Canadian Peter Redekop is back on the early part of the Kentucky Derby trail as his colt ANNEAU D’OR (Golden Ring) starts his 3-year-old season in a division of the important RISEN STAR STAKES (G2) at Fair Grounds Feb. 15.
The oversubscribed Risen Star has 2 divisions and each one offers 50 points for the Kentucky Derby. The fields are below.
Redekop, who races horses in the U.S. but heavily supports British Columbia racing in his home province, was on the Derby bubble last sprint with Anothertwistafate, who won the El Camino Real Derby but ultimately passed up the Kentucky Derby and then ran 10th in the Preakness.
Anneau D’Or is the most expensive horse Redekop has ever bought at $480,000. He bought him from the 2019 April Ocala Breeders’ Sale of Two-Year-Olds after the son of Medaglia D’oro worked 2 furlongs in 21 1/5.
The colt raced just three times as a juvenile and was a very close second in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (G1) at Santa Anita.
He begins the year with blinkers and jockey Joel Rosario.
(Did you miss the feature on Mr. Redekop in Canadian Thoroughbred magazine? Read it here.
In the first division, Ontario bred PERFECT REVENGE will try and post an upset for owner Paul Braverman and Timothy Pinch. The son of I Want Revenge was foaled in Ontario and bred by American David Lanzman, who raced I Want Revenge, Squirtle Squirt and others. Lanzman raced the horse as a juvenile at Woodbine in 2019. and he won his maiden for $40,000 claiming on Tapeta.
Sent to Gulfstream by trainer Stuart Simon, Perfect Revenge was claimed for $50,000 by trainer Saffie Joseph Jr from a troubled tripp. The colt came back to be 2nd in an allowance/optional claiming race. Perfect Revenge is 20 to 1 in the morning line but certainly one on the improve.
From Fair Grounds media:
With runner-up performances in both the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (G1) and Los Alamitos Futurity (G2) as a two-year-old, ANNEAU D’OR already has 12 points in the bank. With 50-20-10-5 points on the line in Saturday’s Risen Star (G2) presented by Lamarque Ford-Lincoln, a win, or possibly even a second, would put him in a superior position for a spot in the 20-horse starting gate for the Kentucky Derby (G1) presented by Woodford Reserve on May 2.
“That was probably the number one factor in our decision to come to Fair Grounds,” Wright explained. “Last year we were forced to ship all around the country to chase points. We decided we wanted to do our training at our home base (Golden Gate Fields in Northern California) and keep our group together if we could. The spacing between the Risen Star and the Santa Anita Derby (G1 on April 4) is really nice. It allows us to travel across the country, come back and still get six weeks in between races. Those are the two races we’ve targeted, and hopefully the horse and I keep doing what it takes to get us where we want to go.”
Anneau D’or is the first foal out of the Tapit mare Walk Close, who was a grade three winner on turf.
“We knew right away that he was a pretty decent race horse,” Wright said. “You could see in his early workouts he didn’t really want any part of sprinting. He’s kind of a horse you really have to ride hard, one of those grinder types.”
Bet down to 6-5 favoritism in his career debut over a mile of Golden Gate turf on September 29, Anneau D’or responded with an eight-length romp.
“You never expect them to come out and win as easy as he did,” Wright admitted. That race was a key race. It produced four or five next winners, so that is always nice to see.”
But was it good enough to take a shot at the Breeders’ Cup?
“At that time we wanted to get into the Juvenile Turf (G1) but the way it played out, the Juvenile (G1) was going to have a smaller field. We figured if we can get into the dirt race, let’s just take a shot. Our horse was doing well and the race was in California. Here we are and hopefully we have a prospect to keep moving on with. It gave us a chance to find out early on.”
Dennis’ Moment, the 4-5 post time favorite, broke poorly and was never a factor and 3-2 second choice Eight Rings pressed the pace before faltering. Storm the Court won the Juvenile at 45-1, and Anneau D’or, at 28-1, was just a head back in second.
“As soon as I saw him get over the (Santa Anita) track the first day training there, his class, demeanor and the whole nine yards, there was no doubt in my mind he was going to out run his odds,” Wright said. “With the favorites running as poorly as they did, even Mr. Redekop and I had questions about the quality of the race, but I really had a good feeling about how he tried and pulled up clean. We got home, and after coming up short on Derby points last year with Anothertwistafate, we thought running back in the Los Alamitos Futurity (G2) was a good idea.”
Sent off as the 6-5 favorite against just three rivals, Anneau D’or would lose a narrow decision to the Bob Baffert-trained Thousand Words, who has since returned to win the Robert B. Lewis (G3).
“The track was a little weird that day,” Wright said of the Los Alamitos dirt surface. “They got a couple different rain storms and it (the track) was heavy and deep in spots and hard and fast in others. We got stuck on the inside, and a horse that is still undefeated (3 for 3) outran us.”
