Risen Star Stakes 2024 Picks

By Jarrod Horak

The road to Kentucky Derby 2024 continues at Fair Grounds on Saturday, February 17, and I have included Risen Star Stakes 2024 picks below. The Grade 2 event for 3-year-olds has a $400,000 purse and the twelve entrants will be journeying 1 1/18 miles on the main track. The Risen Star is the 14th race on Feb. 17 and the top five finishers will earn Kentucky Derby points (50-25-15-10-5). 

Risen Star Stakes 2024 Picks & Final Time Ratings

Sierra Leone stalked slow fractions and finished nicely to win his flat mile bow at Aqueduct. He caught a wet, speed favoring surface in the Grade 2 Remsen, and he rallied from last to take a short lead, but front runner Dornoch came back and prevailed by a nose. Chad Brown’s $2.3 million Gun Runner colt adds blinkers and shows eight works at Payson Park for this. Tyler Gaffalione is his new rider and he will try to get involved from off the pace. 

Hall of Fame rallied for the place as the beaten favorite in his extended sprint bow at Churchill. He stretched out second time out at Fair Grounds on Jan. 20, and he pressed above par fractions and kicked away to graduate by 10 lengths. Steve Asmussen’s $1.4 million Gun Runner colt should be forwardly placed under his new rider Ricardo Santana Jr. 

Resilience hooked next-out winners Locked and Drum Roll Please in his bow, and split Stronghold and Track Phantom second time out. Nash ran off the screen on Nov. 12 and this one rallied for the show, and he stalked and came through with a 4 1/4 length maiden victory as the favorite at 1 1/16 miles at Gulfstream on Jan. 1. Bill Mott’s improving Into Mischief colt projects an outer stalking trip under his winning rider John Velazquez. He drilled a Payson bullet for this on Jan. 22. 

Track Phantom set the pace and settled for minor awards in his first two starts at one mile. In his last three starts around two turns, he graduated by 4 3/4 lengths on Nov. 25, and exits back-to-back points race wire jobs in the Gun Runner and Grade 3 Lecomte. Steve Asmussen’s $500k Quality Road colt is probably the one to reel in under his winning pilot Joel Rosario.   

The Risen Star field also includes Tizzy Indy, Awesome Ruta, Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes winner Honor Marie, Moonlight, Real Men Violin, Smarty Jones hero Catching Freedom, Cardinale, and Bee Dancer. 

Risen Star Stakes 2024 Picks

The Risen Star Stakes is my 20th video on the road to Kentucky Derby 2024, and my top choices have four wins, four runner-up finishes, and five show finishes. I will cover each points race on the Kentucky Derby trail. Check out my Risen Star Stakes 2024 picks video below.