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$100,000 Claim Necker Island Jumps Into Indiana Derby For New Trainer Chris Hartman

Owners Jackie Rojas, Wayne Scherr and Raymond Daniels put up $100,000 a month ago to claim the Hard Spun colt Necker Island out of an allowance/optional claiming race at Churchill Downs. On Wednesday they'll try to get a big piece, if not all, of their investment back right off the bat when they run their new acquisition in the Grade 3 $300,000 Indiana Derby at Indiana Grand Racing & Casino.

Trainer Chris Hartman said the owners didn't necessarily have the Indiana Derby in mind in claiming Necker Island, who had a trio of fifth places and a fourth in four stakes attempts before owner Sagamore Farm opted to put him in the Churchill race for the $100,000 claiming price instead of the allowance condition, for which he was eligible.

Necker Island finished fourth in the stakes-caliber field that day. Of course, that also made him last. Still, the entire field will run this week in Kentucky Derby qualifying races, including runner-up Shared Sense in the Indiana Derby.

“We didn't really have this race in mind, but we were looking at a few spots,” Hartman said of the claim. “This one looked like it was going to come up to our liking. The gentleman who owns him always wanted to claim a horse like that. I noticed the horse in the (entries), and he said, 'Let's do it.' … He had some previous races that were very competitive. He ran two good races in the fall and then sort of slipped off form a little. But he's been running in really tough races. He ran with some really nice horses, all on the Derby trail. That was part of the allure of going after him for $100,000.”

Hartman claims a lot of horses, but never before for six figures.

“I wasn't nervous a drop, but there was a 'shake' for the horse for $100,000,” he said, referencing the claiming game's version of drawing straws to determine who gets a horse when more than one person drops a claim slip before the race.

“He's doing well,” Hartman said. “He's cleaning up the feed tub and training well. So, we thought we'd take a chance. It appears on paper that he fits in the race.”

As far as the Sept. 5 Kentucky Derby, for which the Indiana Derby's winner will earn 20 qualifying points: “I leave that for others to dream,” he said. “I don't know. It would be a great story if it happened that way.”

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Brisnet.com Triple Crown Throwdown: Indiana Derby

Ed DeRosa of Brisnet.com takes on TDN’s Steve Sherack and Brian DiDonato as they handicap Triple Crown prep races plus the big three races themselves. The three will make $100 Win/Place bets in the preps and $200 Win/Place bets in the Kentucky Derby, Preakness and Belmont. Highest bankroll at the end wins.

DeRosa – Los Alamitos Derby Result – Uncle Chuck delivered as the heavy chalk. Bankroll: $3680.

GIII Indiana Derby – I had a real tough time separating Earner, Necker Island, and Shared Sense, but one thing is for sure: if those are the three I like, then this should be a playable race as I see both Major Fed and Winning Impression as vulnerable at their morning-line prices. Ultimately, I landed on Earner on top. He fell short going the nine-furlong Indiana Derby distance last out at Churchill Downs, finishing behind next-out Ohio Derby winner Dean Martini and next-out Blue Grass aspirant Man In the Can. His speed can be a weapon here over the aforementioned other contenders I like. Selection: #4 Earner (8-1).

Sherack – Los Alamitos Derby Result – Longshot Great Power set the pace and faded. Bankroll: $2605.

GIII Indiana Derby – The lightly raced Extraordinary still has some upside and enters off a better-than-it-looked fourth-place finish going this distance at Churchill Downs last month. He lost valuable early positioning that day, and made a flashy, wide move on the far turn from far back en route to a very solid effort. Runner-up Dean Martini returned to upset the GIII Ohio Derby. Have to like Luis Saez making the trip to ride as well. Let’s see if he can work out a better trip this time around. Selection: #2 Extraordinary (10-1).

DiDonato – Los Alamitos Derby Result – Required a back-up pick once again, and Thousand Words ran second, but there was no place betting in the race. . . ouch. Bankroll: $3755.

