Indiana | Horse Racing Free Tips

Projected Heat Index Forces Thursday Cancellation At Indiana Grand

Due to projected extreme temperatures and expected heat index for Thursday, Aug. 12, Indiana Grand Racing & Casino will cancel the late afternoon racing program.

The decision to cancel was made in a joint effort by Indiana Grand management and the Indiana Horse Racing Commission. All entities agreed the safety of all equine and human athletes is always the utmost of importance in extreme temperatures forecasted for Central Indiana. The area is currently under a heat advisory through Thursday, Aug. 12.

Racing will resume Saturday, Aug. 14 with an all-Quarter Horse program beginning at 10 a.m.

Live Thoroughbred and Quarter Horse racing is in progress through Monday, Nov. 8. The 120-day racing season offers action Monday through Thursday with a first post of 2:25 p.m. Monday through Wednesday. Racing begins at 3:25 p.m. on Thursdays.

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Ernie Gaskin, Dr. James Carmichael Inducted Into Indiana Horse Racing Association’s Hall Of Fame

The Indiana Horse Racing Association (IHRA) has announced the newest class of inductees into the organization's Hall of Fame. Ernie Gaskin, longtime Standardbred owner, trainer, and breeder, and Dr. James Carmichael (posthumously), longtime advocate, owner, and breeder in Quarter Horse racing, have been selected for the prestigious honor.

Gaskin came to the state of Indiana in the early 1990s and worked as the head trainer for Viking Meadows Farm in Carmel, Ind. He and his wife, Darla, relocated to Anderson at the start of pari-mutuel racing to create and operate Crimson Lane Farm, complete with a training track, two training barns, a breeding operation and multiple outdoor paddock space.

Gaskin was one of the initial members appointed to the Indiana Standardbred Breed Development committee. The Vermont native has worked tirelessly to assist with projects in horse racing, including lobbying for casino gaming at racetracks, enhanced breed development funding, and overall positive solutions impacting horse racing. Gaskin was recently added to the prestigious Hambletonian Society Board of Directors.

Gaskin is a two-time leading trainer at Harrah's Hoosier Park (1997 and 1998) and was the track's all-time leading trainer in wins for more than a decade. He has conditioned four Indiana Sires Stakes champions (Brooklets Hotshot, Hoosier Nat, Sapphire Martini, Jammin Joshua) with Jammin Joshua earning more than $1 million and now standing as a stallion in the state of Indiana.

Joining Gaskin as an inductee is Dr. James Carmichael of Sullivan, Ind., who is being inducted posthumously. Dr. Carmichael, a longtime practicing veterinarian in Sullivan County, joined his father, Eugene, in creating Carmichael Stock Farm, a Quarter Horse breeding operation in the western part of the state. They raced across the country before Quarter Horse pari-mutuel racing came to Indiana in 1997.

In the 1970's, the Carmichaels purchased Jaguar Rocket to add to their breeding and racing operation in the Hoosier State. The California-bred grey stallion was a stakes winner in the late 1960's, winning 10 of 40 starts before being offered for sale by a Hollywood director. His impact on the state of Indiana has endured the past three decades. Jaguar Rocket is an inductee into the Quarter Horse Racing Association of Indiana (QHRAI) Hall of Fame and has a stakes race named in his honor at Indiana Grand.

In addition to breeding and racing Quarter Horses, Dr. Carmichael also served on the board of QHRAI for more than a decade, an organization he stayed active in until his death in 2009. The Purdue School of Veterinary Medicine graduate also served on the Thoroughbred Breed Development Committee where he was elected chairman. His wife, Jan, still resides on the family farm and maintains several horses on the property.

Both Gaskin and Dr. Carmichael will be inducted into the IHRA Hall of Fame during a special ceremony Sunday, Oct. 24, 2021 at Indiana Grand Racing & Casino in Shelbyville. Portraits of the inductees will be added to the display on the mezzanine level at Indiana Grand following the ceremony. Gaskin and Dr. Carmichael join a list of 17 previous inductees into the IHRA Hall of Fame.

The Indiana Horse Racing Association, Inc. (IHRA), an Indiana Not-For-Profit Corporation, was founded in 2014 for the following purposes: 1) Establishing and maintaining the Indiana Horse Racing Hall of Fame to recognize leaders in the Indiana horse racing industry; 2) Preserving the history, heritage and traditions of the sport; and 3) Educating the public about the rich and colorful history of horse racing in Indiana and its many contributions to Indiana agriculture and Indiana's economy. The organization consists of six board members representing all three racing breeds in the state of Indiana.

