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 and Leone J. Peters, Risen Star was bought by Louisianans Ronnie Lamarque and Louie Roussel III at the 1987 Calder two-year-old in-training sale. He was 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.
Racing career
As a two-year-old Risen Star was lightly raced, winning the Minstrel Stakes at Louisiana Downs. Risen Star started his sophomore season by winning the grade twoLouisiana Derby and followed that up with another grade two victory just two weeks prior to the Derby in the Lexington Stakes. He went into the prestigious Kentucky Derby as the morning line third choice. All the colts in the Derby laid off the pace, their jockeys believing that the front-running gray filly Winning Colors would fade. She did not fade and won the race wire to wire by a neck. Risen Star finished third. Under jockeyEddie Delahoussaye, he was forced to the outside on the backstretch, where he stayed until making a charge at the head of the stretch. 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 the "Run for the Black Eyed-Susans" as he turned the table on his filly rival, winning by 1 lengths over Brian's Time, Winning Colors, and local favorite Private Terms. Following the Preakness he pulled away from the field winning by 14 lengths the longest of the Triple Crown races, the 1½ mile Belmont Stakes, with a final time of 2:26. It is the fourth fastest Belmont Stakes behind Hall of Famers A.P. Indy, Easy Goer and Secretariat. By virtue of his two Classic victories, Risen Star won the second $1,000,000 Chrysler Triple Crown Bonus that was awarded to the three-year-old with the best finishes in the three races.
Retirement
An injury that occurred in the Belmont forced him into early retirement, but he still won the Eclipse Award as 1988's top three-year-old colt. By winning the Eclipse, he became the first third-generation Eclipse Award winner in the same category. He was retired to stud and went on to sire millionaire Grade I winner Star Standard as well as German runner Risen Raven. Risen Star died on March 13, 1998, at Walmac International, where he is buried. The Risen Star Stakes for 3-year-olds is named in his honor and is held annually at the Fair Grounds Race Course in New Orleans, Louisiana.
