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‘Versatile’ Fulsome Records Final Workout Before Indiana Derby

Juddmonte Farms' Fulsome turned in his final workout for the $300,000, Grade 3 Indiana Derby on July 7, cruising five-eighths of a mile in 1:00.80 under jockey Florent Geroux shortly after the Churchill Downs track opened at 5:30 Wednesday morning.

“He did great. It was just maintenance,” Geroux said afterward. “He went 48 and 1:01, so he's doing good. We'll see how the race shapes up.”

The Brad Cox-trained Fulsome started his career with four turf races, winning a maiden race and finishing fourth in a stakes in New Orleans, before impressively capturing his dirt debut when a Keeneland allowance race came off the turf. He is now 3-for-3 on dirt, following up with Arkansas' $300,000 Oaklawn Stakes on Kentucky Derby Day and Churchill Downs' Grade 3 Matt Winn.

“He transferred over to the dirt well in April at Keeneland,” said Cox, perennially among Indiana Grand's leading trainers. “I'm glad it came off the turf; it was in the mud. He gave us the confidence to press forward on the dirt, so it's been very rewarding this spring.”

Cox said they were looking both at the grass and the two-turn mile distances available in turf maiden races when Fulsome began his career.

“A little bit of both. He just never shined a whole lot early on when he was chasing Mandaloun around there last fall,” he said with a laugh in reference to Juddmonte's Kentucky Derby runner-up. “It took him a little while to come to hand. He's not a real big horse, and I thought the grass might be a little kinder on him, that he could handle it a little better. He ran well on the grass, but he definitely has stepped up on the dirt.”

In the Matt Winn, Fulsome beat O Besos, one of his Indiana Derby rivals. O Besos, who finished fifth in the Kentucky Derby, is ridden by Indiana Grand's meet-leader Marcelino Pedroza.

“He ran a good race at Churchill,” Geroux said. “He was going to go by him (O Besos) pretty easily at the end. I was kind of tracking him all the way. He had a very nice turn of foot that day. Hopefully he can repeat and do the same thing at Indiana.”

Geroux rode Fulsome in his first three starts on grass.

“I think he's probably a touch better on the dirt,” he said. “He was not very quick. So Brad and Juddmonte didn't feel there was a great need to sprint him on the dirt, having him all the way back and eating dirt. So that's why he ran a few times on the turf, around two turns. And when he was ready to take on the dirt, they switched him over and he's been pretty good since then. His numbers show he's better on dirt, but I think he's very versatile. He can be close up to the pace and also be farther back — and he's good on both surfaces.”

Geroux and Cox, the 2020 Eclipse Award-winning trainer, teamed to sweep last year's Indiana Derby with Shared Sense and Indiana Oaks with Shedaresthedevil, who in her next start won the Kentucky Oaks. Now they'll try to repeat with Fulsome and Oaks contender Marion Francis, winner of a Churchill Downs allowance race in her last start.

“It was great last year,” Geroux said. “We brought some nice horses over there. It's easier when you're the favorite, or one of the favorites, to win these types of races. But it looks like he should be the favorite for the Indiana Derby. I don't know who's coming, but my guess is that he would be the favorite.”

The Grade 3 Indiana Derby will be joined by five other stakes on the card, bringing stakes purses for the day to $840,000. The Indiana Derby will be slated as the 12th race on the card with an estimated post time of 8:25 p.m. The Grade 3 Indiana Oaks will be carded as Race 11 with an estimated post time of 7:43 p.m.

The 19th season of Thoroughbred and Quarter Horse racing is now in progress and continues through Monday, Nov. 8. Live racing is conducted at 2:25 p.m. Monday through Wednesday, with first post on Thursday set at 3:25 p.m. A special Indiana Champions Day highlighting the state's top Thoroughbred and Quarter Horses will be held Saturday, Oct. 30, beginning at noon. More information about the 2021 racing season is available at www.caesars.com/indiana-grand.

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Mr. Big News ‘Really Strong’ In Final Work For Preakness Stakes

Allied Racing Stable's Kentucky Derby (Grade I) third-place finisher Mr. Big News finalized his major preparation for the $1 million Preakness Stakes (GI) on Saturday, Oct. 3 with a half-mile move in :50.40 Friday morning at Churchill Downs.

Mr. Big News, a last minute entry in the $3 million Kentucky Derby presented by Woodford Reserve, worked with regular exercise rider Tony Camacho in the saddle through splits of :13.20 and :25.40 with a five-furlong gallop out of 1:03.20, according to Churchill Downs clocker John Nichols.

