Axelrod wins Indiana Derby, adds to California shippers' success
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Photo:
Madison Jackson
Indiana horsemen may start to wonder what it is about Southern California that makes its horses so successful in Midwestern races.
In his first race out of the Golden State, Axelrod, a son of Warrior’s Reward out of an Elusive Quality mare, rewarded his connections by taking the Grade 3, $500,000 Indiana Derby Saturday by a head over a game Trigger Warning.
Indiana Grand’s premier event for 3-year-olds has been a routine stop for many trainers coming out of the Ohio Derby run only a few weeks beforehand. It’s the path 2017 Indiana Derby winner Irap, who was based in California, took and it’s the same path Trigger Warning traveled as well. The 2018 Indiana Derby also marks the third consecutive year a West Coast-based horse has won, with Cupid winning in 2016.
From its humble beginnings as an ungraded $100,000 feature in 1995, the Indiana Derby has grown into one of the Midwest’s main late summer attractions, bringing a record 13,622 people in 2017. The 2018 edition saw even more records broken: a staggering handle of $3,628,578 was brought in, surpassing 2017’s record-breaking handle of $3,581,501. One of the things that brings in the legions from all over the Midwest is the race’s graded stakes status, which it received in 2002.
In the thrilling 24th running of the Indiana Derby, Axelrod flew late to just get to the wire first in the 1 1/16-mile race. Seeing early fractions set by Trigger Warning, Axelrod sat second to last until the far turn, where jockey Florent Geroux began to ask for more out of the colt. Despite Trigger Warning having a considerable advantage an eighth of a mile from the wire, Axelrod dug in to find the extra gear and stick his head in front in a final time of 1:43.00.
All eyes were on favorite King Zachary at the tail end of the field, but turning into the homestretch, gazes quickly shifted to front runner Trigger Warning, who, a furlong from the finish, was leading the field by 2 lengths. On an outside path, however, Geroux guided Axelrod off the rail and around the competition, giving the colt plenty of room to run without interruption.
“There was a lot of speed in the race and it’s just how the race unfolded,” Geroux said of his position. “I didn’t feel like being between horses. When I began to move him into the turn, his heart started getting bigger and bigger...the last two jumps, my horse just kept running and running.”
Assistant trainer to Michael McCarthy and caretaker Natalie Roberts says the team had little doubt in the hours leading up to the race.
“We felt confident about [Axelrod] going into the race,” Roberts said, later describing him as “classy” and “a perfect gentleman.”
With his first graded stakes victory still fresh in their minds, Axelrod’s connections have not yet decided on the colt’s next move. However, according to Roberts, there are a few possibilities.
“[The connections] might go to the East Coast and try some races there and ship back to southern California from there,” she said, though she added nothing was final yet.
The Indiana Derby was not the only stakes action on Indiana Grand’s Saturday card. Only a half hour before, the Indiana Oaks, led by eventual winner Talk Veuve to Me and jockey Julien Leparoux, saw seven fillies compete for the $200,000 purse. Race 7, the Warrior Veterans Stakes, was won by Dot Matrix with Geroux aboard, who rode a total of four winners on the card. The $100,000 Indiana General Assembly Distaff brought nine fillies past the entry box but saw only eight go off, with Lovely Loyree and Fernando de la Cruz getting up for a neck victory over Chilean-bred Hachi.
In one of the more hotly-contested stakes of the night, the $100,000 Michael G. Schaefer Memorial Stakes, Seeking the Soul, whose last start was the Grade 1 Pegasus World Cup, headlined the field but could not get past Pioneer Spirit, another win on the card for Geroux. Lookin At Lee, the 2017 Kentucky Derby runner-up, stalked the pace but eventually faded to fourth in the five horse field. The first of the stakes action at Indiana Grand was the Mari Hulman George Stakes, a $100,000 contest for fillies and mares age 3 and older. This went to Pinch Hit, ridden by Leparoux, by a head over Awestruck.
In his first race out of the Golden State, Axelrod, a son of Warrior’s Reward out of an Elusive Quality mare, rewarded his connections by taking the Grade 3, $500,000 Indiana Derby Saturday by a head over a game Trigger Warning.
Indiana Grand’s premier event for 3-year-olds has been a routine stop for many trainers coming out of the Ohio Derby run only a few weeks beforehand. It’s the path 2017 Indiana Derby winner Irap, who was based in California, took and it’s the same path Trigger Warning traveled as well. The 2018 Indiana Derby also marks the third consecutive year a West Coast-based horse has won, with Cupid winning in 2016.
From its humble beginnings as an ungraded $100,000 feature in 1995, the Indiana Derby has grown into one of the Midwest’s main late summer attractions, bringing a record 13,622 people in 2017. The 2018 edition saw even more records broken: a staggering handle of $3,628,578 was brought in, surpassing 2017’s record-breaking handle of $3,581,501. One of the things that brings in the legions from all over the Midwest is the race’s graded stakes status, which it received in 2002.
In the thrilling 24th running of the Indiana Derby, Axelrod flew late to just get to the wire first in the 1 1/16-mile race. Seeing early fractions set by Trigger Warning, Axelrod sat second to last until the far turn, where jockey Florent Geroux began to ask for more out of the colt. Despite Trigger Warning having a considerable advantage an eighth of a mile from the wire, Axelrod dug in to find the extra gear and stick his head in front in a final time of 1:43.00.
All eyes were on favorite King Zachary at the tail end of the field, but turning into the homestretch, gazes quickly shifted to front runner Trigger Warning, who, a furlong from the finish, was leading the field by 2 lengths. On an outside path, however, Geroux guided Axelrod off the rail and around the competition, giving the colt plenty of room to run without interruption.
Assistant trainer to Michael McCarthy and caretaker Natalie Roberts says the team had little doubt in the hours leading up to the race.
“We felt confident about [Axelrod] going into the race,” Roberts said, later describing him as “classy” and “a perfect gentleman.”
With his first graded stakes victory still fresh in their minds, Axelrod’s connections have not yet decided on the colt’s next move. However, according to Roberts, there are a few possibilities.
“[The connections] might go to the East Coast and try some races there and ship back to southern California from there,” she said, though she added nothing was final yet.
The Indiana Derby was not the only stakes action on Indiana Grand’s Saturday card. Only a half hour before, the Indiana Oaks, led by eventual winner Talk Veuve to Me and jockey Julien Leparoux, saw seven fillies compete for the $200,000 purse. Race 7, the Warrior Veterans Stakes, was won by Dot Matrix with Geroux aboard, who rode a total of four winners on the card. The $100,000 Indiana General Assembly Distaff brought nine fillies past the entry box but saw only eight go off, with Lovely Loyree and Fernando de la Cruz getting up for a neck victory over Chilean-bred Hachi.
In one of the more hotly-contested stakes of the night, the $100,000 Michael G. Schaefer Memorial Stakes, Seeking the Soul, whose last start was the Grade 1 Pegasus World Cup, headlined the field but could not get past Pioneer Spirit, another win on the card for Geroux. Lookin At Lee, the 2017 Kentucky Derby runner-up, stalked the pace but eventually faded to fourth in the five horse field. The first of the stakes action at Indiana Grand was the Mari Hulman George Stakes, a $100,000 contest for fillies and mares age 3 and older. This went to Pinch Hit, ridden by Leparoux, by a head over Awestruck.
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