- Purse: $400,000
- Distance: One And One Sixteenth Miles
- Age: 3 yo
- Surface: Dirt
The Risen Star Stakes is a prep race for the Kentucky Derby hosted by Fair Grounds Race Course in New Orleans. The race is contested at 1 1/16 miles on the dirt in late February. The Risen Star's namesake, a champion Thoroughbred, won the race when it was called the Louisiana Derby Trial Stakes in 1988. The colt went on to win the Louisiana Derby, Preakness Stakes and Belmont Stakes and take home divisional year-end honors.
Other notable horses to have won the race include Badge of Silver, Lawyer Ron and Mucho Macho Man. The three editions of the race from 2012 to 2014 have been decided by a nose margin, including victories by Intense Holiday, Ive Struck a Nerve and El Padrino.
