Odds-on Fulsome will have to work out a trip in Indiana Derby

Mandaloun ranks as one of the top American 3-year-olds, but owner-breeder Juddmonte Farms, trainer Brad Cox, and jockey Florent Geroux have a capable understudy named Fulsome.

Fulsome has blossomed since moving from turf to dirt and should be an odds-on favorite facing six foes Wednesday night at Indiana Grand in the Grade 3, $300,000 Indiana Derby. Fulsome drew the rail, lacks early speed, and lands in a 1 1/16-mile race lacking pace, so his trip could turn tricky. Bettors unwilling to accept a very short price (Fulsome is 4-5 on the track’s morning line) will find one obvious alternative in Mr. Wireless, the clear second choice.

The local derby, the last of 12 races, follows a salty renewal of the Indiana Oaks, headed by Will’s Secret. The headliners are preceded by four $85,000 route stakes divided between turf and dirt, male and female. First post for the card is 2:25 p.m. Eastern with the derby set for 8:25. The National Weather Service predicts a high of 89 degrees and a 40 percent chance of thunderstorms.

In March, no one could’ve predicted Fulsome would have attained this position. Fulsome shares the same sire, Into Mischief, as Mandaloun, but where Mandaloun hit the ground running in dirt races last fall, Fulsome made his first four starts on turf, with a narrow maiden score at Fair Grounds his lone victory among them. A Keeneland allowance race in April was rained off turf and Fulsome wound up competing on a sloppy main track and winning by three lengths. He then ground out a victory in the Oaklawn Stakes and hit a peak with an eye-catching last-to-first rally May 29 in the Matt Winn at Churchill, winning by nearly four lengths with a career-best 97 Beyer Speed Figure.

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“It took him a little while to come to hand,” said Cox, who operates an Indiana Grand division and won this race last year with Shared Sense. “He’s not a real big horse, and I thought the grass might be a little kinder on him. He ran well on the grass, but he definitely has stepped up on the dirt.”

Mr. Wireless, drawn on the outside, either will take the lead or press Starrininmydream’s modest pace, and if he gets a big jump on Fulsome, he can upset the favorite. Cox beat Mr. Wireless in the May 31 Texas Derby at Lone Star with Warrant, who isn’t Fulsome’s equal, but Mr. Wireless did lose ground on both turns and was being leaned on by eventual third-place finisher Rightandjust when Warrant swooped to victory on the outside. In his second-out maiden win at Oaklawn, Mr. Wireless beat Stilleto Boy, who won the Iowa Derby last week.

“He’s a horse that was very slow to come around,” said trainer Bret Calhoun. “When I first got him, he was big, fat, and lazy, and I didn’t think I’d ever get him there. He didn’t want to train or put anything into it, but once he got up to a fitness level he really took off. He’s definitely a horse getting better all the time.”

Starrininmydreams races on Lasix for the first time and has flashed enough ability to be a solid third choice. Sermononthemount and Full Charge rate as longshot hopes, while it’s hard to make a case for Convention and W W Crazy.