Risen Star may split divisions

[SBR Drew]

Fair Grounds may host two major KD preps on its Feb. 15 card.

Track officials are mulling a split of the Grade 2, $400,000 race into two divisions with as many as 21 horses under consideration for the race as of Thursday.

[Easy-Rider 66]

Having drawn 23 entries for the Grade 2, $400,000 Risen Star Stakes, Fair Grounds officials decided to split the season’s first major 2020 Kentucky Derby prep into a pair of divisions running next Saturday.

Given that both races will carry the full, original purse money, they will also allot Derby qualifying points to their top four finishers on a 50-20-10-5 basis.

In the first flight, the Lecomte Stakes (G3) winner Enforceable gets a rematch with the likes of Silver State and Mr. Monomoy, while Blackberry Wine and Digital join out of the local allowance ranks.

The second division is headlined by Anneau d’Or, who finished second in both the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile and Los Alamitos Futurity (G2). He’s searching for his first dirt win with stakes hero Liam’s Lucky Charm among his rivals.