Calder: Indiano a name worth remembering

MIAMI – Indiano may be the best kept secret in the 3-year-old sprint division in the country.

Indiano, a multiple graded stakes winner in Panama to begin his career, has started five times since joining trainer Marty Wolfson’s barn this winter at Calder, with all but one of those appearances coming in south Florida. He’s scheduled to make his sixth U.S. start on Monday in Calder’s $55,000 Eillo, a 6 1/2-furlong overnight stakes that highlights a 10-race Labor Day card.

Indiano first served notice he could be something special early this spring when he finished second behind the odds-on Travelin Man in Gulfstream Park’s Grade 2 Swale. That performance earned Indiano a trip to Churchill Downs for the Grade 3 Derby Trial where he finished fifth after tracking the pace in his first start beyond seven furlongs.

Indiano got a brief break upon returning home from Kentucky before dominating both the Unbridled and Grade 2 Carry Back in his only two local tries. The 108 Beyer Speed Figure he received for winning the Carry Back is the second highest posted by any 3-year-old in the country this season.

Wolfson said the reason Indiano has not started since the Carry Back was that there was nothing for him locally until the Eillo and he did not want to take him to Saratoga for the King’s Bishop. He said his next major goal will be the $250,000 Gallant Bob at Parx on Sept. 24.

Indiano holds a decided class edge on his eight seemingly overmatched rivals in the Eillo, although the red-hot Bull Dozer demands respect after posting a triple-digit Beyer of his own trouncing older $16,000 starter competition on Aug. 25. The seven-length victory was the second straight one-sided triumph for Bull Dozer, a vastly improved son of Trippi who is trained by Jose Garofolo.

Reprized Halo is the richest member of the Eillo field, having banked in excess of $340,000, the majority from when he upset the In Reality division of the Florida Stallion Stakes at 2. Reprized Halo will turn back to a sprint for the first time since finishing fourth in the restricted Shake U Down Stakes on closing day at Gulfstream.

Completing the lineup are Truly Distinctive, Ribo Bobo, Atlantic Bull, Quiz Whiz, Portrature, and Pick Four.

Preps on tap for Festival of the Sun

Nominations closed Saturday to the four stakes races to be run on the Festival of the Sun Preview program here on Sept. 17, a day of preps for the Festival of the Sun card four weeks later.

Closing Saturday were the $100,000 Foolish Pleasure for 2-year-olds, the $100,000 Brave Raj for 2-year-old fillies, the $75,000 Needles for 3-year-olds on the turf, and its filly counterpart, the $75,000 Judy’s Red Shoes.

The Foolish Pleasure is a prep for the $300,000-estimated In Reality, the finale of the Florida Stallion Stakes, while the Brave Raj is a prep for the $300,000-estimated My Dear Girl finale of the filly division of the FSS.