Rescheduled handicaps draw competitive fields

Two months later than originally intended, Horseshoe Indianapolis hosts a pair of $150,000 turf stakes races for 3-year-olds Saturday.

The Horseshoe Indianapolis Handicap over one mile for fillies and the Caesars Handicap, run at the same distance with no sex restriction, were carded May 21, but heavy rain the night before and the morning of that program caused Horseshoe Indianapolis to cancel. Racing secretary Chris Polzin searched for the right time to reschedule the races, and here they are on a Saturday evening card.

The Caesars drew just seven entrants and is carded as race 5 immediately following the Horseshoe, which attracted an overflow field of 13, a dozen in the main body. The races are handicaps in name only, all entrants carrying either 119 or 123 pounds. And, mercifully, only a slight chance of showers appears in the local forecast – the turf should be firm.

:: Bet the races with a $200 First Deposit Match + FREE All Access PPs! Join DRF Bets.

That’s how the connections of the filly Kodiac Wintergreen want it for the Horseshoe. Kodiac Wintergreen made her first two starts last year and this year in sprints, and until June 28, appeared to be a one-run sprinter.

“Being by Kodiac, that’s kind of how she’s bred, and that’s how we were thinking of her,” said Rusty Arnold, who trains the filly for Bregman Family Racing. “But in her training, she just kept on galloping out and seemed to go on, so we decided to give it a try.”

Kodiac Wintergreen had turned in a modest run late last summer going one mile at Kentucky Downs, but facing older foes in a first-level allowance last month, her third-place finish caught the eye.

A troubled start placed Kodiac Wintergreen last of 11 in the early and middle stages, and after gearing up for a stretch run around the far turn, she was hampered by a horse coming out in front of her just as she leveled off in the homestretch. Kodiac Wintergreen regained stride and finished like a train, closing from eighth at the stretch call for third, beaten 1 1/2 lengths.

“She won’t be on the front end, but I think she’ll be a lot closer this time. It’s a little quicker back than I usually run them, but she came out of that last race so well,” Arnold said.

Everland is listed as the 3-1 morning-line favorite after a start in the Kentucky Oaks and a creditable fourth in the Grade 3 Regret on turf, but she won’t be the chalk. Bettors could gravitate toward the Mike Maker-trained Buttercream Babe, who earned a career- and field-best 88 Beyer Speed Figure on June 8 while capturing an age-restricted first-level allowance at Saratoga.

Buttercream Babe showed ability as a summer 2-year-old, but her development stalled over the winter and into the spring. At Saratoga, Buttercream Babe, making a grass start on Lasix for the first time, took a considerable step forward. She did get a perfect pocket trip under Luis Saez (who cedes the mount to locally based Alberto Burgos) but made the most of it to win by 1 1/4 lengths.

Storm Miami exits a third-place finish in the same Saratoga race and had an equally good trip, following Buttercream Babe into the stretch and taking her rail spot when Buttercream Babe went outside to make her move. Storm Miami flattened out in the final furlong and races in blinkers for the first time.

Do It Divi also got an ideal trip winning a first-level Delaware Park allowance last out in her turf and two-turn debut. Stylish Sue controlled a slow pace finishing first in two recent Churchill turf routes.

Less talent populates the Caesars, which could go with a field of seven if longshot Azteca’s Gold races instead at Colonial Downs, where he’s cross-entered in the Boston Stakes.

Sketch can win this if his turf-sprint form transfers to one mile, which it might. Last season in England, Sketch finished a respectable sixth in the Group 1 Middle Park over six furlongs, and he has shown positive signs in two of his three American starts this year. Sketch finished strongly with a wide draw in the William Walker at Churchill in May, then raced too close to the pace in an Aqueduct sprint, before launching another flying finish last month at Churchill in an open 3-year-old allowance. The only horse to beat him there, Bear River, returned to win an Ellis Park stakes with an 88 Beyer.

Aspenite, second in a modest renewal of the Penn Mile, and Twirling Point, a narrow winner in a poor edition of the Jersey Derby, could wind up the favorites.

:: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.