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‘Really Strong Favorite’ Art Collector Draws Post Four Of Full Field For Ellis Park Derby

The field was set Thursday for Sunday's first-ever Kentucky Derby prep staged at Ellis Park, with Keeneland's Grade 2 Toyota Blue Grass winner Art Collector heading the thirteen 3-year-old colts and geldings entered in the $200,000 RUNHAPPY Ellis Park Derby.

“It's Art Collector and all the rest,” said trainer Tom Amoss, who will try to pull off the upset with Grade 3 Ohio Derby victor Dean Martini. “You've got a really strong favorite in this race, and I think everyone will measure the quality of their horse with how they perform against him.”

The Ellis Park Derby, which was instituted in 2018 as a mile race, anchors a five-stakes program that also includes the $100,000 RUNHAPPY Audubon Oaks for 3-year-old fillies, which offers 10 points to its winner toward qualifying for the Kentucky Oaks; $100,000 Groupie Doll Stakes for older fillies and mares; $100,000 RUNHAPPY Juvenile for 2-year-olds; and $100,000 RUNHAPPY Debutante for 2-year-old fillies.

The 1 1/8-mile Ellis Park Derby carries 50 points to the winner toward qualifying for the COVID-delayed Kentucky Derby on Sept. 5. Also earning qualifying points will be the runner-up (20), third place (10) and fourth (5).

Art Collector drew post 4 as he seeks to go to 4 for 4 since being turned over to trainer Tommy Drury this year. Thanks to the Blue Grass' 100 points, owner-breeder Bruce Lunsford's colt already has enough points to ensure a spot in the 20-horse Kentucky Derby field, with Drury using the Ellis Park Derby as a conditioning tool rather than training the eight weeks up to America's most important race.

“His first couple of wins, he just ran off the screen both times, certainly didn't have to overexert himself,” Drury said of Art Collector. “The Blue Grass, he had to earn it; that filly (Swiss Skydiver) made him work for it. Watching that race and evaluating the race afterward, I felt one more was going to be beneficial to him. I'm just really thankful that spot at Ellis is available. We were late getting to the party and we've needed every little thing to fall in place to get him to this point. For Ellis to have a Derby prep this year was a lifesaver to us.”

Other leading contenders include Grade 3 Indiana Derby winner Shared Sense (post 12); Anneau d'Or (post 2), the Breeders' Cup Juvenile runner-up and most recently fourth in the Santa Anita Derby; Grand Prairie Derby winner Little Menace (post 6), and last year's Ellis Park Juvenile winner Rowdy Yates (post 8).

Shared Sense could be on the Derby qualifying bubble points-wise, collecting 20 for winning the Grade 3 Indiana Derby in his graded-stakes debut. Godolphin's son of 2007 Kentucky Derby winner Street Sense faced Art Collector two races back, when Art Collector controlled the speed for a dominant win over Shared Sense in a four-horse Churchill Downs allowance field.

“First time we ran against him here, we were at the back of the pack, there was no pace,” said Brad Cox, Shared Sense's trainer. “I was pleased with the effort. They almost broke the track record; the track was quick. Honestly, we were the second-best horse that day. He bounced out of it in good shape. We turned our attention to the Indiana Derby and it worked out extremely well. Obviously the other horse went on to pick off a Grade 2 at Keeneland very impressively. Both horses seem to be going the right way right now, and I'm excited about Sunday.”

Saturday's $1 million, Grade 1 Travers Stakes at Saratoga, where Belmont Stakes winner Tiz the Law looms as the big favorite, also was a possibility for Shared Sense.

“If we're dreaming about the Derby, I think with my horse I would be comfortable trying to get a nice mile-and-an-eighth race into him four weeks before the Derby as opposed to a mile and a quarter at Saratoga,” Cox said. “That's a pretty demanding course, and that's a big ask four weeks before you're hopefully going to run the biggest race of your life.”

Because he wasn't nominated earlier in the year, Godolphin would have to pay $45,000 to make Shared Sense a supplemental nominee to the Kentucky Derby, on top of entry fees.

The same is true for Dean Martini, who was claimed by his owners Raise the BAR Racing out of a $50,000 maiden-claiming race May 17. The gelding actually started his career with a second at Ellis Park but needed seven more attempts to win, albeit while accumulating three seconds and three thirds. Dean Martini won the Ohio Derby in his second start for his new connections.

