Midnight Bourbon Pointed to Risen Star

Winchell Thoroughbreds' Lecomte Stakes (G3) winner Midnight Bourbon came out of the race in fine order, trainer Steve Asmussen's assistant Scott Blasi reported Jan. 17. Asmussen indicated following the previous night's win that the 3-year-old Tiznow colt would be pointed to the $400,000 Risen Star Stakes Presented by Lamarque Ford (G2) at 1 1/8 miles Feb. 13 back at Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots.

Midnight Bourbon earned 10 points on the Road to the Kentucky Derby for his Lecomte win and is currently third in the standings with 16 points. The Risen Star awards points on a 50-20-10-5 scale to the first four finishers.

Lothenbach's Stables' Charlie's Penny, winner of the Jan. 16 Silverbulletday Stakes, also exited her race is excellent shape, according to trainer Chris Block.

"So far everything looks good," Block said Sunday. "She ate up last night and this morning, walked real well, and she seems bright and not too knocked out. The next logical plan would be to point towards the Rachel Alexandra (G2). What has pushed her forward is her mind and her determination. She's not a very big filly, kind of average in size, and a little bit on the narrow side, but all that is relative to what she can do herself. Yesterday she was helped by the (slow) pace, but so was everybody else, or so I would have thought. She rose to the occasion, now it's time to see if she can take the next step forward. It was really nice to win this race at Fair Grounds. My family used to send horses here for the winter with (the late) Richie Scherer, and management has been very kind to us."

For her Silverbulletday win, the Minnesota-bred daughter of Race Day earned 10 points on the Road to the Kentucky Oaks. The $300,000 Rachel Alexandra Stakes Presented by Fasig-Tipton (G2) for 3-year-old fillies is also back at Fair Grounds Feb. 13 and awards points on a 50-20-10-5 scale. It is run at 1 1/16 miles.

Trainer Brad Cox reported that his pair of beaten favorites—Sun Path (fourth in the Silverbulletday) and Mandaloun (third in the Lecomte), both Juddmonte homebreds—exited their respective races in good order. Sun Path will be given some time to regroup, while Mandaloun is likely for an equipment change next time out.

"I was super disappointed with the outcome of the Silverbulletday," Cox admitted. "We don't see any physical issue with Sun Path. She appears to have come out of it well as of now. Obviously, we will back up a little bit. We won't run back in four weeks. We'll just try to train up to either the Honeybee (G3) or the Fair Grounds Oaks (G2). They would really be our only options moving forward. We need a little more time between races. She's going to be a little bit of a question mark until we run her again. She was doing so well leading up to this race."

The Honeybee is March 6 at Oaklawn Park and offers points on a 50-20-10-5 scale, and the Twinspires.com Fair Grounds Oaks (G2) is March 20 with a scale of 100-40-20-10. Both are run at 1 1/16 miles.

"We still think (Mandaloun) is a very good horse," Cox said. "He raced wide around both turns. I thought it was a good experience. He showed up. He ran his race. I think we are going to add blinkers. I talked it over with the Juddmonte team and (jockey) Florent (Geroux). We kind of thought that ever since his first race. He came out it (the Lecomte) so far so good. We will definitely look at coming back in the Risen Star."