Margolis hoping things even out in Thursday's Ta Wee Stakes

Sure, there are a couple worse outcomes (put those in the back of your mind), but the Ta Wee Stakes on Thursday at Indiana Grand is almost certain to go better for trainer Steve Margolis than his last race at the venue.

Margolis sent Eskenforit to the Indiana Derby on Saturday night and wound up saddling the horse that crossed the finish line first. The problem was his jockey, Julien Leparoux, had been unseated when Eskenforit stumbled badly at the start.

“He’s got a couple little scrapes on him but he’s all right,” said Margolis. “I’ve never had a horse lose the rider and run that well.”

Margolis also thinks She’sonthewarpath will run well in the $100,000 Ta Wee, a one-mile grass race for 3-year-old fillies – and hopes that she completes the race with Chantal Sutherland still in the saddle.

She’sonthewarpath is one of eight entrants in a race that’s hard to parse. All the horses save Fiftieth, who has never been on turf but seems too slow, appear capable of winning if things fall their way and they step forward from their previous best performance level.

With She'sonthewarpath, just maintaining form might suffice. She’sonthewarpath is one of only two entrants, along with Mercilla, to win a turf race against older horses. By Declaration of War, She’sonthewarpath is 2 for 2 racing on grass, clearing the maiden ranks in a Fair Grounds turf sprint before taking down a one-mile Churchill grass allowance on May 25.

“The filly has kind of come along slowly,” said Margolis. “After she broke her maiden it was just a question of whether we could stretch her out. She ran against older and she ran huge, a big, big effort. Looking around after that race there was really nothing for her, so when I saw this race, we gave her a little extra time and started targeting it. She’s a professional-training filly and she’s telling me she’s ready to go.”

Aunt Hattie makes her first start for trainer Merrill Scherer after making seven East Coast starts for trainer Bill Mott. She exits a pair of five-figure 3-year-old restricted turf-route stakes at Monmouth, most recently finishing a close fifth closing from far behind the leaders in the May 25 Boiling Springs. That race’s runner-up, Karama, sharply won the $100,000 Stormy Blues Stakes on Sunday at Laurel Park.

French import Mercilla flopped on Delaware dirt in her most recent start, but in her U.S. debut and first start for trainer Graham Motion was up just before the wire to beat five foes in a May 23 Pimlico grass allowance open to older fillies and mares.