Expect Indy, Unbridled Beast win Wednesday stakes

Expect Indy won the Richmond Stakes on Wednesday at Indiana Grand for the third year in a row, and one race later Unbridled Beast easily bested older rivals as the 3-2 favorite in the Gus Grissom Stakes. Both stakes were restricted to Indiana-bred 3-year-olds and up, with the Richmond restricted to females.

Tracking pace-setting Solitaire Game from second, Unbridled Beast and jockey Rodney Prescott took the lead at about the quarter pole of the 1 1/16-mile Gus Grissom, and with several horses in hot pursuit, burst into the clear for a five-length win. The race was weight-for-age and Unbridled Beast carried three pounds fewer, 121 to 124, than runner-up Operation Stevie, winner of the Gus Grissom in 2019 and 2018. The margin was wide, however, and Unbridled Beast needed no weight break to triumph.

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By Unbridled Express out of Delil, by Dehere, Unbridled Beast now has won four in a row and is 3 for 3 since trainer Randy Matthews stretched him from sprints to routes. Matthews bred the gelding with his wife, Karen Matthews, and owns him with Mike Neafus. Unbridled Beast paid $5 to win and was timed in 1:45.52 for 1 1/16 miles on a fast track.

Cipriano Contreras trains Operation Stevie, who failed to win the Grissom for the third year running, but also conditions Expect Indy, who wore down favored pacesetter Unbridled Class, pulling away to a 2 3/4-length victory in the Richmond. Emmanuel Esquivel, Contreras’s nephew, rode the winner for the Gumpster Stable.

Expect Indy, who paid $7.40 to win and ran 1 1/16 miles in 1:46.24, is a 7-year-old daughter of Mr. Mabee and Jet n’ Expectations, by Valid Expectations.