Meet begins with pair of Indiana-bred handicaps

Horseshoe Indianapolis in Shelbyville, Ind., kicks off a 123-day meet on Tuesday with an eight-race card that attracted 89 horses, including a 10-horse field and a 12-horse field for the opener’s two minor stakes races.

Both of the $55,000 stakes races are restricted to Indiana-bred horses and are carded for 5 1/2 furlongs. Of the seven Thoroughbred races scheduled for Tuesday, none is longer than six furlongs, and all are on the dirt. The last race is for Quarter Horses at 250 yards. Post time for the nine-race card is 2:10 p.m. Eastern.

Horseshoe Indianapolis has been on a decent run over the past two years, with handle spiking 25 percent since 2023. Racing officials at the track have credited a focus on writing races that attract eligible horses and improved maintenance of the track’s turf course.

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Eric Halstrom, the general manager of the track, said that the turf course this year has benefited from the heavy rains that have fallen throughout the winter and early spring in the Midwest. The turf course will open for racing in early May.

“It’s often the case where you can say you got too much rain, but for us, the rain has really helped,” Halstrom said. “I can tell you that the course is in really, really good shape. I’ve never seen it so good.”

Approximately 800 horses were on the backside one week prior to the meet opening, with more on the way, Halstrom said. Horseshoe has 1,150 stalls, and the track expects to fill them all once the meets at Oaklawn Park in Arkansas and Tampa Bay Downs in Florida wrap up.

Racing will be conducted on a Monday through Thursday schedule through the fall, with three twilight programs on Saturdays in June, July, and August. The schedule has allowed Horseshoe to position itself well in the simulcast market by racing on days when most tracks are dark.

For this year’s meet, the minimum for the two daily pick fours has been raised from 50 cents to $1. Halstrom said that they made the change after taking feedback from regular bettors. The pick five will continue to have a 50-cent minimum.

“For the most part it was listening to our good customers and trying to accommodate them,” Halstrom said. “We think there’s some upside there in the pick four, which hasn’t been one of our stronger bets.”

The $55,000 Brian Elmore Overnight Handicap drew 10 horses, with Latigo, a 6-year-old gelding, the 2-1 morning-line favorite. The local favorite is Molly’s Town, who will make her 4-year-old debut after winning six races at Horseshoe Indianapolis over the past two seasons, including four in a row to start her career in 2023.

In the 12-horse Merrill C. Roberts Handicap, The Kid Pataky is the 3-1 morning-line favorite.

In race 2, Cupid’s Runaway will make his 2025 debut in a $23,120 optional-claiming race at 5 1/2 furlongs. Cupid’s Runway won seven of his eight starts last year at Horseshoe and was named Indiana’s Horse of the Year. He’s 9-5 on the morning line and will be ridden by Luis Contreras, who is planning to ride at Horseshoe for most of the meet for the first time.

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