A Risen Star of Magnitude: Winchell colt sets stakes record at 43-1

Fair Grounds stakes recap by track publicist Kevin Kilroy, edited to reflect Kentucky connections (Photo of Magnitude drawing off in the stretch by Hodges Photography/Amanda Hodges Weir)

New Orleans, La (Feb. 15, 2025) – Winchell Thoroughbreds’ Magnitude overcame his 43-1 odds and post 12 to wire a field of 12 three-year-olds by 9 3/4 lengths and set a stakes record in the $500,000 Fasig-Tipton Risen Star Stakes (G2) at Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots. The Risen Star is the first race in the Championship Series of the Road to the Kentucky Derby, with Magnitude virtually guaranteed a spot in the Derby starting gate by picking up 50 qualifying points to go with the five he earned with a second in the Fair Grounds’ Gun Runner.

Trained by Steve Asmussen and ridden by Ben Curtis, Magnitude covered 1 1/8 miles in 1:48.85, the fastest Risen Star final time since the race was extended to nine furlongs in 2020. The previous record was held by Epicenter, who later ran second in Kentucky Derby 148 for the same owner and trainer.

“(Curtis) needed to make the decision to get over,” Asmussen said. “He took the initiative and was very positive with what he wanted to do and the horse responded for him. I think the foundation (of the Road to the Derby at Fair Grounds), the races, being here staying in the system and what you can develop–it’s why we’re here.  The horse has not missed a single day, a single oat.  Scott (Blasi, assistant trainer) has done a tremendous job with him. We always thought he was capable of more. We put him where he needed to be, played the bias of the racetrack and he took advantage of it.”

Finishing second was another Kentucky-based 43-1 shot with the Ethan West-trained Chunk of Gold, Turfway Park’s Leonatus runner-up, nailing the Wayne Catalano-trained second-choice Built by a head for second.

Wasting no time, Curtis urged the 43-1 Magnitude from the gates, crossing over and clearing East Avenue by two lengths heading into the first turn. With post-time favorite East Avenue stalking to his outside, Magnitude clocked in opening fractions of :23.42 and :46.92. Setting up shop behind East Avenue, both Built and Vassimo bided their time, while behind them Chunk of Gold overcame early trouble to settle in 8th along the rail.

As East Avenue failed to respond in the far turn and began backpedaling, Built made a strong move forward and set his sights on Magnitude. By the eighth pole, Magnitude had repelled his challenger and began pulling away from the field. Rallying up the rail, Chunk of Gold caught Built at the wire for second place. After dropping back in the far turn, Vassimo surged late to steal fourth from a fading American Promise.

“It was fantastic,” Curtis said. “It is a pleasure to ride horses like that. The instructions were limited but they were let the horse do what he does and try to get forward. I had all the confidence going out there in the world. He pulled away very well in the stretch and he hit the line strong. Couldn’t be happier with the horse, couldn’t be happier with the trip.”

On the local road to the 151st Kentucky Derby every stop thus far, Magnitude previously ran a troubled 6th in the Lecomte and 2nd in the Gun Runner, for which he earned 5 qualifying points. Together with the 50 he earned in the Risen Star, the Not This Time colt now ranks second behind Citizen Bull with 55 points.  Magnitude also produced another graded-stakes winner to come out of Ellis Park’s 2-year-old program, having won a seven-furlong maiden race by 5 3/4 lengths on July 20

Chunk of Gold grabbed 25 points in his first Derby prep. Built added 15 points to the 20 he earned winning the Gun Runner and placing in the Lecomte, totaling 35 points for trainer Wayne Catalano. Vassimo scored his first 10 points; likewise for American Promise with 5. 

“We are absolutely thrilled,” the Turfway Park-based West said of Chunk of Gold. “He ran a massive race. We asked a lot of him shipping down here and trying dirt for the first time and he came with a massive run. Jareth rode him perfectly.”

Said Loveberry: “I’ve been with Ethan the last two mornings, watching the replays and talking about the horse. The trip went pretty good but there’s still a little greenness–he’s still learning and developing but he knows how to finish.”

Built also ran at Ellis Park, finishing fourth in East Avenue’s maiden victory. Built broke his maiden at Keeneland, then captured the Gun Runner before finishing second by a head in the Lecomte (G3).

“He felt good the whole way. I thought we were going to win. Half a mile I thought we had. Came in at 3/8 he got pretty close, top of the stretch when I asked him he gave me a good turn of foot and when i got to the winner, he took off.”

“I wasn’t happy about getting nailed for second but I feel good about how he ran,” Catalano said.

“He felt good the whole way,” said jockey Luis Saez. “I thought we were going to win. Half a mile I thought we had. Came in at 3/8 he got pretty close, top of the stretch when I asked him he gave me a good turn of foot and when i got to the winner, he took off.”

Magnitude returned $88.40, $33, and $14.80. Chunk of Gold paid $32.20 and $12.80. Built returned $4 to show. The 50-cent trifecta returned $3,425.

East Avenue, dominating winner of Keeneland’s Grade 1 Claiborne Breeders’ Futurity after an 8-length Ellis Park maiden win, appeared poised to pounce on Magnitude on the far turn before fading badly to finish in a dead-heat for 10th. It was East Avenue’s first start since the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile, in which he was favored before stumbling badly at the start from post 1 to finish ninth.

“I felt like a winner every step until we got to the far turn, he switched leads and just kind of emptied out on me,” said jockey Tyler Gaffalione. “I don’t have an answer for it. Hopefully he comes back good and we’ll see what happens…. He is still lightly raced, only four starts, so we still have some figuring out to do. Brendan (Walsh) does such a good job with his horses–he’ll figure it out.”

Winchell Thoroughbreds and Steve Asmussen have now teamed up for a record 4 Risen Star victories, including Epicenter (2022), Gun Runner (2016), and Pyro (2008).

A son of Not This Time out of the Bernardini mare Rockadelic, Magnitude improved his record to a 7-3-1-0, boosting his earnings to $446,165. He spent last summer and fall racing in Kentucky, including winning an Ellis Park maiden race and a Churchill Downs allowance race.

The Fasig-Tipton Risen Star serves as the local steppingstone to the $1 million Twinspirses.com Louisiana Derby (G2) on Saturday, March 22.