Inveigled heads home for rich, restricted Governor's Handicap

The horse who appears to be the best Indiana-bred dirt-route runner of his generation, Inveigled, is set to make his first Indiana start on Wednesday at Horseshoe Indianapolis.

Inveigled travels from trainer Jane Cibelli’s base at Laurel Park in search of vast riches – namely, the winner’s share of a $250,000 purse offered in the Governor’s Handicap, a mile and 70-yard main-track contest restricted to 3-year-old Indiana-breds.

Listed at 7-5 on the track’s morning line, Inveigled is part of an overflow field entered in the Governor’s, which takes top billing Wednesday over the $200,000 First Lady Handicap for Indiana-bred 3-year-old fillies. Sixteen were entered in the Governor’s, which can accommodate a dozen runners and has its favorite, Inveigled, drawn wide in post 12.

Even with a relatively short run to the first of two turns, that post position alone won’t stop a qualified contender like Inveigled. Since 2010, horses breaking from post 12 in mile and 70-yard Horseshoe dirt races have gone 7 for 62, an 11 percent strike rate comparable to every post outside 6.

If one were looking for concerning numbers regarding Inveigled, they’re attached to trainer Jane Cibelli as much as the wide draw. Cibelli has gone just 1 for 31 in stakes races since 2018, and, more broadly, her stable has struggled this season: Through July 28, Cibelli was just 2 for 42. Cibelli won as many as 49 races as recently as 2020 and even in a diminished capacity her operation posted 20 winners each of the last two calendar years.

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Inveigled, by Enticed, has gone winless from four starts this year but should break through in his first try in an Indiana-bred race. Those four races came against open stakes competition, and after a pair of fourth-place finishes in Florida, Inveigled just missed winning the Private Terms at Laurel, and in his most recent start finished third there April 20 in the Federico Tesio. Inveigled tends to stalk the pace, and jockey Mychel Sanchez, if luck falls his way, ought to be able to maneuver his mount to within a couple paths of the fence.

A couple of fast sprinters unlikely to stay this route of ground, Goodlookinjustice and Molly’s Town, figure to show speed and help spread the field enough for Inveigled to find a decent enough spot.

Another horse by Enticed, the filly Under the Palms, comes forth as the most likely winner of the First Lady, another mile and 70-yard race, this one with 14 entrants, a dozen in the field’s main body.

Trained by Kenny McPeek and ridden by Brian Hernandez Jr., heroes of the Kentucky Oaks and Kentucky Derby this spring, Under the Palms made her first six starts in open competition before trying Indiana-breds in the Ellen’s Lucky Star, a turf mile in which she finished a fast-closing third. Enticed is just a 7 percent sire in turf routes, a number that doubles in dirt routes.

Under the Palms’ dam, Desert Recon, was a dirt horse, as have been all her foals to race. A return to the main track should boost this filly’s chances.

The first eight home in the Ellen’s Lucky Star return for the First Lady, including one-two finishers Best Cupcake and Lilmorecracken, both of whom got the jump on Under the Palms.

Noneofyourbusiness drew post 12 but should contend making her first route start. Twice stakes-placed at Horseshoe, the filly is by Cloud Computing and has both pedigree and running style to race effectively around two turns.

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