Flashback: How Risen Star almost won the Triple Crown

When you think about horses who just missed sweeping the Triple Crown, you likely recall the heralded performances of Real Quiet … Smarty Jones … Silver Charm — horses who won the Kentucky Derby and Preakness, only to falter by narrow margins in the Belmont Stakes.

Yet one of the most notable Triple Crown near-misses came from a horse who reversed the traditional standard, losing the Kentucky Derby before winning the Preakness and Belmont. The horse I’m thinking of is Risen Star, whose name lives on through the Grade 2 Risen Star Stakes at Fair Grounds, where he won the Louisiana Derby (G2) as part of a championship 3-year-old campaign.

Risen Star doesn’t usually enter the conversation when racing fans discuss Triple Crown near-misses, yet it’s hard to deny that the son of Secretariat would have made a deserving member of the Triple Crown club. Just check out his achievements from a two-month span in the spring of 1988:

April 16: Risen Star battles to victory in the Lexington Stakes

In 1988, the Louisiana Derby was still more of a regional prize than a major Kentucky Derby prep, so Risen Star didn’t truly emerge on the national stage until upsetting the Lexington (G2) at Keeneland. Displaying relentless tenacity, Risen Star wore down Forty Niner (the 2-5 favorite and reigning champion 2-year-old) to win by a head, stamping his credentials as an elite Derby contender.

May 7: Risen Star finishes third in the Kentucky Derby

Nothing went Risen Star’s way under the Twin Spires. Breaking from the dreaded rail draw, Risen Star took back early to avoid a stampede of horses shifting toward the inside, in the process winding up 15 lengths off the pace. He started to advance around the far turn, but the pack was too congested to risk an inside route, forcing Risen Star to rally impossibly wide.

Even under these adverse circumstances, Risen Star charged hard down the lane to finish third, beaten 3 1/2 lengths by the front-running filly Winning Colors and the pace-tracking Forty Niner. If not for losing so much ground around the far turn, Risen Star might have won.

May 21: Risen Star rallies to victory in the Preakness

A speed duel between Winning Colors and Forty Niner often is cited as the reason that Risen Star was able to turn the tables in the Preakness. But it might be more accurate to conclude Risen Star was simply the best horse in Baltimore.

Showing much more tactical speed than in the Derby, Risen Star was never more than two lengths off the lead as Winning Colors and Forty Niner carved out steady fractions of :23 1/5, 47, and 1:11 1/5. Then, on the final turn, Risen Star boldly slipped through on the inside to take command, and down the stretch he held off deep closer Brian’s Time to score by 1 1/4 lengths.

This wasn’t the performance of a horse who capitalized on a destructive pace meltdown — this was the performance of an improving 3-year-old finally reaching his peak.

June 11: Risen Star dominates the Belmont Stakes

Continuing to show improved tactical speed, Risen Star tracked Winning Colors for the first half of the Belmont Stakes, gradually edging closer through splits of :47 1/5, 1:11 4/5, and 1:36 2/5. Taking command with half a mile remaining, Risen Star subsequently turned the Belmont into a romp, drawing away steadily under a hand ride to win by 14 3/4 lengths in 2:26.40. At the time, his final clocking marked the second-fastest Belmont in history behind the 2:24 posted by his illustrious sire, and it remains the fourth-fastest time to this day.

Unfortunately, Risen Star came out of the Belmont with an injured suspensory ligament that eventually prompted his retirement. Given how rapidly Risen Star progressed during the Triple Crown, we can only wonder what he might have achieved if he’d stayed sound and raced through the summer and fall.

J. Keeler Johnson is a writer, videographer, handicapper, and all-around horse racing enthusiast. A great fan of racing history, he considers Dr. Fager to be the greatest racehorse ever produced in America, but counts Zenyatta as his all-time favorite. You can follow him on Twitter at @J_Keelerman.