Mr. Money declared for Indiana Derby; who else is in?

Trainer Bret Calhoun has declared Mr. Money for Saturday's Grade 3, $500,000 Indiana Derby rather than take a step up the class ladder in the Grade 1, $1 million Haskell Invitational on July 20.

"We considered all the factors," Calhoun said. "Originally, the Indiana Derby was our first choice we'd mapped out a long time ago with this horse. We kind of got tempted with the Haskell and its purse and really considered it."

But the goal is to keep the 3-year-old son of Goldencents as fresh as possible. That means keeping the authoritative winner of Churchill Downs’ Pat Day Mile (G3) and Matt Winn Stakes (G3) close to home as a strong Indiana Derby favorite.

Who could join Mr. Money? Jeff Johnston, stakes coordinator at Indiana Grand, said as many as four horses who appeared in the Triple Crown series could show up as a strong core of contenders forms.

• Preakness Stakes runner-up Everfast followed with a seventh in the Belmont Stakes and here backs up to 1 1/16 miles.

• Alwaysmining, the Maryland-bred who ran 11th in the Preakness, went on to be placed third after interfered with most recently in Belmont Park’s June 8 Easy Goer.

• Long Range Toddy, 16th in the Derby, followed that up with a third in the June 22 Ohio Derby (G3).

• Gray Magician, who bled when last in the Derby, has returned with a steady string of workouts at Churchill Downs.

And then there are those who ran in the Triple Crown preps: Math Wizard, fourth in the Wood Memorial (G2), took a major step forward when a narrow second in the Ohio Derby; Tom Amoss-trained Roiland is looking to get back on the board for the first time since Fair Grounds’ Risen Star (G2); and trainer Dallas Stewart has a pair in Frolic More and Chess Chief, who exit Churchill allowances.

Forty-one horses were nominated in all.

The Indiana Derby will be supported by five other stakes, including the Indiana Oaks (G3) and Michael G. Schaefer Memorial expected to include the Mexican Triple Crown winner Kukulkan. First post time on the evening is 5:30 p.m. CT.