Risen Star
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Risen Star, (1985-1998), was a champion thoroughbred race horse.
The dark bay colt was the son of the great Triple Crown winner Secretariat out of the mare Ribbon. Bred by Arthur B. Hancock, III & Leone J. Peters, Risen Star was bought by Ronnie Lamarque and Louie Roussel III at the 1987 Calder 2-year-old in-training sale. Trained by Roussel, a devout Roman Catholic who was stricken by throat cancer and recovered, ten percent of Risen Star’s winnings were donated to the "Little Sisters of the Poor," a Roman Catholic order of nuns.
Lightly raced, as a two-year-old, Risen Star won the Minstrel Stakes at Louisiana Downs that set the stage for a remarkable three-year-old season. He won the Lexington Stakes and the Louisiana Derby, but in the prestigious Kentucky Derby, he finished third. Under jockey Eddie Delahoussaye, Risen Star was forced to the outside on the backstretch where he stayed until making a charge at the head of the stretch. Unfortunately, he was too late to make up all the lost ground to the front runner and finished third. Two weeks later in the Preakness Stakes Risen Star won in the fastest race since his sire's 1973 record time. Following this, he showed his genes, pulling away from the field and winning by an amazing 15 lengths in the longest of the Triple Crown races, the gruelling 1½ mile Belmont Stakes. An injury from that race forced the horse into early retirement but Risen Star still won the Eclipse Award as 1988's top three-year-old colt. He was retired to stud and went on to sire champion Risen Raven along with several other million-dollar earners.
Risen Star died on March 13, 1998. Named in his honor is the "Risen Star Stakes" race for 3-year-olds held annually at the Fair Grounds Race Course in New Orleans, Louisiana.
Lifetime racing record ( two years) : 11-8-2-1; $2,029,845