Actuator takes major step forward with Indiana Derby

Actuator might be an actually good colt. He faced nothing like the leaders of the 3-year-old division on Saturday at Horseshoe Indianapolis, but Actuator jumped up from a seven-furlong maiden romp to win the Grade 3, $300,000 Indiana Derby by a half-length over Best Actor.

Actuator had run in two-turn turf races as a 2-year-old, but this was his first dirt-route start and he comfortably stayed the trip, seeing off a determined bid from Best Actor to win with something left in the tank.

“He does everything in second gear,” winning jockey James Graham said. “If we could tap into that third gear, he could really be all right.”

The 1 1/16-mile Indiana Derby was eventful from start to finish, with Actuator involved in a lot of the action. Mowins in post 3 broke out at the start, bumping hard with King Ottoman to his outside as Actuator came in after leaving from post 7. Stuck in the middle was 9-5 favorite Rattle N Roll, who was checked sharply back to a distant last and never got involved.

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Actuator had shown plenty of speed sprinting at Churchill Downs in his first start as a 3-year-old and first since being turned over to trainer Michael McCarthy, but Graham got the colt into a stalking position behind the leaders into the first turn. Racing wide down the backstretch as Trademark led through a moderate half-mile split of 48.66, Actuator had to be ridden along to maintain his position while three to four paths from the fence around the second bend. He edged closer to the leader past the three-furlong marker and, when Best Actor and Florent Geroux, who had tracked Actuator all the way, came wide to make their run, Actuator jumped into action.

Moving toward the lead in upper stretch, Actuator tried to lug in, leaning into a tiring Mowins and putting Trademark and a rail-rallying King Ottoman in slightly tight quarters before the eighth pole. Graham did a good job straightening his mount, but with Best Actor now bearing down, Actuator wandered mildly into his path before tamping down the challenge. Geroux claimed foul and the stewards lit the inquiry sign, but the result stood.

King Ottoman, who loomed at the three-sixteenths pole, settled for third, 2 1/2 lengths behind Best Actor and three-quarters in front of Trademark, who stayed on well. Then came Mowins, Fowler Blue, Rattle N Roll and First Glimpse. Un Ojo was a veterinarian’s scratch, New Year’s Fever a trainer scratch.

Winning time over a fast track was 1:44.48, .70 seconds slower than the Indiana Oaks one race earlier. Actuator ($8.40) was bred by WinStar Farm and is owned by Black Type Thoroughbreds (which bought into him after the maiden win), Rags Racing Stable, Rick Howard, and Gavin O'Connor. The colt is by Bodemeister out of Indian Rocket, by Indian Charlie, and he’s a tall, strong-looking specimen whose connections were confident would handle the added distance Saturday.

“It looked to me like he was running in spots a time or two, laying horses down the lane a little,” said McCarthy, whose Kentucky assistant, Justin Curran, saddled Actuator. “He’s a little light on experience. The way he ran last time, you can’t say he learned a lot. I think this race will move him forward.”

Forward to what isn’t certain. There are plenty of lucrative dirt routes for 3-year-olds the rest of the season. McCarthy said connections would get Actuator back home, see how he came out of the race, think about how to handle the rest of the season, and then pick one of them.