Favorite Trick Returns

Horse of the Year Favorite Trick will make his 3-year-old debut this afternoon in the 7-furlong Swale Stakes at Gulfstream Park.

Undefeated in eight races last year, Favorite Trick will be making his first start since winning the Nov. 8 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile, and his first for trainer Bill Mott. The Kentucky-bred colt has worked smartly the past few weeks and, although jockey Pat Day said he has not talked much with Mott, he is eagerly awaiting today’s race against eight opponents.

While much of the attention in thoroughbred racing will be focused on Gulfstream Park, two other races this weekend will play a major role in determining the favorites for the Kentucky Derby.

Today at Santa Anita, Paraneck Stable’s Artax, the leading Derby contender on the West Coast, will go to post in the $250,000 San Felipe Stakes.

On Sunday at the Fair Grounds in New Orleans, Risen Star Stakes winner Comic Strip, Norfolk Stakes winner Souvenir Copy and Hutcheson Stakes winner Time Limit will meet in the $500,000 Louisiana Derby.

Risen Star, who won the last two races of the 1988 Triple Crown series, died at age 13 in Lexington, Ky., a spokesman for one of the horse’s owners said.

Sired by Triple Crown winner Secretariat, Risen Star won the Louisiana Derby in 1988 before finishing third in the Kentucky Derby. He went on to win the Preakness and the Belmont Stakes.