Risen Star trips

A few quick impressions after my first few ganders at the Risen Star replay…

Giant Oak was cursed from the beginning because I picked him on top. He broke a step slow and Prado took him over to the rail but couldn’t get there and went two wide around the first turn in last place. Down the backstretch he rushed up between horses, a development that seemed to happen in spite of Prado and not because of anything he did. He got stopped running into the pack and you really knew then that he was unlikely to find another spurt. Into the stretch he finally did get some racing room and improved his position but by then the damage was done and the best he could do was fifth.

The longshot we loved, Au Moon, managed to fall from mid-pack to last halfway through the first turn as a result of racing five-wide. By the time they straightened onto the backstretch he was about 13 lengths behind the leader. From there he raced evenly and managed eighth.

The other wide-tripper was Flying Pegasus, who also raced five-wide into the first turn but managed to duck down into a nice stalking spot coming out of the turn in fourth place. Coming out of the final turn Flying Pegasus made a run and appeared to hold the lead, though it must have been between the points of call on the official chart. Albarado deserves credit for making the most out of a difficult trip and Flying Pegasus should not be dismissed going into the Louisiana Derby off this huge effort, especially considering it came off a five-month break. A shorter path around the oval and Flying Pegasus could have made more of a race out of this.