for the fist time on Saturday and comes in with a long string of solid drills ahead of his local bow. Tyler Gaffalione inherits the mount on the Coolmore color bearer and will have him rallying from off of the early pace once again.

Track Phantom was super impressive in his gate-to-wire victory in the Lecomte Stakes @fairgroundsnola Saturday.

Click the link below to add him to your TwinSpires Stable Alerts and get notified every time he runs on the Road to @KentuckyDerby 150 ⤵️ https://t.co/4dpTw8wGg2 pic.twitter.com/8Dno5jUJQU

— TwinSpires Racing 🏇 (@TwinSpires) January 22, 2024

Conditioner Steve Asmussen has a talented duo for the contest, including #11 Track Phantom, who has taken both the Gun Runner S. and Lecomte (G3). The $500,000 son of Quality Road has won three races in succession overall, and the speedy colt could once again be the one to catch throughout this event with a clean break from the gate. Joel Rosario will be in the stirrups aboard the potential favorite.

Todd Pletcher’s #5 Moonlight had a productive two-year-old season and rates a major chance in his sophomore debut with improvement in this sizable field. The Audible colt, who was purchased for $285,000 in 2023, checked in fourth in the Remsen in his latest showing and has trained forwardly in the interim. This Kentucky-bred gray is a sharp one who will be involved from the start on Saturday with Florent Geroux taking the reins.

Expert Pick

An exacta with #4 Sierra Leone on top of #5 Moonlight and #11 Track Phantom in the 2024 Risen Star is the Best Bet of the Week.