Indiana Derby

Informed Patriot (Hard Spun), just two days removed from a third-place finish in the GIII Indiana Derby, brought the Fasig-Tipton July Selected Horses of Racing Age Sale to a crescendo when selling for $1.55 million to Prince Saud bin Salman Abdulaziz. Bloodstock agent Ibrahim Rachid made the winning bid on behalf of the prince and said the sophomore would be aimed at next year's G1 Saudi Cup. Campaigned by J Kirk and Judy Robison and trained by Steve Asmussen, Informed Patriot was purchased for $90,000 as a Keeneland September sale....

Informed Patriot (Hard Spun), third in Saturday's GIII Indiana Derby, has been added to the line-up for the Fasig-Tipton July Selected Horses of Racing Age Sale, which will be held Monday in Lexington. He is catalogued as hip 523 and consigned by Taylor Made Sales Agency, agent. Third in last year's GIII Street Sense Stakes, Informed Patriot opened his sophomore campaign with a third-place effort in the Smarty Jones Stakes. He won the Bathhouse Row Stakes at Oaklawn in April. Racing for J. Kirk and Judy Robison and trained by...

Winner of three of his four starts on the grass last season, including two at the Grade III level, Amerman Racing's Endlessly (Oscar Performance) returns to the grass for the first time as a 3-year-old as the 6-5 morning-line favorite for Saturday's $750,000 GI Belmont Derby. Typically contested over 10 furlongs at Belmont Park, this year's renewal takes place over a mile and three-sixteenths at Aqueduct. Victorious in the GIII Del Mar Juvenile Turf and GIII Zuma Beach Stakes, Endlessly was a wide-trip eighth in the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile...

An additional five horses have been added to the catalogue for next Monday's Fasig-Tipton July Selected Horses of Racing Age Sale at the company's Newtown Paddocks in Lexington. Catalogued as hip 520 is the 2-year-old filly Fortuna Mia, who won her maiden by four lengths at Horseshoe Indianapolis at first asking May 13 to become the first winner for her freshman sire Vekoma (by Candy Ride {Arg}) and most recently finished third in a muddy renewal of the Debutante Stakes at Churchill Downs June 30. Out of a half-sister to...

A record $5.03 million has been allocated to the 2024 stakes schedule at Horseshoe Indianapolis, a program highlighted by the $300,000 GIII Indiana Derby and the $200,000 GIII Indiana Oaks, each to be contested Saturday, July 6, 2024. Some 42 stakes will be offered over the course of the season, which gets off to a unique beginning on Monday, Apr. 8 to coincide with Total Solar Eclipse Day. The afternoon's features include the appropriately named Dark Side of the Moon and Total Eclipse of the Heart handicaps for Indiana-bred and...

A couple of hours after Aspen Grove (Ire) conjured up a 15-1 surprise in the GI Fasig-Tipton Belmont Oaks, Verifying (Justify) validated a quote of 3-5 favoritism--if only just--to best Raise Cain (Violence) in the GIII Indiana Derby. Away alertly for Marcelino Pedroza, Jr, the $775,000 Keeneland September yearling--a half-brother to the magnificent Midnight Bisou (Midnight Lute)--was content to lie second and allow the rail-drawn Transect (Gun Runner) to carve out the early fractions. Georgie W (Tapiture) tracked three wide from his high draw, while Cagliostro (Upstart) enjoyed the run...

Highlighted by the $300,000 GIII Indiana Derby July 8, Horseshoe Indianapolis has finalized a 2023 racing season featuring 38 black-type events worth $4.75 million. Eight stakes worth $1.1 million are slated for the Indiana Derby Day card, including the GIII Indiana Oaks. "Each year, Indiana Derby Day continues to grow and sets new handle records," said Vice President and General Manager of Racing Eric Halstrom. "Our racing office staff works very hard to assemble top quality fields for each of these stakes. With all the activities surrounding the event, Indiana...

Horseshoe Indianapolis is proposing a 2023 mixed-meet racing schedule of 123 dates that pares four dates from the Thoroughbred portion of the calendar, down to 117 from the 121 Thoroughbred dates that had been granted this year. Pending approval at this Thursday's Indiana Horse Racing Commission (IHRC) meeting, the 2023 mixed meet will run Apr. 18-Nov. 17. That's roughly the same template that Horseshoe Indianapolis used this past season, although next year's meet is scheduled to end on the Friday before Thanksgiving instead of running into the holiday week and...

The book on training the modern racehorse goes something this: Give them at least six weeks off between races, start them no more than five times a year and never take a chance. It's a book that, apparently, Ken McPeek has never read. Among top-tier trainers, there is no one like him. He'll run fillies against the boys, run back in a week and he's not afraid to throw a 50-1 bomb into a race or, in the case of 2022 GI Belmont S. winner Sarava (Wild Again), a 70-1...

Actuator (Bodemeister), just a $2,200 FTKFEB yearling graduate, stayed perfect on dirt to capture a career high in Saturday's GIII Indiana Derby. Third in his first two tries on grass for trainer Rodolphe Brisset at Horseshoe Indianapolis last term, including going a mile in his juvenile finale Oct. 6, he returned from the bench to air in his dirt debut going seven furlongs in his first try for trainer Michael McCarthy at Churchill Downs last time June 8. With Black Type Thoroughbreds acquiring a 75-percent controlling interest since, 3-1 third-choice...

A total of 38 Thoroughbred stakes races offering more than $4.6 million in purses will be featured during the 2022 racing season at Horseshoe Indianapolis. The season runs Apr. 19 through Nov. 23 and is highlighted by the 28th running of the GIII Indiana Derby Saturday, July 9. That card alone offers $1.1 million in stakes purses and will also feature the GIII Indiana Oaks. Horseshoe Indianapolis will also feature the third Indiana Champions Day Saturday, Oct. 29. The event will showcase 10 stakes combined by Thoroughbred and Quarter Horse...

Already with a pair of Grade III victories in his rearview, JIL Stable's Mr. Wireless (Dialed In) will look to make it three in a row in Sunday night's GIII Oklahoma Derby at Remington. A debut fifth with a tough trip going six furlongs Mar. 4 at Fair Grounds, the gelding earned a pair of hard-fought nose successes Mar. 27 and May 1 at Oaklawn before finishing a close second at 14-1 in the sloppy-track Texas Derby May 31 at Lone Star. Cruising to a sharp 3 3/4-length score in...