The expectations run high when you’re a $775,000 son of a Triple Crown winner and a half brother to a champion. And so when the regally-bred Verifying outlasted a late surge from Raise Cain to clinch the $300,000 Indiana Derby (G3), all the colt’s connections could at last release a sigh of relief.
Twice grade-1 placed in his nine-start career, the Brad Cox-trained Verifying justified his lofty price tag with his first graded score July 8 at Horseshoe Indianapolis. Although he was sent to post as the short 3-5 favorite, the 1 1/6 contest was no cakewalk for the colt, who put away dogged rivals Cagliostro and pacesetting Transect down the lane only to face a furiously closing Raise Cain in the shadow of the wire. Nonetheless, he got the job done and prevailed by the slimmest of noses.
“It was a little stressful,” Cox admitted post-race. “He ran well. Marcelino (Pedroza Jr.) put him in a great trip. He responded. He felt some pressure late from the 2 and finished up well and was able to stay in front at the wire.”
The victory was also especially meaningful for jockey Pedroza, the current leading rider at Horseshoe Indianapolis. Closely tracking an early pace of :24.19 and :48.47, Pedroza asked the colt for his run at the six-furlong marker and drove him home.
“(This win) means a lot,” Pedroza said. “I’ve been here five, six years, been riding here long enough. To win this race, the most important at the track, it means a lot.”
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Gotham Stakes (G3) winner Raise Cain rebounded from three disappointing off-the-board efforts with his huge second-place finish. Cagliostro, making a bid up the inside, settled for third.
The connections of Verifying in the trophy presentation for the Indiana Derby
“Almost,” trainer Ben Colebrook said of Raise Cain. “Almost counts in horseshoes and hand grenades. 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.”
Verifying, running for the Coolmore partnership of Westerberg, Mrs. John Magnier, Jonathan Poulin, Derrick Smith, and Michael Tabor, is a son of Coolmore stallion Justify and out of the Repent mare Diva Delite. His half sister is the brilliant five-time grade 1 winner Midnight Bisou , the recipient of the champion older female Eclipse Award in 2019. Retiring with over $7 million in earnings, Midnight Bisou was sold to Japan’s Katsumi Yoshida at last year’s Keeneland November Sale for $5.5 million.
“(Verifying has a) big pedigree,” Cox said. “We need to get a grade 1 out of him. I think he’s a grade 1 horse. The Derby is a throw-out. His run in the Blue Grass was a really good run. Once again, I think there’s a grade 1 in him. I’m not certain when and where or what distance. But it was just good to get him back in the win column. He showed a lot of class and determination late, and hopefully, we’ll build off of this.”
Defining Purpose Returns to Top Form Winning Indiana Oaks
One race earlier, Defining Purpose rebounded from her disappointing Kentucky Oaks (G1) seventh to win the Indiana Oaks (G3) convincingly by 1 1/4 lengths over favored Taxed .
Defining Purpose wins the Indiana Oaks at Horseshoe Indianapolis
The winner of the Ashland Stakes (G1) at Keeneland in April, Defining Purpose and jockey Brian Hernandez Jr. tracked early leader Sandra D from about one length to her outside through fractions of :24.12, :49.06, and 1:14 before pouncing at the three-eighths marker. Defining Purpose opened up by as much as two lengths in the stretch and came home an easy winner in 1:43.83 for 1 1/16 miles.
Taxed raced in the back early on and made a five-wide move into the stretch but could not overcome the lack of pace, finishing a clear second, 2 1/4 lengths ahead of Lily Poo .
Defining Purpose—by Cross Traffic , out of four-time Indiana-bred stakes winner Defining Hope —paid $6.40 as the second choice and improved her record to 4-0-1 from nine starts for earnings of $673,788.