GIII Indiana Derby – Earner and Juggernaut look like they may set this one up for a closer, and Shared Sense is the one I want. He seemed to take a step forward when getting up in that Oaklawn allowance back in February, and while he hasn’t won in two subsequent efforts, he’s earned slightly faster figures–he could easily take another step forward here third off the bench. The turf try wasn’t bad at all, and he did well to be second behind the buzzed-about Art Collector last time in a four-horse Churchill optional claimer. The winner set a slow pace and had things his own way, and Shared Sense caught GI Arkansas Derby third Finnick the Fierce for second. Nine furlongs seems well within Shared Sense’s scope. The grandson of MGISW Composure is out of a full-sister to GSW/MGISP Penwith and half to MGISP Centring. This is a true dirt route pedigree, and he’s bred exactly like Maxfield (Street Sense over Bernardini). Selection: #5 Shared Sense (4-1).

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Indiana Derby Favorite Winning Impression A ‘Dallas Stewart Prototype’

West Point Thoroughbreds president Terry Finley was asked how much he is thinking about the delayed Kentucky Derby with his partnership's 3-year-old gelding Winning Impression, the 3-1 favorite in Wednesday's $300,000, Grade 3 Indiana Derby at Indiana Grand Racing & Casino.

“Sure, yeah, we are,” Finley said of the Arkansas Derby fourth-place finisher. “Especially with Dallas Stewart at the helm and the repertoire he has with these kinds of horses.”

That would be distance-thriving horses who come running late to pick up a good part of the pieces while speedier rivals stagger home. Prime examples: Commanding Curve, second in the 2014 Kentucky Derby at 37-1; Golden Soul, second in the 2013 Kentucky Derby at 34-1; Tale of Verve, second in the 2015 Preakness at 28-1. West Point campaigned Commanding Curve, as well as the Stewart-trained Macho Again, second in the 2008 Preakness at 39-1.

“He reminds us a lot of Commanding Curve — just kind of getting there, getting there,” Finley said.

If Winning Impression wins the 1 1/8-mile Indiana Derby, he'll claim one credential that Commanding Curve never achieved: being a stakes-winner. One thing that helps is Winning Impression has more versatility to stay near the early lead if needed, while Commanding Curve was dependent on a fast pace to set up his closing kick.

“Ever since he went two turns, he's been a very consistent horse — and run with the best,” said Jeff Lifson, West Point's executive vice president for Midwest Operations. “He is a Dallas Stewart prototype: Gets better and better and better. He was never a flashy 2-year-old. As soon as he went two turns, it was like, 'This is what I was meant to do.'

“The fun part is looking at the Thoro-Graph (handicapping) sheets. He has a pattern very similar to Commanding Curve. If the sheets are at all predictive, he's going to run massively big at Indiana — if he's getting better, and he seems to be getting better.”

West Point was a minority partner in Always Dreaming, the Todd Pletcher-trained colt who got really good early in his 3-year-old season, carrying his speed to four impressive victories to start off 2017, capped by the Florida Derby and Kentucky Derby. He was never the same horse after that.

By contrast, Winning Impression is an example of a horse benefiting from the coronavirus forcing the Kentucky Derby to be postponed from May 2 until Sept. 5.

After a pair of fifth-place finishes sprinting last November, Winning Impression promptly won a 1 1/16-mile maiden race in New Orleans. That was followed by a second and third at the Fair Grounds and a disqualification from first to fifth for interference in an Oaklawn Park allowance race. But his team had seen enough to take the next step.

Winning Impression's stakes debut came on May 2 in the Arkansas Derby, in which he finished fourth by a total of nine lengths at 20-1 odds. The first- and third-place finishers that day, Charlatan and Gouverneur Morris are on the shelf and runner-up Basin is going in Keeneland's Blue Grass Stakes on Saturday.

