Hot Little Thing all-stakes pick four key

Among the four six-figure Indiana-bred stakes races Wednesday at Horseshoe Indianapolis, there is but one horse approaching standout status.

Hot Little Thing is listed at 8-5 on the track’s morning line for the $100,000 Miss Indiana Stakes but should be an odds-on favorite in this one mile and 70-yard contest for Indiana-bred 2-year-olds. While the filly never has been beyond six furlongs, her pedigree hints she can get a middle distance in the right company, and Hot Little Thing has been so superior in sprints that she need not excel at a route trip to win again.

The Miss Indiana goes as race 6 and is followed directly by the $150,000 Cardinal at 1 1/16 miles for Indiana-bred fillies and mares; the $100,000 Indiana Futurity for 2-year-olds at one mile and 70 yards; and the $150,000 To Much Coffee for 3-year-olds and up at 1 1/16 miles.

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A 50-cent pick four links the stakes sequence, which starts at 5:05 p.m. Eastern on a card with a 2:30 p.m. first post.

Trained by Rodolphe Brisset, Hot Little Thing broke poorly, rushed up to contest the lead, and faded slightly to finish second in her career debut, an open maiden sprint. She came right back with an easy win at the same class level. Hot Little Thing then dominated the $102,000 Back Home Again for Indiana-bred 2-year-old fillies going six furlongs Sept. 7. She rated on the lead and drew off by more than 14 lengths, posting a 76 Beyer Speed Figure, a number that lays over this full field.

Hot Little Thing is from the first crop of Army Mule, who raced only three times, winning the seven-furlong Grade 1 Carter by more than six lengths in his third start. Her once-started dam, Bouffant, is by stamina source Uncle Mo, and Hot Little Thing is a solid bet to see out the extended trip Wednesday.

Corningstone was a distant second behind Hot Little Thing last month. She was coming out of turf-route races and should make things closer at this two-turn configuration.

Fireball Baby is a much shakier 5-2 favorite one race later in the Cardinal. She did return from a layoff of nearly a year to win the Hoosier Heartland Stakes on Sept. 14, but that was a race for Indiana-bred and -sired fillies and mares, a softer spot than Wednesday’s. While Fireball Baby can move forward, her best race at this stage of her career is not discernibly better than that of several others in the Cardinal field.

Bumble of Love would be formidable were this race on turf and is not hapless on dirt, while Climber and Hungarian Princess could hook up on a hot pace. Don’t disregard Buoy, whose route debut last month yielded a breakthrough allowance score.

The Indiana Futurity feels like a guessing game, and the guess here is Healing Waters. Trained by Tom Amoss, this Midnight Lute colt, a $145,000 auction buy, won his debut over 4 1/2 furlongs, but his two subsequent sprints – both with poor starts – suggest a two-turn horse in waiting. The other horse to use is King Ice, who rallied into a slow pace and won an Indiana-bred maiden mile in his first try at Horseshoe Indianapolis.

In the To Much Coffee, Max Express looks best among the older horses. He comes off a victory over statebreds in the 1 1/16-mile Empire Stakes. His sixth-place finish in the To Much Coffee’s 2021 renewal came over a sloppy surface.

Three-year-old Latigo is just 7-2 on the morning line, despite his best Beyer coming in a five-furlong race allowance victory last out. Latigo is forced to give weight to some of his older rivals under the race’s allowance conditions. Leading the Charge’s best form has come on turf, but he’s not without a shot on dirt.

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