Neck 'n Neck rallies for Indiana Derby triumph

Neck 'n Neck rebounded sharply from a sub-par effort in the Travers Stakes to win the $500,000 Indiana Derby (gr. II) this afternoon at Hoosier Park in late-running fashion.

Ridden to victory by Brian Hernandez, who won the Indiana Oaks (gr. III) earlier on the card, Neck 'n Neck did not get off to a particularly quick start and soon found himself in tenth place, ahead of only Stealcase as Fed Biz and Junebugred dueled through fractions of :23.60 and :48.32 seconds. Tritap, Second City, Morgan's Guerrilla, and O'Prado Again were also quite close to the pace, while Bourbon Courage, Afford, Easter Gift were toward the rear of the field.

Following three-quarters of a mile in 1:12.70 seconds, Fed Biz left Junebugred behind and briefly opened up a moderate advantage, but Neck 'n Neck was rallying strongly on the far outside, and the son of Flower Alley soon took over the advantage and went on to win by a length in 1:42.71.

Bourbon Courage also rallied well to finish second by a head over Fed Biz, while Morgan's Guerrilla rounded out the superfecta. Afford finished fifth after briefly looming a serious threat at odds of 134-1. Tritap, O'Prado Again, Easter Gift, Junebugred, Second City, and Stealcase completed the order of finish.

The winner is owned by Steven Miles Jr. and trained by Ian Wilkes.

-Keelerman

Grace Hall regains winning form in Indiana Oaks

Grace Hall, who finished a dismal fifth last time out in the Abalama Stakes (gr. I), rebounded to her winning ways this afternoon when she coasted to an easy victory in the $200,000 Indiana Oaks (gr. III) at Hoosier Park.

With Brian Hernandez Jr. aboard, Grace Hall showed speed from the start and soon found herself in the second position, just a head behind Eden's Moon as that one led the way through fractions of :23.67 and :47.31. Wine Princess, Uptown Bertie, and Holiday Soiree trailed the very compact field, with Holiday Soiree racing only about 1 1/2 lengths behind Eden's Moon.

Following three-quarters of a mile in 1:11.62, Grace Hall moved ahead of Eden's Moon and blew the race wide open with a strong run. Four lengths in front passing the eighth pole, the filly coasted home under a hand ride to win by 5 3/4 lengths while stopping the clock for 1 1/16th miles in the very sharp time of 1:41.85 seconds over a track labeled good.

Wine Princess rallied mildly to secure second over Eden's Moon, while Holiday Soiree and Uptown Bertie trailed the field.

The winner is trained by Anthony Dutrow and owned by Michael Dubb, Bethlehem Stables, and Stuart Grant. A daughter of Empire Maker out of the Ezzoud mare Season's Greetings, Grace Hall has now won six of her ten starts and earned $1,281,360.

-Keelerman

Indiana Oaks Entries: Grace Hall looks to rebound

Grade I winners Grace Hall and Eden's Moon are among the nine fillies entered in an exceptional edition of the $200,000 Indiana Oaks (gr. II), which will be held on Saturday at Hoosier Park.

Grace Hall will likely be favored thanks to overall record, which includes victories in the Spinaway Stakes (gr. II) and Delaware Oaks (gr. II), but she is coming off of a dismal showing in the Alabama Stakes (gr. I) at Saratoga and must rebound. Eden's Moon is in a similar boat, having won the Las Virgenes Stakes (gr. I) and San Clemente Handicap (gr. II) earlier this year before finishing a poor fifth in the Del Mar Oaks (gr. I) last time out.

Other prominent entries in the 1 1/16th miles race include Monmouth Oaks (gr. III) winner Wine Princess, Iowa Oaks (gr. III) winner Uptown Bertie, and the multiple graded stakes-placed Amie's Dini.

PP	Horse	Weight	Jockey	Trainer
1	Confession	115	Orlando Mojica	Victoria Oliver
2	Wine Princess	121	Shaun Bridgmohan	Steve Margolis
3	Eden's Moon	121	Rafael Bejarano	Bob Baffert
4	Uptown Bertie	121	Corey Lanerie	Steve Margolis
5	Amie's Dini	119	Leandro Goncalves	Ron Moquett
6	Grace Hall	121	Ramon Dominguez	Anthony Dutrow
7	Holiday Soiree	117	Terry Thompson	D. Michael Smithwick, Jr.
8	Grace for Grace	115	Victor Lebron	Tevis McCauley
9	Chernomorochka	117	Federico Mata	Robert Fiesman

-Keelerman

Indiana Derby Entries: Fed Biz, Bourbon Courage top field of 12

El Cajon Stakes winner Fed Biz and Super Derby (gr. II) winner Bourbon Courage are among the prominent entrants in the $500,000 Indiana Derby (gr. II), to be run on Saturday at Hoosier Park.

The highlight of a spectacular card that includes nine other stakes races, the Indiana Derby has also drawn such promising colts as Matt Winn Stakes (gr. III) winner Neck 'n Neck, Remsen Stakes (gr. II) winner O'Prado Again, and Ontario Derby (gr. III) winner Stealcase.

Post Positions

PP	Horse	Weight	Jockey	Trainer
1	Easter Gift	124	Kendrick Carmouche	Nick Zito
2	Morgan's Guerrilla	121	Victor Lebron	Mike Maker
3	Junebugred	124	Terry Thompson	Steve Hobby
4	Fed Biz	124	Rafael Bejarano	Bob Baffert
5	O'Prado Again	124	Corey Lanerie	Dale Romans
6	Tritap	117	Shaun Bridgmohan	Steve Asmussen
7	Afford	121	Florent Geroux	Greg Geier
8	Bourbon Courage	124	Leandro Goncalves	Kellyn Gorder
9	Stealcase	124	Jermaine Bridgmohan	Mark Casse
10	Second City	124	Mario Gutierrez	Ben Cecil
11	Neck 'n Neck	124	Brian Hernandez, Jr.	Ian Wilkes
12	Adirondack King	117	Stewart Elliot	John Servis

-Keelerman