Mr. Money delivers as favorite in Indiana Derby

Mr. Money can no longer be considered strictly a Churchill Downs specialist, where he is a two-time graded stakes winner. On Saturday night at Indiana Grand, he took his show on the road, winning that track’s signature race, the Grade 3, $500,000 Indiana Derby.

Though he was not the first horse past the winning post – Eskenforit was after running riderless when Julien Leparoux came off following a stumble leaving the starting gate – Mr. Money was a decisive winner of those who carried their jockeys, as racing rules require. Quickly overcoming his outside post in the field of 11, he settled just off the leaders, engaged the front-runners on the second of two turns, and pulled clear from all but the riderless Eskenforit.

The winner of the Grade 3 Pat Day Mile and Grade 3 Matt Winn this spring at Churchill, the favored Mr. Money ($3.80) officially won by 2 1/2 lengths over UAE Derby runner-up Gray Magician, with Math Wizard 1 1/2 lengths farther back in third. The latter seemed to have been briefly affected in the early stretch by the loose Eskenforit.

To a different degree, so was Mr. Money. A four-wide backstretch move by Eskenforit seemed to make Mr. Money eager and quicken the pace at that stage.

Winning jockey Gabe Saez said he initially thought a rider had made a premature rally when he saw a horse advancing on his outside and then decided to take a hold of his mount to let Eskenforit pass when he saw he was riderless. “I just let that horse go,” he said.

Leparoux injured an ankle, but X-rays for a fracture proved negative, his wife, Shea, said via Twitter on Sunday morning. He took off his scheduled mounts Sunday at Saratoga.

The official time for 1 1/16 miles in the Indiana Derby was 1:41.80, though that time may have reflected the moment Eskenforit hit the wire, approximately a length ahead of Mr. Money. The internal fractions were 23.89 seconds, 47.62, and 1:11.40 set by Alwaysmining and Long Range Toddy.

The performance from Mr. Money leaves trainer Bret Calhoun and owner Chester Thomas with enviable options for his next start.

“The West Virginia Derby is a little quick, coming back in three weeks,” Calhoun said. “But then you get a good break to the Pennsylvania Derby. Or we can decide to go to Saratoga to go in the Travers and take on the top echelon.”

The Grade 3, $500,000 West Virginia Derby is Aug. 3 at Mountaineer Park, followed by the Grade 1, $1.25 million Travers on Aug. 24 and the Grade 1, $1 million Pennsylvania Derby at Parx on Sept. 21.