“He left the pole really strong, which is how he was working before the Derby,” trainer Bret Calhoun said. “We only wanted an easy work and I told Tony to go in :49 or :50 and gallop out well. He's been fit after just running in the Derby and it's been very promising how strong he's acting in his works after the race.”

Mr. Big News, a bay colt by Giant's Causeway, earned an automatic spot into the Preakness by winning Oaklawn's $200,000 Oaklawn Stakes on April 11. The two-time winner is scheduled to ship to Pimlico on Tuesday.

Chester Thomas' Allied Racing Stable will attempt to get one of their other stable stars, Mr. Money, back on track Saturday in the $100,000 Ack Ack (GIII). Mr. Money, who is co-owned by Spendthrift Farm, is a four-time Grade III winner but has not won since July 2019.

“The good news is we know how much he likes this track at Churchill,” Calhoun said. “He had some things not go his way so far this year. I don't think he liked the surface at Oaklawn (in the April 11 Oaklawn Mile) and race at Keeneland (a 6 ½-furlong allowance on July 12) didn't really suit him either.”

The complete field for the Ack Ack in order of post position (with jockey, trainer and morning line oddsd): Warrior's Charge (Florent Geroux, Brad Cox, 9-5); Bourbon Calling (Brian Hernandez Jr., Ian Wilkes, 12-1); Proverb (Adam Beschizza, Richard Baltas, 30-1); American Anthem (James Graham, Mike Maker, 5-1); Mr. Money (Gabriel Saez, Calhoun, 6-1); Pioneer Spirit (David Cohen, Robertino Diodoro, 12-1); Alkhaatam (Declan Cannon, Danny Peitz, 20-1); Ebben (Corey Lanerie, Steve Margolis, 5-1); Bankit (Ricardo Santana Jr., Steve Asmussen, 10-1); Thirstforlife (Chris Landeros, Wes Hawley, 30-1); Dinar (Rafael Bejarano, Cherie DeVaux, 30-1); Home Base (Joe Rocco Jr., Mike Tomlinson, 30-1); and Everfast (Julien Leparoux, Jack Sisterson 10-1).

Saturday's Ack Ack is carded as Race 9 with a post time of 4:53 p.m. (all times Eastern). The 10-race program has a first post of 12:45 p.m. The Ack Ack could serve as a prep for the $1 million Breeders' Cup Big Ass Fans Dirt Mile (GI), which will be run six weeks later on Nov. 7 at Keeneland.

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Mr. BIg News ‘Full Of Energy’ In Workout Toward Preakness Stakes

Even though Kentucky Derby (G1) third-place finisher Mr. Big News earned a free roll in the 145th Preakness Stakes (G1) by virtue of winning Oaklawn Park's $200,000 Oaklawn Stakes, owner Chester Thomas and trainer Bret Calhoun said that has no bearing on their decision to run in Pimlico's famed 1 3/16-mile classic.

What does have bearing is a workout Mr. Big News had Friday at Churchill Downs, where he cruised a half-mile in 48 4/5 seconds under regular exercise rider Tony Quinones, registering the 22nd fastest of 76 works at the distance. Calhoun said he's seeing all the right signs.

“He was very sharp this morning,” he said. “I know it was cool. He went a little quicker than we wanted, but did it very easy, well within himself. He was full of energy, kind of what we wanted to see. It was what we wanted or better.

Calhoun said Mr. Big News will have a final workout on Saturday, Sept. 26. If all continues to go well, the Giant's Causeway colt will be heading to Baltimore. Yet to be determined is if he'll fly or van, he said.

“He's a fit horse; he doesn't need a lot,” Calhoun said of next week's work. “I'm not looking for fitness. Just maintain what we've got and hold his edge.”

Mr. Big News needed the sort of performance he displayed in the Kentucky Derby for his team to consider the Preakness.

“Absolutely,” Calhoun said. “The free ride in the Preakness was there, but he needed to prove that he belonged with that group of horses.”

Mr. Big News required four races before winning, then was fifth in the Fair Grounds' Risen Star (G2). The victory at 46-1 odds in the April 11 Oaklawn Stakes followed before Kentucky Derby aspirations were dashed — temporarily, as it turned out — by a disappointing sixth in Keeneland's rescheduled Toyota Blue Grass (G2) in July. Next on the agenda was to try grass, for which Mr. Big News is well-bred.

