Indiana Derby: Mr. Wireless is upset winner for Calhoun
Shelbyville, Ind.
In a showdown of the trainers who won the last two runnings of the Indiana Derby, Bret Calhoun came out the emphatic winner, and Brad Cox was left with an odds-on favorite that barely finished in the money.
After settling into second for most of the race, Mr. Wireless (7-2) ran away from the pack to win the Grade 3, $300,000 race Wednesday evening at Indiana Grand.
A 3-year-old Dialed In gelding who placed second last out in a sloppy running of the Texas Derby, Mr. Wireless finished 3 3/4 lengths clear of runner-up Sermononthemount (18-1).
Cox had to settle for third with odds-on favorite Fulsome (2-5), a closer who was stuck chasing a pedestrian pace. He wound up 5 1/2 lengths behind the winner and just a head better than fourth-place Starrininmydreams (3-1).
Convention (35-1) finished fifth, and W W Crazy (53-1) was last in the six-horse field. Maiden winner Full Charge was scratched.
“I am really confident in my horse,” jockey Ramón Vázquez said after his first Indiana Derby victory. “I know my horse is getting better and better, so I just put my horse in good position. When I asked him the last quarter, he gave me everything he had.”
Mr. Wireless had a winning time of 1:42.84 for the 1 1/16 miles on a fast, main track. It came off early fractions of 24.16, 48.31, 1:12.41 and 1:36.61.
Bred by John and Iveta Kerber, and owned by Jon Lapczenski and John Kerber, Mr. Wireless had two wins in four previous starts, both at Oaklawn and both by a nose. Wednesday marked his graded-stakes debut.
“He’s a horse who was really hard to get to the races, just to get him fit and ready,” Calhoun said. “I know his family pretty good. I’ve trained his family. His sister Ain’t No Elmers (a three-time allowance winner) was the first one. Mentally and physically they were slow developers. He was the same. You have horses like that. A lot of times they just keep getting better and better.”
It was the second derby win in five days for the Kerbers. They bred and own Stilleto Boy, who was victorious Friday in the Iowa Derby at Prairie Meadows. Stilleto Boy is ticketed for the Lexington, Ky., sales ring next week; he carries hip No. 557 in Monday’s Fasig-Tipton July sale of selected horses of racing age.
Calhoun’s previous Indiana Derby triumph came two years ago with Mr. Money.
“Great spot, good money, good spot to come to,” he said. “We’ve just been fortunate over here. Obviously, we’ve brought the right horses, and it’s worked out for us.”
Cox, who won this race last year with Shared Sense, said he had a sinking feeling Fulsome was not going to win for the fourth time in a row.
“You could tell turning for home that we weren’t going to win the race,” he said. “I thought we were in a good position and just kind of ran flat down the lane.”
“I just feel the track was a little funny, like deep and tiring,” Fulsome’s jockey Florent Géroux said. “I was very worried about the pace scenario, especially the winner who had a big advantage on us. You don’t want to be too far (back). Turning for home I’m right behind the winner, I’m right on target, and I’ve got nothing.”
An Indiana Grand spokeswoman reported the all-sources handle for Wednesday’s 12-race card was a track record $6,292,387. That was 5 percent higher than the old record of $5,979,952 set last July 8, when spectators were locked out of the Indiana Derby because of COVID.