Indiana-breds get back to dirt in Governor's, First Lady stakes

The last round of Horseshoe Indianapolis stakes races for Indiana-bred 3-year-olds came on turf. Don’t put too much stock in those July 9 races when considering the two rich Indiana-bred dirt stakes on Wednesday.

The $200,000 First Lady, for Indiana-bred 3-year-old fillies, drew a full field of 12 plus two also-eligibles, as did the $250,000 Governor’s, which has no sex restriction. Both races are contested at one mile, which means there’s a short run to the first turn and horses drawn in far outside posts have it tough. The First Lady is race 8, post time set for 6:07 Eastern, and the Governor’s immediately follows. The Wednesday weather forecast calls for clear conditions and a high temperate of 92 degrees.

The Governor’s looks like the stronger of the races and has Mowins as a near-certain favorite. Mowins, trained by co-breeder Mike Lauer for his wife, Penny Lauer, and Clary Thoroughbreds, was scratched from the July 9 Snack Stakes on turf, eschewing that statebred-restricted spot for the Grade 3 Indiana Derby later on the card, where Mowins was a respectable fifth. Mowins, by Mohaymen out of the Lauer-campaigned Pure Prize mare Prize Winner, was a sprint stakes winner at age 2 but hits a higher level in route races.

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Last fall in his two-turn debut he won the Indiana Futurity by more than six lengths, and on June 22 in his only other two-turn try he captured the Hoosier Breeders’ Sophomore by more than five. He breaks from post 4 and has tactical speed, and it’s hard to see Mowins not racing competitively Wednesday.

Jeopardy Theory easily won the Snack and has excelled on turf. He’s not as good on dirt but also isn’t as hapless as his lone dirt start this year suggests (he was stuck on a dead rail), and Jeopardy Theory’s 30-1 morning-line odds are much too high.

The Governor’s is pace-packed, and Amicable (another horse, at 20-1, priced too high on the line) could have a say coming from well off the pace.

In the First Lady, Climber figures to appreciate returning to dirt after a sixth-place finish July 9 in the Ellen’s Lucky Star, a turf route. In a May 26 dirt route, the filly was second to older Indiana-bred foes, and on June 22 she overpowered her rivals in the fillies’ division of the Hoosier Breeders’ Sophomore.

Manny Esquivel on Climber will have to work out a trip from post 10, no simple task, while key rival Louder Than Words is cozily drawn on the rail. Louder Than Words was a distant second to Climber in the Hoosier Breeders’ Sophomore over 1 1/16 miles and might better suit this one-mile contest. Leading rider Marcelino Pedroza has the mount for trainer Tony Granitz.