Breeders' Cup Marathon: Indian Jones should move forward with more distance

The previous weekend’s races saw two of the leading contenders for the Breeders’ Cup Marathon in action. One showed he is coming into form for his target race, while the other didn’t show much at all.

Indian Jones, who established himself as a Marathon contender off a runner-up finish by a nose in the Grade 3 Greenwood Cup Stakes, finished second in an optional-claiming race on Sept. 26 at Laurel Park.

The 6-year-old Smarty Jones gelding could not catch winner Cherokee Artist, who was let loose on the lead in the one-mile race, but Indian Jones’s ability to quickly make up ground on the leader in the stretch suggests he ought to welcome the added distance of the 1 3/4-mile Marathon, to be run Nov. 1 at Santa Anita.

Indian Jones is owned by Gold Starr Racing LLC and is trained by Philip Aristone. The race at Laurel Park was the gelding’s first start away from his home track, Parx Racing, in over a year.

On the other end of the spectrum was Pool Play, who was never in touch with the field throughout the inaugural Homecoming Classic Stakes on Sept. 28 at Churchill Downs.

While the effort was uncharacteristically dull for the 8-year-old Silver Deputy horse, his tendency to pop up once or twice a year and strike for a massive price makes him hard to ignore going forward. Pool Play is winless in six starts in 2013, but he turned in third-place efforts in the Grade 3 Hal’s Hope Stakes and Greenwood Cup earlier this year.

Extended distances have been one of Pool Play’s strengths during his racing career. He has competed three times at distances of 1 5/8 miles or greater, winning two of those starts and finishing third in the other. Pool Play is owned by Bill Farish and trained by Mark Casse.

None of the horses listed as potential Marathon contenders are scheduled to race this weekend, but the ever-shifting list figures to grow as the event draws near.