It's rare to see a GI Kentucky Derby prep on a weekday, much rarer to find it on a July weekday, but an evenly-matched field of 10 horses will contest the GIII Indiana Derby Wednesday at Indiana Grand with 34 qualifying points for the Run for the Roses up for grabs.
Lloyd Madison Farms' Major Fed (Ghostzapper) looks for some racing luck after several wide trips along the Derby trail. A sharp maiden winner on New Year's Day at Fair Grounds, the homebred was second in a division of the GII Risen Star S. and fourth after a wide journey while closing into a slow pace in the GII Twinspires.com Louisiana Derby. Hung out in the widest draw in the GIII Matt Winn S. last out May 23 at Churchill, he chased the pace before fading to finish last of 10.
Taishan (Twirling Candy) also looks to rebound while shipping in from the west coast for Richard Baltas. Fourth in the GII Sham S. and fifth in the GIII Southwest S. over the winter, the $150,000 OBS March buy scored in a sloppy Oaklawn optional claimer Mar. 14 with a field-best 92 Beyer before running a good third after moving early into a fast pace in the Oaklawn S. Apr. 11 in Hot Springs. He failed to build on those two efforts, however, when last in a division of the GI Arkansas Derby May 2.
Godolphin's progressive Shared Sense (Street Sense) goes out for trainer Brad Cox. Sixth in the Smarty Jones S. and War Chant S. in his previous two stakes tries, he nevertheless earned the highest last-out Beyer when earning an 89 as runner-up to the promising Art Collector (Bernardini) last out in a Churchill optional claimer June 13.
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