“We need to know if he can validate his Ohio Derby performance,” Amoss said. “It was a very good race, but is he consistently the kind of horse who can put in those kinds of performances? We need to find out, and we're going to do that on Sunday. Obviously with a horse like Art Collector in there, it will validate one way or the other where we need to head for our next race.”

If the Ellis Park Derby is a first for the racetrack as far as being a Kentucky Derby prep race, count Cox among those hoping that it's also the last.

“Unless we start running at Ellis earlier in the year,” he joked. “I hate to say it, but hopefully it's a one-time thing. I like the Derby in May, not September. “

Still, Cox believes the 2020 running is a great start in entrenching the Ellis Park Derby among the regional Derbys that populate racing after what normally is the Triple Crown.

“West Virginia, Ohio, Indiana, Iowa, Oklahoma — There are a lot of Derbys out there,” he said. “There's definitely a spot on the calendar where Kentucky could have a nice 3-year-old race like the Ellis Park Derby and it become a graded event. Hopefully this is the start of something bigger and better for the Ellis Park Derby.”

RUNHAPPY Ellis Park Derby
Purse: $200,000. Post time: Sunday at 5:10 p.m. CT (10th race). Distance: 1 1/8 miles. Division: 3-year-olds.
PP horse (weight) trainer/jockey

Trident Hit (118) Brendan Walsh/Corey Lanerie
Anneau d'Or (118) Blaine Wright/Tyler Baze
Sprawl (118) Bill Mott/Julien Leparoux
Art Collector (122) Tommy Drury/Brian Hernandez Jr.
Necker Island (118) Chris Hartman/Mitchell Murrill
Little Menace (120) Steve Asmussen/ Martin Garcia
Truculent (118) Jack Sisterson/Adam Beschizza
Rowdy Yates (118) Steve Asmussen/Shaun Bridgmohan
Dean Martini (122) Tom Amoss/James Graham
Attachment Rate (118) Dale Romans/Joe Talamo
Winning Impressions (118) Dallas Stewart/Joe Rocco
Shared Sense (122) Brad Cox/Florent Geroux
(AE) Rogue Element (118) Dale Romans/Miguel Mena
**(AE) Also eligible – needs scratch to run

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Shared Sense Completes Trainer Brad Cox’s Indiana Derby, Oaks Double

Godolphin homebred Shared Sense went four wide and survived an objection to win Wednesday evening's Grade 3 Indiana Derby, giving trainer Brad Cox and jockey Florent Geroux the graded stakes double on the card after winning the G3 Indiana Oaks with Shedaresthedevil. Sent off as the 5-2 favorite, Shared Sense defeated Major Fed by about three lengths at the finish.

The 3-year-old son of Street Sense completed 1 1/8 miles in 1:49.46 over the fast main track at Indiana Grand, earning his first 20 points on the Road to the Kentucky Derby. The updated points standings are available here: Derby Oaks Leaderboard

Second-last heading into the clubhouse turn, Geroux made his way to the rail to save ground with Shared Sense. The pair moved up the rail down the backstretch, then found themselves behind a three-wide wall of horses mid-way through the far turn.

Major Fed was on the outside of Shared Sense, and Geroux rode aggressively to make room four-wide and force that rival five-wide as the field turned for home. Major Fed's rider James Graham lodged an objection after the race, but stewards disallowed the claim and let the result stand as Shared Sense skipped home to an easy three-length win.

Graham and Major Fed had to settle for second, while Necker Island and Extraordinary filled out the superfecta.

Bred in Kentucky by his owner, Shared Sense is the first foal out of the Bernardini mare Collective, herself out of the two-time Grade 1 winner Composure (Touch Gold). Collective is an unraced half-sister to multiple Grade 1-placed runners Centring and Penwith.

It took Shared Sense three starts to officially break his maiden; in fact, he was second that day in late November, but the winner Blackberry Wine was later disqualified for a medication positive. In January, Shared Sense finished sixth in the listed Smarty Jones at Oaklawn, but he came back to win an allowance race at the end of February.

Given a few months off and switched to the turf, Shared Sense was sixth in the listed War Chant Stakes on May 23 at Churchill, then went back to the dirt to run second to the undefeated Art Collector in an allowance race at Churchill on June 13.

(Art Collector is entered in Saturday's Grade 2 Blue Grass Stakes at Keeneland.)

Overall, Shared Sense has won three of his eight starts for earnings of over $320,000.

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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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