Verifying (photo, right) was ready to go when the gate opened. From post five, he made his presence known early in the one and one-sixteenth mile race, moving into a stalking spot just off race leader Transect and Gerardo Corrales.
Verifying was patient with Cagliostro to his inside in third as the field turned down the backstretch. Not much changed in positioning until the field got to the final turn. Verifying began to make his move on Transect and powered forward. Georgie W and Alex Achard moved three wide with Luan Machado using the same tactic at the back of the five-horse pack around the turn.
In the stretch, Verifying took over and went to battle first with Transect on the inside. Cagliostro and Edgar Morales were looking for a hole inside but had to wait a few strides before getting through. Raise Cain was in full gear on the outside and joined Verifying to the wire, making a valiant effort to get by him in the final strides but just couldn’t get there. Verifying was a winner by a nose over Raise Cain. Cagliostro moved up the inside and finished one and three-quarter lengths back for third.
“He was just like we wanted,” said Pedroza of Verifying. “I waited as long as I could. When we turned for home, I asked him. He was playing with me a little bit. But when I went left-handed, I kind of moved out a little bit and he felt (No. 2) and he gave me another gear just to hang on.”
Verifying was the people’s choice, paying $3.20 for the win. The Justify colt, bred by Hunter Valley and Mountmellick Farm of Kentucky, is owned by Michael Kuessner’s Westerberg LTD, Mrs. John Magnier, Michael Tabor, Derrick Smith, and Jonathan Poulin. Brad Cox trains the talented sophomore, who earned his second win of the season and his third overall in nine starts.
“It was a little stressful, but he got the job done,” said Cox, who maintains a string of horses annually at Horseshoe Indianapolis under the management of assistant trainer Ricky Giannini. “He ran well. Marcelino (Pedroza Jr.) put him in a great trip. He responded. He felt some pressure late from the 2 (Raise Cain) and finished up well and was able to stay in front at the wire.”
Verifying is from the first crop of Triple Crown winner Justify. He was purchased for $775,000 from the Keeneland September Yearling Sale and now has nearly $750,000 on his card. He also becomes a Graded Stakes winner with his effort in the Indiana Derby.
“His race today has justified Brad’s belief in this horse, said Charlie O’Connor, director of sales for Coolmore America. “He’s always believed he is a Group 1 winner, a Group 1 caliber horse. Today has proven the distance is right for him. Being by (Coolmore America stallion) Justify, Justify had a Group 1 winner today at Belmont. He’s a great sire. We believe in the sire a lot, and this is just another indication that this horse and this sire are very good.”
Brad noted the potential of Verifying and thinks he is just getting started.
“Big pedigree,” said Cox. “We need to get a Grade 1 out of him. I think he’s a Grade 1 horse. The (Kentucky) Derby is a throw-out. His run in the Blue Grass was a really good run. Once again, I think there’s a Grade 1 in him. I’m not certain when and where or what distance. But it was just good to get him back in the win column. He showed a lot of class and determination late, and hopefully we’ll build off of this.”
Pedroza Jr. (photo), a native of Panama, adds another Graded Stakes win to his credentials. With more than 1,400 career wins, he has earned three leading rider titles in Indiana. He concentrates his business each summer in Indiana while still fulfilling business at other tracks in the Midwest.
“It means a lot,” added Pedroza Jr. “I’ve been here five, six years, been riding here long enough. To win this race, the most important at the track, it means a lot.”
The Indiana Derby capped off a full day of racing, featuring eight total premier races with purses extending beyond the $1.1 million mark. The day also brought in another record Indiana Derby Day handle for the fourth straight year with $7,980,494.45. Non-comingled handle was still coming in at press time, but the final total is expected to be over the $8.5 million mark.
“It’s been a great day of racing with a lot of competitive action on the track,” said Eric Halstrom, Vice President and General Manager of Racing. “We always look forward to providing a good show for fans on this day and it did not disappoint this year. Several of the races were determined in photo finishes, people were having fun with all the ancillary promotions going on, and it was a fantastic way to showcase our racing product to the world. We are elated with the results.”
$200,000 Indiana Oaks
Grade 1 winner Defining Purpose was the most accomplished 3-year-old filly in the $200,000 Indiana Oaks and she also had the speed to secure a good trip. The result was a 1 1/4-length victory over odds-on favorite Taxed in the Grade 3 race at Horseshoe Indianapolis.
