Familiar look to Indiana Grand 2018 stakes schedule

Indiana Grand will run 35 stakes races worth about $4.3 million during its 2018 race meet, the track announced in a news release Thursday.

The number of stakes and their total value remains unchanged from 2017, but the press release said several stakes have been moved to Tuesdays. Indiana Grand is among the most-played simulcast signals on Tuesday, the least-populated day of the racing week. Most of the track’s stakes, as was the case last year, are scheduled for Wednesdays.

As usual the meet’s richest and most important race is the Grade 3, $500,000 Indiana Derby, which will be run this year on July 14 as part of a six-stakes card that includes the Grade 3, $200,000 Indiana Oaks.

The other two stakes worth as much as $200,000 are the Centaur for 3-year-old turf horses and the Indiana Grand for 3-year-old fillies on turf, both scheduled for Sept. 5.

The Indiana Grand meet, mainly Thoroughbreds but with a Quarter Horse component, runs from April 18 through Oct. 28 in 2018.