“He's a nice horse,” said the Louisville-based Stewart. “He ran great at Oaklawn — won and got disqualified but he ran terrific. He ran great in the Arkansas Derby, has trained very consistent and this race will tell us a lot where we're at. He's doing well and he needs to run. We'll see where we're at in September, but right now we're just focused on this race. I think he fits real well in there, and we'll take it from there.”

Julien Leparoux, who rode Winning Impression in the Arkansas Derby and once in New Orleans, has the mount. Winning Impression drew post 9 in the field of ten 3-year-olds.

“It's a good race, it's a legitimate race,” Finley said. “There are no superstars in there. But the horses who figure to run well in here are very, very similar to what we are at this point in their careers. If we run well, we'll have a little stronger circle around the first Saturday in September.”

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‘Such A Warrior’: Vekoma Jumps Into Top Three Of NTRA Top Thoroughbred Poll

After earning his third straight victory and second consecutive Grade 1 triumph when he captured the Metropolitan Handicap on July 4, Vekoma left no doubt he was among the elite handicap horses in the country. The George Weaver-trainee had that status further validated on Monday when he earned 2 first-place votes and 302 points to move up to third overall in the latest National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA) Top Thoroughbred Poll.

Vekoma has shown quality throughout his eight career starts, winning the Grade 3 Nashua Stakes as a juvenile and taking the Grade 2 Blue Grass Stakes last April to earn a spot in the Kentucky Derby field. He was put away for the rest of 2019 after finishing 12th in the Run for the Roses and has returned with a vengeance as a 4-year-old, prevailing in each of his three outings. The son of Candy Ride (ARG) opened his 2020 campaign with a win in the Sir Shackleton Stakes on March 28 before taking the Grade 1 Carter Handicap on June 6 and the historic Met Mile this past weekend.

“I think he's the best older horse in the country,” co-owner Randy Hill told the NYRA publicity team about Vekoma. “George (Weaver) is thinking about the Forego or training right up to the Breeders' Cup and we leave all of that up to him. The horse will tell us. He's such a warrior.”

Vekoma's presence was the only major shift near the top of the Thoroughbred Poll rankings as champion Midnight Bisou continues to reign with 24 first-place votes and 375 points. G M B Racing's Tom's d'Etat (8 first-place votes, 333 points) holds in second with Grade 1 winner-Mucho Gusto (171) dropping one spot to fourth.

By My Standards ranks fifth with 157 points followed by top sophomore runner Tiz the Law (2 first-place votes, 130 points) and Code of Honor (1 first-place vote, 123 points). Grade 1-winner Zulu Alpha is eighth with 99 points as Maximum Security (3 first-place votes, 98 points) sits ninth. Instilled Regard, winner of the Grade 1 Manhattan Stakes this past weekend, joins the top 10 in the final spot with a total of 65 points.

Belmont Stakes winner Tiz the Law stays in command of the NTRA Top Three-Year-Old Poll for yet another week, earning 39 first-place votes and 399 points. Santa Anita Derby winner Honor A. P. (1 first-place vote, 358 points) remains second followed by graded-stakes winner Authentic (260 points) and Belmont Stakes runner-up Dr Post (211).

King Guillermo (188 points) ranks fifth and he is followed by the only newcomer to the poll's top 10, Uncle Chuck, who sits sixth with 135 points on the heels of his victory in the Grade 3 Los Alamitos Derby July 4. Top filly Gamine (134 points) dips one spot to seventh with Max Player (82), Charlatan (81) and Swiss Skydiver (67) completing the top 10.

The NTRA Top Thoroughbred polls are the sport's most comprehensive surveys of experts. Every week eligible journalists and broadcasters cast votes for their top 10 horses, with points awarded on a 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis. All horses that have raced in the U.S., are in training in the U.S., or are known to be pointing to a major event in the U.S. are eligible for the NTRA Top Thoroughbred Poll. Voting in both the Top 3-Year-Old Poll and the Top Thoroughbred Poll is scheduled to be conducted through the conclusion of the Breeders' Cup in November.

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