Taxed, coming off an impressive victory in the Grade 2 Black-Eyed Susan at Pimlico on Preakness Eve, broke on the rail, found herself last of the seven competitors for much of the race, was forced to come wide in the stretch and could only chip at Defining Purpose’s margin.
“She had the speed to put herself in position, and that’s what it looked like on paper,” said jockey Brian Hernandez, winning the Indiana Oaks for a third time. “There were a couple of fillies that were a little faster on the first turn. But when she’s able to get the trip like she did today, when she was able to cruise to every pole on her own terms, she’s got a pretty good turn of foot turning for home.”
Defining Purpose (photo) won Keeneland’s prestigious Grade 1 Central Bank Ashland at 20-1 odds in April. The Indiana Oaks was her first start since she finished seventh in an inordinately strong Kentucky Oaks on May 5. It also was her first start since being purchased privately by Japan’s Northern Farm.
“I think the spacing is a big deal for her,” said trainer Kenny McPeek, winning the Indiana Oaks for a second time after taking the 2013 edition with Pure Fun. “We spaced her race coming out of Oaklawn and then didn’t run her until the Ashland. And this race, we spaced her race again. She just runs a bit stronger with a little bit wider gap. Admittedly, I like running them, and maybe that’s not her game. We might sit on her until the Cotillion (G1 at Parx on Sept. 23). But I was impressed with her.”
Longshot Sandra D., who came into the race off a maiden victory, went to the lead and set a tepid first-quarter mile (24.12 seconds) that became a dawdling half-mile (49.06) and six furlongs (1:14) before giving way. Hernandez was content to track Sandra D. before taking over rounding for home. Taxed was making her move under Rafael Bejarano but had too much to do.
Taxed, with Rafael Bejarano up, finished 2 1/4 lengths in front of California invader Lily Poo, who beat fourth place Merlazza by a head under jockey James Graham. Flamand, Cloak of Mercy and Sandra D rounded out the field.
Trainer Randy Morse was visibly upset after Taxed’s defeat.
“When they walk like that and you’re — what was she, 12 lengths back? — it’s pretty hard to win,” said Morse. “She circles the field and how wide was she? Very wide. That’s racing. And that’s a good filly that won. When they’re going (slow) like that, it’s hard to pass them. That’s trotting horse time 1:14 and you’re back that far?”
The Equibase chart put Taxed four lengths back on the backstretch, but it surely seemed much more for Morse watching the race unfold.
“When she drew the inside (moving from post 2 to the rail with the scratch of Cotton Candy Annie), that’s why I told him, ‘You’ve got to get her out of the gate,’” Morse said. “You can’t sit back there and they’re walking on the front end and you’re back umpteen zillion lengths.”
Bejarano did not comment.
Defining Purpose, 8-5 in the morning line but who was dispatched as just over 2-1 by the betting public, finished up 1 1/16 miles in 1:43.83. She paid $6.40 to win, $2.80 to place and $2.20 to show. Defining Purpose now is 4-0-1 in nine starts. The winner’s purse of $117,600 brought her earnings to $673,788.
The dark gray daughter of Cross Traffic had finished in front of Taxed two of three times over the winter at Oaklawn Park, including winning the Years End Stakes to wrap up their 2-year-old seasons. Both fillies were drilled in the Grade 3 Honeybee won by the well-regarded Wet Paint, after which McPeek sent Defining Purpose to Keeneland. Taxed stayed at Oaklawn, finishing second in the Fantasy (G3) won by Wet Paint. But under Churchill Downs’ revised points qualifying system, Taxed missed making the Kentucky Oaks and instead ran in the Black-Eyed Susan.
“Taxed ran big but it looked like she had a little bit of a troubled trip,” McPeek said of the Indiana Oaks runner-up. “Our filly, when she’s fresher, she shows a little bit more speed, which gives her a much better chance because she’s in good position.”
Hernandez credited McPeek and his Churchill Downs assistant Greg Geier for figuring out that more time reaps rewards with Defining Purpose.
“And she came to this race a little stronger, she’s getting to be a little bigger filly,” the jockey said. “That was a pretty good performance today.”
Defining Purpose now has two ties to Indiana. Her dam, Defining Hope, is a multiple stakes winner at Horseshoe Indianapolis. The Indiana sired filly by Strong Hope had five wins during her racing career, four of which were stakes victories. She won all five races under jockey Malcolm Franklin for trainer Barbara McBride and owner Colette Marie Vanmatre, a first-time racehorse owner of the standout filly who went on to year-end honors in Indiana. Vanmatre is the breeder on Defining Purpose.
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