With ‘Phenomenal Workouts,’ Risen Star Winner Mandaloun Leads Louisiana Derby Field

Mention Juddmonte Farms’ homebred Mandaloun to trainer Brad Cox and the reaction is telling. And instantaneous. Cox is looking forward to showing the rest of the racing world what he’s thought all along—that Mandaloun is one serious 3-year-old—when he starts as a strong favorite in a sterling renewal of Saturday’s 108th running of the $1 million TwinSpires.com Louisiana Derby (G2) at Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots.

Run at 1 3/16 miles, the Louisiana Derby will offer 170 qualifying points for the Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve, on a 100-40-20-10 scale, and highlight a robust 14-race card that incorporates eight stakes overall, including the supporting feature, the $400,000 TwinSpires.com Fair Grounds Oaks (G2) for 3-year-old fillies.

Mandaloun (post 6, as Mike Diliberto’s 8-5 morning line favorite, with Florent Geroux to ride), a son of Into Mischief, burst on the national scene as a 2-year-old, easily winning both starts sprinting in Kentucky at short odds.

Things didn’t go as swimmingly in his 3-year-old debut, however, as he was third at odds-on in the local Lecomte (G3) in January, concluding behind winter rivals Midnight Bourbon and Proxy. Mandaloun was also making his two-turn and stakes debut in the Lecomte, and after taking a step back to look at the big picture, Cox wasn’t as disappointed as maybe the betting public and Mandaloun’s fan club was.

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“You have to keep in mind it was his first start around two turns and first start in a stakes and he was a little bit wide the entire way,” Cox said. “I think he got a lot out of the race and moved forward off it. From a physical standpoint he looks like he’s continued to develop.”

Cox also decided to make what would be a key equipment modification after the Lecomte, as he put blinkers on for the Feb. 13 Risen Star (G2).

Mandaloun trained brilliantly in the mornings with blinkers and backed Cox’s high praise in the afternoon, when a much more polished colt turned the tables on both Proxy and Midnight Bourbon with an authoritative 1 ¼-length victory, while earning the 50 Kentucky Derby qualifying points that went with it. To Cox, the triumph and marked improvement was due to a combination of things.

With the Risen Star behind him, and a berth in the Run of the Roses already assured, Mandaloun heads to the Louisiana Derby in a bit of an interesting position. Cox, who won the race last year with Wells Bayou, doesn’t want to squeeze the lemon dry Saturday, even though there are a million reasons to do so.

Mandaloun has continued to flourish in his training, highlighted by a March 6 bullet :59 1/5 drill going five furlongs over the track, which gives his trainer that much more confidence that he can pull off an elusive double that hasn’t accomplished since Grindstone did it in 1996.

“His last two works have been phenomenal; we’ve done as much with him in the morning than we can do,” Cox said. “The goal is to get the job done on Saturday. He’s going to have six weeks to recover, if he runs the way we hope he should, to point to the Kentucky Derby. There will be a period there where he can recover then hopefully, we can start cranking him up towards the end of April for the first Saturday in May.”

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