Racing Career
As a two-year-old Risen Star was lightly raced, winning the Minstrel Stakes at Louisiana Downs.
Risen Star started his sophomore season by winning the grade two Louisiana Derby and followed that up with another grade two victory just two weeks prior to the Derby in the Lexington Stakes.
He went into the prestigious Kentucky Derby as the morning line third choice. All the colts in the Derby laid off the pace, their jockeys believing that the front-running gray filly Winning Colors would fade. She did not fade and won the race wire to wire by a neck. Risen Star finished third. Under jockey Eddie Delahoussaye, he was forced to the outside on the backstretch, where he stayed until making a charge at the head of the stretch. He was too late to make up all the lost ground to the front runner and finished third.
Two weeks later in the Preakness Stakes, Risen Star won the "Run for the Black Eyed-Susans" as he turned the table on his filly rival, winning by 11⁄2 lengths over Brian's Time, Winning Colors, and local favorite Private Terms. Following the Preakness, he pulled away from the field and winning by 143⁄4 lengths in the longest of the Triple Crown races, the 1½ mile Belmont Stakes, with a final time of 2:262⁄5, which is the fourth fastest running behind Hall of Famers A.P. Indy, Easy Goer and Secretariat. By virtue of his two Classic victories, Risen Star won the second $1,000,000 Chrysler Triple Crown Bonus that was awarded to the three year-old with the best finishes in the three races.
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