But rain left the Churchill Downs turf course too soft for Calhoun to feel they could get a true reading on the colt's affinity for the weeds. About the same time, it became clear that Churchill's new 20-stall starting gate would not be filled this Derby. And Calhoun loved how Mr. Big News was training.

As entry day for the Kentucky Derby approached, Thomas drew up a list of pros and cons on running.

“I had this long sales pitch I was going to give Bret,” Thomas said. “I didn't get very far into it when he said, 'Dude, you want to run in the Derby; we're going to run in the Derby.' I didn't even get to go through my list.”

“The closer we got to the Derby, knowing we could probably get in, I started really dialing in on the Derby in the back of my mind,” Calhoun said. “The weather forecast for Derby Week looked like more rain, so we thought the turf course would remain soft. And the horse was doing really, really good, and we knew he'd love the mile and a quarter.”

Off at 46-1, Mr. Big News was one of the longest shots in the Derby field of 15. He was in 10th early as Authentic was ripping off fractions of 22.91 seconds for the first quarter-mile, 46.41 for the half, 1:10.23 for six furlongs and 1:35.02 for the mile. Favored Tiz the Law hooked Authentic out of the turn for home but Authentic pulled clear lead, winning by 1 1/4 lengths, with Mr. Big News another two lengths back in third.

“There was no question in our mind that we'd be running for sure at the end of the race,” Thomas said of the Derby. “He made that move at the three-eighths pole, honestly, we thought we were going to win that thing for a second. Talk about a thrill. I'd like to say it was a cheap thrill, but it wasn't cheap because it's a lot of money to run in the Derby. But it was a heck of a thrill. But those horses dug in. Just give Authentic all the credit. I mean, what a horse. Those fractions, we're thinking we're sitting on a winner. I'm looking at those fractions and going, 'Yeah, yeah. All right! Time to go!' He made that move; it was so exciting. You never heard anyone scream louder for finishing third.

“So we're excited. This Preakness looks like it's going to shape up to be one of the tougher Preaknesses. And that's OK.”

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Calhoun: Derby Distance ‘Could Be A Great Equalizer’ For Last-Minute Entry Mr. Big News

Trainer Bret Calhoun announced late Monday that Mr. Big News, winner of the Oaklawn Stakes at 46-1 back in April, would be entered in the 146th Kentucky Derby. The 3-year-old son of Giant's Causeway hasn't run since finishing sixth in the G2 Blue Grass Stakes on July 11, and Calhoun had even been considering a switch to turf, since Mr. Big News is out of a daughter of Galileo.

“After the Blue Grass, I don't think we got quite the trip we wanted there, and it was a little bit disappointing,” Calhoun said. “So, I thought with his pedigree that maybe we should shift gears and try to make a top turf horse out of him, so we started pointing toward the (Grade 2) American Turf (1 1/16 miles on the grass at Churchill on the Kentucky Derby undercard).

“In the last week or so, we've gotten him over the turf course twice here (at Churchill), and its been very soft. We've had some rain, and its not drying out well. It looks like we're going to have some more rain and moisture throughout the week, so we felt like the turf course was going to be a little too soft for his liking. We started thinking about the Derby again, which had been in the back of our mind for the past month, knowing its probably not going to overfill. We really think he'll relish the mile and a quarter, he's training really well over the dirt here, so we decided to take a swing.

“Besides that, (owner) Chester Thomas has had a bad case of Derby fever the last few days!”

Bred in Kentucky by Don Alberto Stable, Mr. Big News was a $95,000 yearling purchase for Thomas' Allied Racing Stable at the Fasig-Tipton Kentucky Fall sale. The colt has won two of his seven starts and earned $168,553.

In Saturday's rescheduled Run for the Roses, Mr. Big News drew post position nine and has morning-line odds of 50-1. He'll be ridden by jockey Tyler Gaffalione in the 1 1/4-mile dirt classic.

“The distance is definitely a key factor; you can't run him too far,” Calhoun said. “He's always finishing big, he's always galloping out strong, so I think that could be an equalizer in here. Obviously there's some horses on paper that are more talented, but I think the distance could be a great equalizer.”

Thanks to the National Turfwriters and Broadcasters Association (NTWAB), which has assembled a group of pool reporters providing independent reporting to members unable to be on the Churchill Downs grounds this year due to COVID-19 restrictions.

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