Indiana Derby winner Mr. Wireless dialing in on West Virginia Derby
HENDERSON, Ky. – Mr. Wireless will be pointed to the $500,000 West Virginia Derby on Aug. 7 at Mountaineer Park following his breakthrough victory Wednesday in the Indiana Derby at Indiana Grand.
“I call it the Mr. Money route,” said trainer Bret Calhoun, who has left a string of horses at Ellis Park with his longtime assistant Dennis “Peaches” Geier. “It’s good timing, a good purse, a good next spot.”
Mr. Wireless earned a career-best 92 Beyer Speed Figure in the Grade 3 Indiana Derby, a race Calhoun won two years ago with Mr. Money, the $1.36 million earner who just completed his first year at stud in Florida. Mr. Money also won the West Virginia Derby in 2019.
Mr. Wireless, a 3-year-old gelding by Dialed In, is among the 24 Calhoun horses slated to ship this weekend from Keeneland to Colonial Downs in Virginia, where they’ll remain until the Churchill Downs stable area reopens in early September upon completion of the turf-course renovation.
Early Friday at Keeneland, with Calhoun on hand, By My Standards breezed five furlongs in 58.80 seconds over a fast track in continuing his preparations toward the Grade 1 Whitney. By My Standards, whose runner-up finish in the Grade 1 Met Mile in his last start lifted his career bankroll to more than $2.25 million, is among the Calhoun horses shipping to Colonial, where the 5-year-old son of Goldencents will resume his training before being vanned to Saratoga ahead of the Aug. 7 Whitney.
“I thought it was a very impressive work,” said Calhoun, who has nearly 3,300 wins in a training career dating to 1994. “It looked like he was galloping, doing it very easily.”
Silver Dust, a 7-year-old gelding who is less than $20,000 away from the $1 million earnings mark, might run at Colonial or Mountaineer “or I might just wait until September to run him again,” said Calhoun. “He’s not real big on the summer heat.”
Filly-mare cofeatures
Cofeatured allowances for filly-mare turf runners anchor an eight-race card that brings the first three-day week at the 31-day Ellis meet to a close Sunday.
Both allowances are part of the 50-cent late pick four, with race 5 going 5 1/2 furlongs for a $53,000 purse and race 7 going 1 1/16 miles for a $52,000 purse.
Race 5 should have the uncoupled Greg Foley duo of Skinny Dip and Dance Rhythms among the favorites in a competitive cast, while race 7 figures to have Osaka Girl as strictly the one to beat.
First post daily is 12:50 p.m. Central. After Sunday, Ellis goes dark until another three-day weekend resumes Friday. The highlight next weekend is the $75,000 Good Lord on Saturday.