Indiana Derby Day is 10% Better on TwinSpires

The 19th running of the Indiana Derby and the 18th edition of the Indiana Oaks will each be contested at 1 1/16 miles on Saturday, October 5 over the main track at Indiana Downs. The card, which will be supported by seven other stakes races, offers over $1.4 million in purses and is Indiana’s richest day of thoroughbred racing.

The seven supporting stakes on the card include the $100,000-added Mari Hulman George Stakes and the $100,000-added Michael G. Schaefer Memorial Stakes, which has attracted defending Indiana Derby champion Neck ‘n Neck.

Headling the wagering lineup is an All Stakes $50,000 Guaranteed Pick 4 on races 8-11, which includes the four stakes races mentioned above. Better yet, hit the Late Pick 4 (races 8-11) on TwinSpires.com and we'll give you a bonus equal to 10% of your gross winnings, up to $500 per player.

Post time for the 12-race card on Indiana Derby Day is 1:55 pm ET, with the approximate start of the $50,000 Guaranteed Late Pick 4 at 5:00 pm ET.

How to earn your 10% Bonus:

• Place a wager on the $50K Guaranteed Late Pick 4 (races 8-11) at Indiana Downs on Saturday, October 5.
• For each winning ticket you cash in the Late Pick 4, you will earn a bonus equal to 10% of your gross winnings.
• Total bonuses paid to any single player on any given day are capped at $500.
• Bonuses earned on Saturday will be credited by the Tuesday, October 8. 

* Pick 4 Bonuses are based on gross winnings from wagers placed in the Late Pick 4 pool (races 8-11 only) at Indiana Downs on Saturday, October 5. Late Pick 4 Bonus payments are capped at $500 per player, per day, regardless of payoff amount or number of winning tickets cashed. Bonuses earned on the $50K Guaranteed Late Pick 4 winnings will be credited by Tuesday, October 8.  This offer cannot be combined with any other offer or promotions available through TwinSpires.com.

Field for the G2 $500,000 Indiana Derby
 

Indiana Derby News

Baffert stars highlight Indiana Derby, Oaks
by The Handicappers Edge

Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert is already a two-time winner of the Indiana Derby having saddled Misremembered and champion Lookin at Lucky to victory in the Grade 2, $500,000 test in 2009 and 2010, respectively. He will seek a third win in the 1 1/16-mile stakes Saturday when it is run at Indiana Downs for the first time.

The Indiana Derby, along with the Grade 2, $200,000 Indiana Oaks, have found a new permanent at Indiana Downs, located southeast of Indianapolis. Hoosier Park, a seven-eighths oval in Anderson, northeast of the capital city, was the previous home of both races, became a Standardbred-only facility this year.

Baffert will be represented by Derby morning-line favorite Power Broker. A Grade 1 winner at two with a dominating performance in the FrontRunner at Santa Anita, the Pulpit colt missed the Triple Crown after a belated start to his sophomore season. However, he's been effective in his last couple of starts, capturing an overnight stakes on the Belmont Stakes day undercard and finishing a distant but clear second to Verrazano in the Haskell Invitational.

The Smarty Jones, contested at Parx on Labor Day, has yielded three Indiana Derby starters. Edge of Reality led wire-to-wire in winning that 1 1/16-mile heat by a neck, with reigning Canadian Horse of the Year Uncaptured third and the Todd Pletcher-trained Micromanage in fifth.

Edge of Reality, an improving son of Lawyer Ron, has won four of seven starts for trainer Tony Dutrow, while Grade 2 winner Uncaptured has won only the Prince of Wales, the middle jewel of Canada's Triple Crown, in six outings this term. Micromanage has much ground to make up on Power Broker, whom he finished behind in both the June 8 Easy Goer at Belmont and the Haskell.

Others potential contenders include Ruler of Love, the front-running runner-up in the West Virginia Derby and Super Derby; Illinois Derby runner-up Fordubai, who captured the $66,000 Straight Line at Arlington last out; Holy Lute, a lightly-raced colt who captured the El Cajon at Del Mar in his stakes debut last time; Mr Palmer, who captured the Private Terms at Laurel in March and was most recently fourth in the Wood Memorial for Bill Mott; and Bradester, a notable allowance winner at Gulfstream last winter for Eddie Kenneally.

Baffert also has a strong contender in the 1 1/16-mile Indiana Oaks with Fiftyshadesofhay. The daughter of Pulpit has unsuccessfully chased division leaders Princess of Sylmar and Beholder during the course of the year, but has taken down several lucrative prizes including the Black-Eyed Susan at Pimlico, the Iowa Oaks at Prairie Meadows and the Santa Ysabel at Santa Anita.

