The home stretch towards the Run for the Roses starts Saturday with the 2025 Risen Star Stakes. This Kentucky Derby prep race at the Fair Grounds will award the top-five finishers on a 50-25-15-10-5 scale, which will get each one closer to racing at Churchill Downs on May 3. Last year’s Risen Star Stakes winner was Sierra Leone, who went on to finish second at the Kentucky Derby after longshot Mystik Dan won by a nose. Will the winner of the Risen Star Stakes 2025 have better luck? Post time for Saturday’s race in New Orleans is 7:30 p.m. ET.
East Avenue is the 9-5 favorite in the 2025 Risen Star Stakes odds, followed by Built (5-1) and Vassimo (8-1). With several talented three-year-olds set to enter the starting gate on Saturday, you’ll want to see what SportsLine writer Gene Menez has to say before making any Risen Star Stakes picks or horse racing predictions.
A former reporter and editor at Sports Illustrated, Menez covered an array of sports, including horse racing, for the magazine and its website for almost 14 years. Between 2010 and 2012, he served as SI’s handicapper for the Triple Crown races and correctly predicted Super Saver to win the Kentucky Derby in 2010.
In 2015, while writing for Sports on Earth, Menez accurately gave out the Kentucky Derby superfecta (American Pharoah, Firing Line, Dortmund and Frosted), which paid $1,268.20 for $2. Then in 2017, he tweeted out his Kentucky Derby picks, including Always Dreaming to win, and hit the Pick 4, which paid almost $6,900 on a $1 bet.
In May of last year, Menez gave out 18-1 Mystik Dan as a live longshot in the Kentucky Derby. Last November, he crushed the late Pick 4 on Breeders’ Cup Saturday for a $5,303 score.
For Saturday, Menez has handicapped the 2025 Risen Star Stakes field, made his picks and constructed his best bets. You can head to SportsLine now to see them.
One surprise: Menez is fading East Avenue, even though he is the betting favorite at 9-5 odds. This three-year-old son of Medaglia D’Oro has two first-place finishes in three career starts, impressing at Ellis Park and Keeneland last year. The one blip on his record is a ninth-place finish at the Breeder’s Cup Juvenile in November when he stumbled at the start and cost himself.
Menez acknowledges that East Avenue is one of — if not the — most talented horse in the 2025 Risen Star Stakes field. However, he believes trainer Brendan Walsh is focused on much bigger races down the road.
“Maybe he is just that much more talented than this field and he will win anyway, but on Saturday I’m going to fade East Avenue at this price. The time to bet him will be in his next start,” Menez told SportsLine. You can see all of Menez’s 2025 Risen Star Stakes bets here.
Instead, Menez’s top pick is an enormous double-digit longshot who “will thrive at longer distances.” He also is high on another double-digit longshot who “should improve significantly” from his last start. Menez is including these horses in his 2025 Risen Star Stakes bets, and so should you. He’s sharing what horses to back at SportsLine.
So what horse wins the Risen Star Stakes 2025? And how has Menez constructed his wagers? Visit SportsLine to see Menez’s picks for the Risen Star Stakes, all from the expert who gave out 18-1 Mystik Dan as a live longshot in the Kentucky Derby and crushed the late Pick 4 on Breeders’ Cup Saturday for $5,303, and find out.