By the time he enters the starting gate for the Risen Star (G2), it will have been nine weeks since Anneau D’or last raced, but Wright is not concerned at all with the nine-furlong test off the bench.
“This horse was probably already ready to go a mile and a quarter in his first start,” Wright said. “That’s just the way he trained. We think the synthetic track at Golden Gate is to our advantage. It’s a terrific surface. The same every day. It’s a deep, demanding track and horses come fit off of it. If I’ve done my job right then I hope I got him fit enough to run nine furlongs.”
For Saturday’s Risen Star, Anneau D’or will change equipment and the rider.
“I think that we are going to add some blinkers to him.” Wright said. “In my opinion, we were a head and a neck away from winning an Eclipse Award. We have to find a way to get past horses. Joel Rosario is going to ride our horse. He flew up and worked him last week and got to know him. Hopefully the changes will work out to our advantage.”
Saturday, Fair Grounds, post time: 6:38 p.m. EST
RISEN STAR S. PRESENTED BY LAMARQUE FORD-GII, $400,000, 3yo, 1 1/8m
PP HORSE SIRE OWNER TRAINER JOCKEY WT
1 Digital Into Mischief Tom R. Durant Calhoun Hernandez, Jr. 122
2 Silver State Hard Spun Winchell Thoroughbreds & Willis Horton Racing Asmussen Santana, Jr. 122
3 Ready to Roll City Zip Allied Racing Stable, LLC Calhoun Saez 122
4 Perfect Revenge I Want Revenge Braverman, Paul & Pinch, Timothy Joseph, Jr. Bridgmohan 122
5 Moon Over Miami Malibu Moon Summer Wind Equine Mott Alvarado 122
6 Shashashakemeup Shackleford Calumet Farm Desormeaux Graham 122
7 Blackberry Wine Oxbow Calumet Farm Sharp Beschizza 122
8 Enforceable Tapit John C. Oxley Casse Leparoux 122
9 Mr. Monomoy K Palace Malice Madaket Stables, Dubb & Doheny Racing Stable Cox Geroux 122
10 Farmington Road Quality Road Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners, Chrysalis Stables LLC & Robert V. LaPenta Pletcher Castellano 122
11 Scabbard K More Than Ready Joseph W. Sutton Kenneally Rosario 122
Breeders: 1-Fred W. Hertrich III & John D. Fielding, 2-Stonestreet Thoroughbred Holdings LLC, 3-Fredericka V. Caldwell &Mitchel Skolnick, 4-David J. Lanzman Racing Inc, 5-Summer Wind Equine, 6-Larkspur Thoroughbreds & Darby Dan, 7-Calumet Farm, 8-Clearsky Farms, 9-FPF LLC & Highfield Ranch,
10-Chrysalis Stables, 11-Joseph W. Sutton
Saturday, Fair Grounds, post time: 7:12 p.m. EST
RISEN STAR S. PRESENTED BY LAMARQUE FORD-GII, $400,000, 3yo, 1 1/8m
PP HORSE SIRE OWNER TRAINER JOCKEY WT
1 Modernist Uncle Mo Wygod, Pam and Martin Mott Alvarado 122
2 Truculent Raison d’Etat Calumet Farm Sisterson Carroll 122
3 Mr. Big News Giant’s Causeway Allied Racing Stable, LLC Calhoun Albarado 122
4 Fame to Famous Tapit Kingdom Racing Mc Allen Hernandez 122
5 Liam’s Lucky Charm Khozan Stonehedge LLC Nicks Zayas 122
6 Excession K Union Rags Calumet Farm Asmussen Santana, Jr. 122
7 Major Fed Ghostzapper Lloyd Madison Farms, IV LLC Foley Leparoux 122
8 Anneau d’Or K Medaglia d’Oro Peter Redekop B. C., Ltd. Wright Rosario 122
9 Lynn’s Map K Liam’s Map HRH Prince Sultan Bin Mishal Al Saud Casse Lanerie 122
10 Finnick the Fierce Dialed In Monge, Arnaldo and Hernandez, Rey Hernandez Leon 122
11 Mailman Money Goldencents Allied Racing Stable, LLC Calhoun Saez 122
12 Ny Traffic Cross Traffic Fanelli, John, Cash is King LLC, LC Racing & Braverman, Paul Joseph, Jr. Castellano 122
Breeders: 1-Wygod Family, LLC, 2-Calumet Farm, 3-Don Alberto Corporation, 4-Tapit Syndicate & Alexander GrovesThoroughbreds, 5-Stonehedge LLC, 6-Randal Family Trust, R David & Marylyn ARandal Trustees, 7-Lloyd Madison IV, LLC, 8-Highland Yard LLC, 9-Alastar Thoroughbred Company, LLC,
10-Paige Jillian Blu Sky Stables, 11-TK Stables LLC, 12-Brian Culnan
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