Friday Post Parade: Risen Star and Fountain of Youth

So we are finally here to the start of the Road to the Roses fantasy horse racing challenge.  Really excited about this season.  

Currently my favorite Derby prospect

• Make sure you sign up and finalize your stable by tonight.
• If you are new to the league or just fell into this blog and want to join-welcome!  Feel free to be part of the fun.  
• League information is in the top right of this blog.  Make sure you enter that after you get your stable together.  
• Read over the league rules.  Really the most important thing to remember is to activate three power horses every week. 
• Remember we are a charitable league so make sure you donate $10 to Old Friends in the donation box to the right.  It's quick and easy to do and supports a very worthy cause.  Thanks to everyone who has already donated (including me).
• Really interested to see what El Padrino can do in the Risen Star.  Nearly picked the colt named Mark Valeski for my stable because I actually worked with a guy out here in the City of Roses with that same name.  Weird.  He's owned by a former Kentucky governor and trained by a Kentuckian.  I hope I don't regret not taking him.  
• I have to say the Fountain of Youth is the real excitement.  Algorithms and Union Rags have been buzz horses for a while and rightly so.  I got chills when I saw Discreet Dancer's last outing.  I realize it was an allowance/optional claimer race, but he looked sharp (as he did in his 2YO race in December).  Likes to get out front and this might be his downfall.  Really looking forward to this race.  
• No luck on getting Kenny Mayne, Rex Chapman, Bobby Flay, Gene Simmons, and Bryan Cranston to join our league as of yet.  There's still time.   

I've done just about every fantasy sport there is, but to me nothing compares to this.  It's by far my favorite.  Race entries for this weekend's Risen Star and Fountain of Youth are after the song of the day.

So you are going to click on this song and wonder what's the connection.  There is a connection.  I really hope I'm not disappointed next time I check the stable names in our league.  Good luck to everyone!

$300,000 Risen Star Stakes (gr. II, Race 11, 4:55 p.m.), 3YOs, 1 1/16 Miles
PP. Horse, Jockey, Weight, Trainer
1. Afford (KY), S Bridgmohan, 116, G Geier
2. Optimizer (KY), C H Marquez Jr., 116, D W Lukas
3. a-Mr. Bowling (KY), R Albarado, 120, J L Jones
4. Z Dager (KY), S J Sellers, 116, S M Asmussen
5. Ted's Folly (OK), R Zimmerman, 120, W L Brown
6. b-Adena's Chance (FL), R E Eramia, 116, G Dorochenko
7. b-Hero of Order (KY), J Graham, 116, G Dorochenko
8. El Padrino (KY), J Castellano, 116, T A Pletcher
9. a-Mark Valeski (KY), R Napravnik, 116, J L Jones
10. Shared Property (KY), L R Goncalves, 120, T M Amoss
11. Tizanexpense (KY), M Mena, 116, M J Maker
a - Brereton C. Jones coupled entry
b - Gennadi & Irina Dorochenko coupled entry

$400,000 Fountain of Youth Stakes (gr. II, Race 11, 5:13 p.m.), 3YOs, 1 1/16 Miles
PP. Horse, Jockey, Weight, Trainer
1. Neck 'n Neck (KY), J Lezcano, 116, I R Wilkes
2. Algorithms (KY), J Castellano, 120, T A Pletcher
3. Fort Loudon (FL), R Maragh, 120, S I Gold
4. Casual Trick (KY), C S Nakatani, 116, N P Zito
5. Discreet Dancer (FL), J R Velazquez, 116, T A Pletcher
6. News Pending (KY), K J Desormeaux, 116, D L Romans
7. Union Rags (KY), J R Leparoux, 122, M R Matz
8. Csaba (KY), P Lopez, 116, P A Gleaves