Mr Chaos tries to avenge last year's loss in Harrison

Mr Chaos starts as the heavy favorite in the $100,000 William Henry Harrison Stakes on Wednesday at Horseshoe Indianapolis – and is also a marker of the changed racing landscape in this part of the country.

Rob Dobbs trains Mr Chaos for owners Judy Dorris and Ken Sentel. Dobbs for years was the trusted assistant to trainer Christine Janks, who also bred and owned racehorses and was a summer fixture at Arlington Park. Judy Dorris is the wife of Tom Dorris, a longtime trainer on the Chicago circuit who counted among his owners Ken Sentel.

That’s the more distant past. Go back just one year, and the old Chicago connections surely wish they could re-run the 2023 Harrison, a six-furlong sprint for older horses bred in Indiana and sired by Indiana-based stallions.

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Mr Chaos was the 7-5 favorite in last year’s race, where he dueled for the lead inside a 22-1 shot named Tay. The Horseshoe Indianapolis racing surface was dull and tiring that day, and it wasn’t until he’d passed the three-sixteenths pole that Mr Chaos was able to shake loose from Tay. Manuelito was gaining ground on the outside but for a few jumps it appeared Mr Chaos would hold him off. Mr Chaos tired in the final strides and Manuelito won by a neck. A 10-1 shot, Manuelito was making his 32nd start in the Harrison and won his first stakes race.

Manuelito, second in the 2022 Harrison, is part of the Wednesday field, but where Mr Chaos raced for the first time after a winter break in last year’s Harrison, he makes the third start of his form cycle this time. Mr Chaos on April 8 won his first start of 2024, an Indiana-bred handicap, and on May 9 finished a solid third facing open second-level allowance horses.

The Harrison immediately follows its sister race, the $100,000 Shelby County, which drew a dozen older fillies and mares including Brittanysgldnfaith and Evil Intentions for Dobbs. Both 4-year-olds rate a solid chance in a wide-open race though their win odds could be lower than the morning-line suggests.

Brittanysgldnfaith makes her third start for Dobbs and second since Oct. 25, and her closing second last month in a high-end Indiana-bred allowance race stamps her as a win contender under co-leading rider Marcelino Pedroza. Brittanysgldnfaith lacks speed and is pace-dependent, though Evil Intentions has only marginally greater early lick. Evil Intentions also races second off a winter layoff following a comeback second, though her future might lie in route racing.

Imagine the Moon is the most likely winner and probable favorite. Her local race after a seven-month break came against far stronger competition than this in an open first-level allowance, and while Imagine the Moon nearly won a route stakes last fall, she is almost certainly a better horse sprinting.

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