Mr. Money will have to overcome post 11 in Indiana Derby

Mr. Money will have to overcome a difficult outside draw if he’s going to get the money in the Indiana Derby on Saturday night at Indiana Grand.

Eleven horses were entered Wednesday in the Grade 3, $500,000 Indiana Derby, and 10 of them will break from inside Mr. Money, who, despite his tough draw, is all but certain to be favored. Mr. Money, fourth last fall in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile, had a couple ill-timed setbacks over the winter at Fair Grounds as trainer Bret Calhoun tried to get him onto the Triple Crown trail. Calhoun wound up winning the biggest 3-year-old race in New Orleans, the $1 million Louisiana Derby, with By My Standards, who ran poorly in the Kentucky Derby just as Mr. Money was fulfilling the promise his connections had seen over the winter.

Mr. Money finished fifth in the Louisiana Derby but since has won the Grade 3 Pat Day Mile by 5 1/4 lengths and the Grade 3 Matt Winn over the Indiana Derby’s 1 1/16-mile distance by 6 1/2 lengths. That’s form good enough to make him formidable Saturday night (race 9, post time 10:02 p.m. Eastern) despite the deleterious draw. Since 2000, post 11 in 1 1/16-mile dirt races at Indiana Grand has yielded only three winners from 57 starters. For comparison’s sake, post 12 is 2 for 25, post 10 is 6 for 89, and post 9 is 7 for 138. On the raw statistics, anything outside post 7 at this Indiana Grand distance becomes at least a mild impediment.

Drawn directly inside Mr. Money is Math Wizard, who might be the second choice after finishing second by a half-length to the good colt Owendale last out in the Ohio Derby. Continuing in toward the rail, post 9 belongs to Long Range Toddy, a distant third in the Ohio Derby, and then come longshots Chess Chief and Eskenforit. Federico Tesio winner Alwaysmining has post 7, inside of whom are longshots Frolic More and Market Garden. Gray Magician, 19th in the Kentucky Derby after finishing second in the UAE Derby, breaks from post 3, with overmatched Hero Tiger in post 2 and late-running Roiland on the rail.

Street Band heads the Grade 3, $200,000 Indiana Oaks, which comes one race before the Indiana Derby and drew an overflow field of 14 for a race in which only 12 can run. Street Band, well drawn in post 5 with regular rider Sophie Doyle named, finished seventh with some trouble in the Kentucky Oaks after improving through the winter and early spring and upsetting the Fair Grounds Oaks on March 23. Kim K, who has speed and the rail and scored a breakout allowance-race win at Churchill last out for trainer Peter Miller, should draw some attention.

Four $100,000 two-turn stakes for older horses – two on turf, two on dirt, two for females, two unrestricted by sex – precede the main events. Trainer Brad Cox, whose Indiana Grand string always wins at a high percentage, has a chance to win all of them with Pioneer Spirit in the Michael G. Schaefer Memorial, favored Mylady Curlin in the Mari Hulman George Memorial, Dot Matrix in the Warrior Veterans, and Limari in the Indiana General Assembly Distaff.

First post for the card is 5:30 p.m.