Returning from a five-month break in the Oaks is Pure Fun, Grade 1 winner of the Hollywood Starlet last fall. The Pure Prize filly finished third in the Bourbonette Oaks to start the year before finishing off the board against the boys in the Lexington at Keeneland and against the division's best in the Kentucky Oaks.

Seaneen Girl, a graded stakes winner both this year and last, finished 3 1/2 lengths second to Firftyshadesofhay in the June 29 Iowa Oaks, but later captured the Monmouth Oaks by six lengths. She was most recently seventh of nine in the Cotillion at Parx.

Neck 'n Neck, who took the 2012 Indiana Derby, make his long-awaited return to action Saturday in the $100,000 Michael G. Schaefer Memorial at one mile and 70 yards. The Ian Wilkes trainee followed up his victory at Hoosier with a score against older horses in the Ack Ack Handicap at Churchill Downs, but has been sidelined the past 11 months due to injury.

The one to beat in the Schaefer might be the charismatic gray Taptowne, a front-runner who took the West Virginia Governor's at Mountaineer two back and has finished second in the Oaklawn Handicap, Prairie Meadows Cornhusker Handicap and Ack Ack this season.

The eight-year-old veteran Rail Trip, a four-time graded stakes winner including the 2009 Hollywood Gold Cup, makes a rare appearance outside California. The Jump Start gelding has made just two starts since finishing second in last year's Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile, finishing fifth in the Triple Bend Handicap at Hollywood and sixth in the restricted Pirate's Bounty at Del Mar.

Other possible contenders are Seruni, third to Wise Dan in the Firecracker Handicap on turf last time, and Good Lord, a sprint stakes winner at Tampa Bay Downs and Ellis Park earlier this year.

The $100,000 Maru Hulman George, a 1 1/16-mile heat for fillies and mares, marks the return of Don't Tell Sophia, who easily captured the Pippin and the Bayakoa at Oaklawn Park before settling for minor awards in the Azeri and the Apple Blossom Handicap over the same track.

Stakes winner Magic Hour, runner-up in the Gardenia and the Iowa Distaff in her last two, figures as her strongest opponent in the field of nine.

There are five other stakes on the program, four of which are restricted to Indiana-breds. The other open stakes is the $65,000 Ta Wee, a one-mile grass test for three-year-old fillies.

Bet the Indiana Derby and 2013 Indiana Downs horse racing online with TwinSpires.com and watch it live on TwinSpiresTV!

Past Indiana Derby Winners

Indiana Downs 2013 Season:

Dates: September 2 through October 19
Racing Schedule: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday & Saturday
Post Times: 1:55pm ET

Indiana Downs Racetrack Information:

Main track (dirt): 1 mile
Length of stretch: 1,040 feet
Width of homestretch: 80 feet
Length of stretch from last turn to finish line: 273.52 feet
Composition: Soil base is limestone with 13% silt and clay

Turf: 7 furlongs
Length of stretch from last turn to finish line: 263.87 feet
Width of stretch: 98 feet
Composition: Kentucky bluegrass
Bets available may include: Win, Place, Show, Quinella, Exacta, Trifecta, Superfecta, Daily Double, Pick 3, and Pick 4.

About Indiana Downs

The state of Indiana doubled down on horse racing in 2001 by granting a pari-mutuel betting license to the Estridge Group, just seven years after Hoosier Downs was opened. Not only that, Indiana Downs (opened in 2002 and first known as Indianapolis Downs) was built in Shelbyville, just 40 miles away from the Hoosier Downs facility in Anderson.

It hasn’t been easy for either track as they fight for their slice of the Midwestern horse racing pie. Even the addition of casinos hasn’t solved all their problems, thanks to the hefty $250-million fee each had to pay the state. That ended up putting both tracks in bankruptcy.

The fight may be over. Indiana passed a law in 2011 allowing one owner for both tracks, and in November 2012, Hoosier Park owners Centaur Holdings were given the go-ahead in bankruptcy court to buy the Indiana Grand Casino and Downs, pending state and federal approval.

Meanwhile, racing continues at Indiana Downs for thoroughbreds, standardbreds and Quarter Horses, with the thoroughbred season running from April to June. Harness racing is also on the calendar from June through October. The facility houses a one-mile dirt oval and a seven-furlong turf course. Over a dozen non-graded stakes races are run every year at Indiana Downs; the biggest purse is the $200,000 awarded at the Governor’s Stakes and the Indiana First Lady Stakes, both run for 3-year olds over one mile and 70 yards on the dirt.