Centaur, Indiana Grand top four-stakes card

Indiana Grand hosts a really good Wednesday card that includes four grass stakes, including a pair of $200,000 races – the Indiana Grand for 3-year-old fillies and the Centaur for 3-year-olds – but as has happened so often during this race meet, Mother Nature may be in no mood to cooperate.

As of Monday afternoon, the National Weather Service forecast a 60 percent chance of thunderstorms Wednesday. There was rain over the weekend, and it wouldn’t take a monsoon to force the turf races onto the main track.

If the weather is looking potentially unkind, the post-position draw undoubtedly was for the morning-line favorites in the Centaur: Courtier, the 5-2 choice, drew post 11, while 4-1 second-favorite Conquest Pacemaker has post 12. Since the track began conducting turf races, those two posts in one-mile races like the Centaur and the Indiana Grand have a combined win mark of 17 for 130. Post 12 has produced just three winners from 80 starters.

Courtier is one of two Bill Mott-trained entrants in the Centaur along with rail-drawn Net Gain, who is a stealth contender with a much better draw. Racing on Lasix for the first time, Courtier finished third of 11, beaten one length by victorious Takeover Target, in the Grade 2 Hall of Fame Stakes at Saratoga. Courtier, though, got a dream run in the Hall of Fame, sitting just off a slow early and middle tempo, and yet he still could not seal the deal. Wednesday’s half-furlong-shorter distance could help, but Courtier faces a faster pace dynamic, and while he might adapt, Courtier looks vulnerable. Still, Mott is 2 for 2 at Indiana Grand this summer, including Tiz Shea D’s win in the Indiana Derby.

Net Gain, 10-1 on the line, holds more appeal from a value perspective. He overwhelmed Iowa-bred foes last month at Prairie Meadows and has dirt form suggesting he’d be a major player on the main track, but Net Gain’s lone turf start July 11 at Belmont was promising. Stuck outside behind a false pace, he finished decently for third, and a better setup might be forthcoming.

Granny’s Kitten seems likely to be bet below his 5-1 morning-line and could strongly benefit from a turn-back in distance. Granny’s Kitten exits two Grade 1 races over 1 1/4 miles, the Secretariat and the Belmont Derby. He made no impact in either, but was third, beaten less than a length by high-class Force the Pass, three starts ago in the Penn Mile.

Conquest Pacemaker is good enough to win if a trip somehow can be worked out from post 12, but the front-running type must hope speed to his inside goes hard early, leaving a spot to drop in for position.

Mizz Money back for more

Mizz Money does not take a lot of time off. She has raced in two stakes for 3-year-old fillies this meet and also has started at Canterbury Park, where she was second in a stakes, and at Arlington, where she won the Grade 3 Pucker Up on Aug. 15. While the Indiana Grand Stakes on Wednesday has no grade, it does have a stronger field than the Pucker Up did, and Mizz Money, set to make her 10th start of the season, is just one of several horses that can win.

Lady Zuzu, making her first start since being transferred to Mott, has done all her best work racing from the lead, but she will certainly have company there Wednesday with the fast Illinois-bred Puntsville drawn to her outside. A quick, contested pace would work well for Mighty Souper, who looks like she can break through with her first stakes win.

Trained by Mark Casse, Mighty Souper raced in the Indy Star Stakes at 7 1/2 furlongs on the Indiana Grand course in May. She got stuck behind two flights of horses while pinned to the rail, and finished fastest for third when finally clear. Another half-furlong and better position in the running might be all that’s needed to get her home at a fair price.

Tiger Ride already won an off-the-turf stakes this summer at Indiana Grand, the Ta Wee, and she is in position to take advantage in the Indiana Grand Stakes should rain force a surface switch Wednesday. Trained by Graham Motion, Tiger Ride also has two wins from four grass starts, but her turf-stakes tries suggest she’s a half-notch below the top contenders Wednesday.

◗ The other two grass stakes on Wednesday – one for females, the other open – are Indiana-bred races each worth $85,000. Cactus Joe, who also goes on dirt, can pull a mild upset over favored Wild Swava in the Florence Henderson, while favored New Cat Rib looks solid in the A.J. Foyt.