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Indiana-Bred, -Sired Stakes Back to $100K Minimum

A proposal from the Indiana Thoroughbred Breed Development (ITBD) to return the purse levels of all Indiana-bred and -sired stakes races to a minimum of $100,000 was approved by the Indiana Horse Racing Commission (IHRC) at a meeting held July 15 has been approved. The increase applies to 22 stakes event and is being made retroactive to the beginning of the stakes season, which kicked off May 19.

Ten stakes have already been contested and the winning connections from those races will receive an additional $25,000 coming directly from the ITBD portion of the purse account. A half-dozen stakes yet to be run with listed purses of $100,000 will be raised to $150,000, including the Governor's S., the Indiana First Lady S., To Much Coffee S., Cardinal S., Unreachable Star S. and the Lady Foghorn S.

“Seeing this addition to our already healthy stakes schedule is a great boost to our racing program,” said Eric Halstrom, Vice President and General Manager of Racing. “Indiana Grand is fortunate to have such great partnerships with both the state and the horsemen's organizations. This level of stakes purses brings us back to where we were in 2019, and it's a great incentive for future investment and participation in the state bred program.”

Jessica Barnes, Director of Breed Development, worked closely with the horsemen's organizations and Indiana Grand for the proposal to the IHRC. The increase will boost the state-bred stakes for 2021 by more than $850,000.

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Calumet Will ‘Take A Chance’ With Longshot Full Charge In Indiana Derby

Full Charge is 12-1 in the Indiana Derby's morning and comes into the 1 1/16-mile stakes off victory in a 1 3/16-mile maiden race. But owner-breeder Calumet Farm in the Brad Kelley era has no problem taking a shot at big races and doesn't get caught up in the horses' odds. Indeed, several notable Calumet upsets have been the 2021 Wood Memorial with Bourbon winning at a whopping 72-1 odds, 2020 Personal Ensign with 9-1 Vexatious over champion Midnight Bisou and the 2018 Pat Day Mile with 39-1 Funny Duck.

“It's a big step up in class,” said Jack Sisterson, private trainer for Calumet, though the farm uses other public trainers as well. “It is a short field. It's that time of the year where if your horse is doing well, which he is, you've got to take the opportunities where they come with these big 3-year-old races.”

Full Charge, also by Will Take Charge, has improved dramatically with each of his four starts.

“He's a 3-year-old who has improved with each start we've had him,” Sisterson said. “He was a lovely 2-year-old, just sort of immature and needed to grow into his frame. Thanks to Calumet for allowing me to back off him as a 2-year-old.

“We got him started down at Gulfstream going three-quarters of a mile. He finished last, but when he hit the wire, Corey (Lanerie) gave him a slap on the shoulder and he galloped out in front. We were optimistic that he'd move forward as we stretched him out, would put his best foot forward. And he hasn't disappointed us since, really. We'll let him tell us whether he's good enough or not.”

In his three maiden races in Kentucky, Full Charge finished third, then second, then won by five lengths at 1 3/16 miles at Churchill Downs.

“We don't win first time out,” Sisterson said. “We train to where the horse is going to improve with racing and hopefully not regress with racing. We like to have a two- or three-year good campaign with horses. He doesn't have a flashy way of going. He might come off the bridle at the three-eighths pole, but he's a grinding type that seems to get better as the distance gets farther for him. If we can hit the board with a homebred, it helps the mare and the progeny. I've got his 2-year-old brother. It's fun to see him progress in the direction he's going.”

Adam Beschizza, aboard for Full Charge's past three races, has the return mount.

“He's still a very young, unvarnished horse,” Beschizza said. “He's a horse where you have to squeeze the lemon on him the whole time. He's still very green and raw. If you saw his maiden win at Churchill, I had to get to working on him at the three-eighths. Once he gets the message, he seems to knuckle down, still very workmanlike. Mr. Kelley likes these big challenges, and he's never been too far wrong before with some of these maiden (winners). He'll take his chance.”

Full Charge “has had plenty of shots at the dart board now,” the jockey said.

“He's got plenty of experience,” Beschizza added. So, let's hope he's got it together and can take that next step forward. You've got to be in it to win it, and we'll take a chance. I think he'll run well, anyway.”

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