Axelrod springs upset in Indiana Derby

Trainer Michael McCarthy won with his first starter at Indiana Grand while jockey Florent Geroux won his fourth race there Saturday night when Axelrod snatched the Grade 3, $500,000 Indiana Derby away from pace-setting Trigger Warning in the final jump.

Last of nine after a half-mile, Axelrod wove between horses from the three-furlong pole to the finish, where he handed Trigger Warning a tough defeat. Trigger Warning after gamely putting away the other speed might have idled in deep stretch; he quickly got back in front past the wire.

The official margin was a head, though live the result looked closer, while Title Ready, who lost ground on both turns, finished another 1 1/2 lengths behind in third. King Zachary, the 8-5 favorite off a good win in the Matt Winn Stakes, had a less-than-ideal journey but was head and head with Axelrod past the three-sixteenths pole and couldn’t go with him. He finished fourth and was followed by Dark Vader, Funny Duck, The Money Dance, Givemeaminit, and Blame the Rider.

Axelrod was timed in 1:43 for 1 1/16 miles on a fast rack and paid $26.80 as the sixth choice. Purchased at auction for just $25,000, Axelrod, who races for Nick Cosato’s Slam Dunk Racing, won for the third time in eight starts while capturing his first stakes. Winless in three starts this year until Saturday, he had most recently finished second in the Grade 3 Affirmed at Santa Anita.

Running short or long, Axelrod had always raced on or near the pace, but Geroux, riding for the first time, let Axelrod drop to the tail of the field as Trigger Warning, pressed by Blame the Rider and, surprisingly, Givemeaminit, went an opening quarter-mile in 23.65 seconds and a half in 47.86.

“The horse broke sharp. Everybody went, and I said, ‘You know what? Let him settle and get to the fence,’” said Geroux, who won three stakes on the card.

Axelrod still was last into the far turn, but began gathering momentum heading to the three-furlong pole. Trigger Warning put away the pressers through six furlongs in 1:11.52, opened up and appeared to be on the way to victory until Axelrod emerged from between horses a furlong out and tagged him.

“When they started coming back to him his heart got bigger and bigger,” Geroux said. “I didn’t know if he could get the horse on the lead, but he did the final jump.”

The California-based McCarthy, a former Todd Pletcher assistant, is having his best year as a head trainer. Earlier this year, City of Gold won the Oaklawn Handicap, and McCarthy, who won four graded stakes his first three years training, already has five in 2018.

“We gave him a little bit of a break over the winter. It seemed to do him some good, and everything he’s done since then has just been great,” said McCarthy.

McCarthy could’ve kept Axelrod closer to home Saturday for the $150,000 Los Alamitos Derby. Instead, he sent his charge to Indiana. That worked out great, too.