Verifying digs in to edge Raise Cain in Indiana Derby

Shelbyville, Ind.

Verifying looked like lone speed on paper, but when the real running started, the 2-5 favorite had to rally past horses and hold off a late surge from Raise Cain to win the Grade 3, $300,000 Indiana Derby by a nose on Saturday at Horseshoe Indianapolis.

Transect and jockey Gerardo Corrales went to the lead from the rail while Georgie W from the outside pressed the issue with the Brad Cox-trained Verifying right there as well. Marcelino Pedroza kept Verifying in the clear to press forward on the lead, but Raise Cain engaged for a protracted stretch battle that begrudgingly went to the favorite.

“The one (Transect) wanted to go, so I let him go,” Pedroza said of deciding to sit off the pace. “He was playing around a little bit, so I had to keep his mind on track. Even on the turn when I asked him he wasn’t fully engaged, but turning for home he dug in, and he really responded to the challenge from Raise Cain.”

Cox trains Verifying for a group that includes Susan Magnier, Michael Tabor, Derrick Smith, Jonathan Poulin and Michael Kuessner’s Westerberg Ltd. The Eclipse Award-winning conditioner said the goal is to get the Justify colt a Grade 1 win. Coolmore’s Ashford Stud stands Horse of the Year and Triple Crown champion Justify.

“I think he’s a Grade 1 horse, so our goal is to get him that Grade 1,” Cox said after Verifying earned his first graded stakes win. “Where, when and at what distance that Grade 1 will be, I don’t know, but the goal is a Grade 1 win this year.”

The win was especially meaningful for journeymen Pedroza, who has made Horseshoe Indianapolis his home for the past six seasons.

“To win this race here means everything,” Pedroza said. 

“It was a little stressful watching us have to dig in like that, but Pedroza does a good job for us,” Cox said. “We run a lot here and trust him with some of our better horses when we have to ship in.”

Raise Cain just missed after a strong outside rally but never did stick a nose in front of Verifying. Cagliostro was stuck behind horses but even when clear he never made up ground on the top two when finishing third.

“Almost,” Raise Cain’s trainer Ben Colebrook said. “Almost only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades. Maybe it’s a little unlucky because I thought the next bob we got him, but it’s not the next bob.

“He ran big; you can’t be disappointed in that, but you want to win. He deserves a race like this, but there will be more opportunities for him.”

Horses from Keeneland who did not fare well on Kentucky Oaks-Derby weekend did very well in the Indiana Oaks and Derby, as Ashland winner and Kentucky Oaks seventh-place finisher Defining Purpose won the Indiana Oaks, and Blue Grass Stakes runner-up and Kentucky Derby 16th-place finisher Verifying won the Indiana Derby.

As for that Grade 1 race for Verifying, the most likely options are the seven-furlong H. Allen Jerkens Memorial or the 1 1/14 Travers at 1 1/4 miles, both at Saratoga, or the 1 1/8-mile Pennsylvania Derby at Parx. Cox seemed to lean toward cutting back but said all dirt options are on table for that Grade 1.