Indiana Derby winner Axelrod targets Travers Stakes

DEL MAR, Calif. – Axelrod, the winner of the Grade 3 Indiana Derby at Indiana Grand on July 14, is scheduled to have his Grade 1 debut in the $1.25 million Travers Stakes at 1 1/4 miles at Saratoga on Aug. 25.

Trainer Michael McCarthy said on Friday that the purse and distance of the Travers Stakes make it an appealing race for Axelrod, who races for Slam Dunk Racing.

“He was surging the other day,” McCarthy said of the Indiana Derby. “It will be a new dimension if we choose that.”

Axelrod has won 3 of 8 starts and earned $360,925. The winner of a $50,000 claimer for maidens at Del Mar last summer, Axelrod closed from eighth in a field of nine to win the $500,000 Indiana Derby by a head over Trigger Warning.

“I thought he would run well,” McCarthy said. “He’s an improving horse.”