Indianapolis may be best known for Indy Car racing, but race fans can find a whole different kind of horsepower with Thoroughbred racing at the Horseshoe Indianapolis 2025 meet, currently running from April 15 to Nov. 13.

Racing at Horseshoe Indiana, which is located about 35 miles southeast of Indianapolis on I-74, is conducted on the dirt and turf on mostly a Monday through Thursday basis, plus several Saturdays and holidays. One of those premium Saturdays will be Indiana Derby Day, which this year will be run on July 5.

If you are not familiar with day-to-day racing and wagering at Horseshoe Indianapolis, right now is a great time to read-up on some tips and trends that can help make you a winner on Indiana Derby Day and beyond.

Horseshoe main track trends

Cheering an exciting finish. (Coady Media)

Two factors are immediately apparent when examining the results of Horseshoe Indianapolis dirt sprints dating back to the start of the 2024 meet through the present, with data current as of June 26, 2025. Speed horses rule and closers have a much lesser chance at success.

Speed horses racing on or close to the pace within a length of the lead have the best success in Horseshoe dirt sprints. In 642 dirt sprints run since the start of last season, horses on or close to the pace won 344 times to account for 53.6% of the wins. Closers, on the other hand, struggled for the most part and won 75 races to account for only 11.7% of the track’s dirt sprint winners. The rest of the winners were stalkers, as defined as racing between one to four lengths off the early pace, who won 223 of the 642 dirt sprints to account for a respectable 34.8% of the wins. Post positions generally do not play a serious factor in the results.

In main track route races, closers are still at a disadvantage, but not as much as in sprints. Closers won 66 of the 358 dirt routes run at Horseshoe Indianapolis dating back to the start of last season to account for 18% of the wins. That’s better than in sprints but still not good. Speed horses on or close to the lead won 44% of the dirt routes and stalkers won 38%.

Post positions play a role in Horseshoe’s dirt routes. As a general rule the post positions 7 and outward are not the best places to be in Horseshoe two-turn races. So far this season, horses breaking from posts 7-8-9-10 have won only seven of the 91 two-turn dirt races. With seven wins from a total of 86 starters from those posts, the success rate of the outside horses is lower than horses breaking from inside or middle posts.

Indianapolis turf trends

Turf racing at Horseshoe Indy. (Coady Media)

Handicappers looking for a fair turf course in terms of running style biases need look no further than Horseshoe Indianapolis. The majority of the track’s two-turn turf races are run between the distances of 7 ½ furlongs and 1 1/16 miles, and for statistical purposes, the 7 ½-furlong races around two turns are treated as route races and not sprints. The races at all these distances are remarkably fair with speed horses, stalkers, and closers all winning at comparable win percentages from the start of last year’s meet up until now.

Turf route post positions seem fair, too, but not when you get all the way out to posts 9 through 12. Those are bad. Horses breaking from those posts in turf routes (including 7 ½ furlongs) have combined to win only two of 38 two-turn turf races so far at the 2025 meet despite 62 starters from those gates.

Horseshoe Indianapolis runs turf sprint dashes at five furlongs but has barely run any of those races – so far only four this season. There were a total of 41 of those turf dashes run at the 2024 meet, and they tend to be ruled by speed horses who won 53% of those races. Inside speed horses breaking from posts 1-3 did particularly the best, winning 13 of those races to account for 32% of the wins.

Horseshoe Indy leading jockeys and trainers

Fernando De La Cruz (Eclipse Sportswire)

Jockeys Joe Ramos (35-for-172, 20%) and Fernando De La Cruz (35-for-187, 19%) are currently locked in a momentous battle atop the jockey standings at the 2025 meet, and they are tied as of June 26. Alberto Burgos (29-for-163, 18%) is lurking not too far behind in third. Burgos is the defending Horseshoe meet champion jockey from the 2024 season when he racked up 81 wins from 524 mounts for 15%. De La Cruz was second in 2024 with 77 wins.

More jockeys to have on your Horseshoe Indianapolis wagering radar, along with their stats for the 2025 meet so far, include Marcelino Pedroza Jr. (25 wins, 14%), Evin Roman (17 wins, 12%), Samuel Bermudez (21 wins, 14%), Luis Contreras (14 wins, 14%), and Mitchell Murrill (16 wins, 17%). The leader among regular riders in terms of winning percentage is Manny Esquivel who is 17-for-83 for 20% so far at the 2025 meet, slightly higher than Ramos.

Among trainers, Randy Klopp is off to a fast start at the 2025 Horseshoe Indianapolis meet and has a lead in the standings with 29 wins from 114 starters for 25%. John Haran (21 wins, 20%) and Genaro Garcia (18 wins, 17%) are second and third. Klopp and Garcia finished the 2024 season as the top two winningest trainers at the meet with 60 and 56 wins, respectively. Haran finished fourth in 2024 with 30 wins. All-time winningest North America-based trainer Steve Asmussen, who won 32 races at the 2024 meet, has not had many starters at Horseshoe so far this season.

Other high-percentage trainers who want to put your money on at Horseshoe Indiana, based on this year’s trends, Include Tim Eggleston (21% wins, 62% in the money), Aaron West (12 wins, 21%), Rey Hernandez (6-for-19, 32%), and Kelsey Danner (4-for-9, 44%). Brad Cox also invades and wins at a good clip, as you would expect. His runners are 8-for-31, 26% so far this season.

Indiana Derby Day is one of the best days of racing and wagering of the year in the Midwest. Here’s wishing you best of luck, not just in the Indiana Derby, but every day of the meet. Enjoy!