Piedi Bianchi back home for the Cardinal on a four-stakes card
Piedi Bianchi, who is a multiple stakes winner in New York, returns to her home state of Indiana on Wednesday for the $150,000 Cardinal at Indiana Grand.
The race is one of four Indiana-bred stakes on the card. They are worth a cumulative $500,000 and include a pair of offerings for 2-year-olds, the Miss Indiana and the Indiana Futurity. The races all drew large fields.
Piedi Bianchi was scratched from the Grade 3 Belmont Turf Sprint Invitational on Saturday and redirected to the Cardinal. The 1 1/16-mile race on the main track is for fillies and mares and drew a field of 10.
“The spot was there, and it’s our best chance to win,” said Carlos Martin, who trains Piedi Bianchi. “We thought it made sense.”
Martin added that Piedi Bianchi had drawn the rail for the Belmont Turf Sprint, and would have been facing males. He also noted Jay Oringer, one of the principal owners of Piedi Bianchi, is a fan of the Indiana program. Piedi Bianchi is a two-time stakes winner at Indiana Grand and through Monday ranked fourth on the list of all-time Indiana-bred earners with a bankroll of $736,197. The leader is Bucchero, with $947,936, according to statistics provided by Indiana Grand.
Piedi Bianchi’s wins at Indiana Grand came in the 2018 and 2020 runnings of the Francis Slocum, which has been named the Cardinal.
They were rare route starts for the mare. Last year, Piedi Bianchi won the race by 7 1/2 lengths. She came into the stakes off a sprint start, and will do so again Wednesday. Piedi Bianchi, who has tactical speed, won the $111,000 Smart N Fancy on Aug. 21 at Saratoga. The race was over 5 1/2 furlongs on yielding turf, and she popped a career-high Beyer Speed Figure of 92.
“Stretching out, she handles well,” Martin said. “She shuts down. She doesn’t run off. She’s so professional at this stage of the game, stretching out should not be an issue. And she seems to like the track in Indiana.”
Piedi Bianchi is 3 for 4 on the local main track, with one second-place finish.
Tyler Gaffalione, who was aboard for her last start, has the mount from post 7 for Oringer, Jack Bick, Al Bianchi Racing, Adam Bayroff, and Mike Maturo.
Piedi Bianchi, a 6-year-old daughter of Overanalyze, is 7 for 26.
“She’s laid back, really classy,” Martin said. “She’s pretty chill, but she does have fire in her belly. She wants attention. She’s the queen.”
The chief threats include Fireball Baby, who won the $101,000 Hoosier Heartland Stakes at this distance last out at Indiana Grand. She rolled by 5 1/4 lengths in the Sept. 15 race that marked her first start since July. For the effort, the Phil Bauer-trained mare earned a career-high Beyer Speed Figure of 81.
Bumble of Love is looking for her fourth straight win. She began her streak in a nonwinners-of-three lifetime allowance against Indiana-breds in June at Indiana Grand, then won another allowance at the track in July before taking the $103,000 Peony Stakes on Aug. 25.
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The Cardinal’s counterpart for males is the $150,000 To Much Coffee for 3-year-olds and up at 1 1/16 miles. It drew a field of 11, including the Mike Lauer-trained trio of Strong Tide, Max Express, and Chipofftheoldblock.
Lauer also is the breeder of all three horses with his wife, owner Penny Lauer.
Strong Tide is returning to the Indiana-bred ranks after finishing a troubled sixth in the $400,000 TVG Stakes on Sept. 8 at Kentucky Downs. The winner of the race, Snapper Sinclair, returned in his next start to finish a close second in the Grade 2 Eddie D last weekend at Santa Anita.
Strong Tide, who is moving back to the main track, is the defending winner in the To Much Coffee. He rolled by two lengths in last year’s race, following a turf start. Florent Geroux has the mount from post 7.
Max Express has placed in back-to-back stakes at Indiana Grand, while Chipofftheoldblock won an allowance sprint on Sept. 21 at Indiana Grand.
◗ Lauer has the probable favorite in the Indiana Futurity, which will be run at a mile and 70 yards, in Mowins. He is coming off a victory in the $103,000 Circle City at Indiana Grand.
Louder Than Words looks like a chief player in the female counterpart to the Indiana Futurity, the Miss Indiana.