First Look: Risen Star is in spotlight as Derby trail ramps up

Smile Happy makes his 2022 debut Saturday in the Grade 2 Risen Star, the first of the Kentucky Derby preps that offer 50 points to the winner.

Any contender amassing 50 points is pretty much guaranteed to qualify for the Run for the Roses, so this race can be seen as the first win-and-you're-in of the season.

On the Kentucky Oaks trail, the Rachel Alexandra (G2) also offers 50 qualifying points to its winner.

Here's an early look at the fields for this weekend's graded stakes.

Risen Star (G2), Fair Grounds, 1 1/8 miles, 3-year-olds, 50-20-10-5 Kentucky Derby points

2-for-2 Smile Happy, one of the top early choices in Kentucky Derby futures betting, will make his third career start here. Last out, he beat Classic Causeway in the Kentucky Jockey Club (G2). Slow Down Andy, winner of the Los Alamitos Futurity (G2), also is making his first start of the year. The field also features the second-, third- and fourth-place finishers in the Lecomte (G3), Epicenter, Pappacap and Trafalgar.

Rachel Alexandra (G2), Fair Grounds, 1 1/16 miles, 3-year-old fillies, 50-20-10-5 Kentucky Oaks points

Dream Lith is 2-for-4 and is making her first start since winning the Golden Rod (G2) in November. Hidden Connection was last seen finishing fourth in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile, which was her first loss in three starts. North County has won all three of her starts and rallied to win the black-type Untapable by a neck on Dec. 26.

Mineshaft (G3), Fair Grounds, 1 1/16 miles, 4-year-olds

O Besos came off a seven-month layoff to win an allowance here last out at this distance. Title Ready won the Louisiana (G2) here last year but has four losses since. This will be the first start outside of California for Midcourt, last seen finishing eighth in the Oct. 2 Awesome Again (G1).

Fair Grounds Stakes (G3), Fair Grounds, 1 1/8 miles (turf), 4-year-olds and up

Largent's fourth-place finish in the Tropical Turf (G3) was his first start since finishing second in the Pegasus World Cup Turf (G1) nearly a year earlier. In 2020, he won five of seven starts and was second in the other two. Major Fed lost his last three starts and is looking for his first graded-stakes win.

Gulfstream Park Sprint (G3), Gulfstream, 6 furlongs, 4-year-olds and up

This would be Diamond Oops' first start since an eighth-place finish in the Keeneland Turf Mile (G1) on Oct. 9. Drain the Clock returns to graded-stakes company after putting together a record of 8: 5-2-0 last year, with three of those wins in graded stakes. Gatsby has finished in the money in each of his last five starts.