Horseshoe Indianapolis hosts its marquee raceday of the year this Saturday led by the 32^nd running of the Grade 3 Indiana Derby, one of eight stakes races with six-figure purses on the 13-race card.

The $300,000 Indiana Derby is a 1 1/16-mile dirt race for 3-year-olds slated for 6:40 p.m. ET. Horseshoe Indianapolis also hosts its sister race for 3-year-old fillies July 11, the $200,000, Grade 3 Indiana Oaks, one race prior with a scheduled post time of 5:55 p.m.

Click here for raceday information.

On-track activities for Indiana Derby day at Horseshoe Indianapolis include a wide range of food trucks — Weenies on Wheels, Snowie of Indy, Pizza Fix, Mel’s Catering, Terri’s Tasty Treats, and Dirty Dough — with fun promotions such as face painting, a strolling magician, a magic mirror selfie station, a $3,000 Megabet drawing, a $1,000 Derby hat contest, and a cigar rolling station for the first 500 guests ages 21 and older.

First held in 1995, the Indiana Derby has been won by some horse-racing heavyweights throughout the years, including Orientate (2001), who would go on to champion sprinter honors the following year; Grade 1 winner Perfect Drift (2002), a career earner of more than $4.7 million; Brass Hat (2004), a Grade 1 winner and $2.1 million career earner; and two-time champion Lookin At Lucky (2010).

This year’s Indiana Derby drew a field of nine and Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert has a chance to earn a record-extending fifth win in the Indiana Derby with graded stakes winner Desert Gate. Read on for information about each of the Indiana Derby contenders plus some betting analysis:

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1. Lighter

Jockey: Marcelino Pedroza Jr.

Trainer: Rodolphe Brisset

Owners: Ann Harrison and Renata Hendrickson

Career record: 2 starts – 1 win – 0 seconds – 1 third

Career earnings: $31,900

Top Equibase Speed Figure: 87

Pedigree: Constitution – Galina Point, by Saffir

Color: Bay

Running style: Stalker

Analysis: The Indiana Derby is a tough task for Lighter’s stakes debut. He won his first career start in a three-quarter-mile sprint on this main track but finished a well-beaten third when facing winners for the first time and stretching out to a mile May 31 at Churchill Downs for trainer Rodolphe Brisset. The average winning speed figure for the Indiana Derby over the last 15 editions is 105, so this bay Constitution colt very likely would need a 15-20-point improvement to be a win factor. Jockey Marcelino Pedroza Jr. won the Indiana Derby in 2023 on Verifying.

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2. Mister T

Jockey: Mitchell Murrill

Trainer: Justin Bailey

Owner: Baileyboy Racing

Career record: 6 starts – 3 wins – 1 second – 0 thirds

Career earnings: $163,088

Top Equibase Speed Figure: 84

Pedigree: Sahara Sky – Gospel Singer, by Uncle Mo

Color: Dark bay or brown

Running style: Closer/stalker

Analysis: Mister T owns a pair of stakes wins on this main track, including a 5 ¼-length runaway win in the one-mile and 70-yard Indiana Futurity to close out his 2-year-old season on a three-race winning streak. The streak came entirely in races restricted to Indiana-breds, however, and the Sahara Sky colt was defeated by 22 ¾ lengths in his season debut when stepping up in class for the Grade 3 Stonestreet Lexington Stakes April 11 at Keeneland. Mister T most recently rallied for second June 10 at Horseshoe Indianapolis in a sprint stakes for Indiana-breds, but speed figures indicate he would need a breakout race for a top-three finish against this group.

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3. Zihnal

Jockey: Umberto Rispoli

Trainer: Jonathan Thomas

Owner: Augustin Stable

Career record: 3 starts – 1 win – 0 seconds – 0 thirds

Career earnings: $24,821

Top Equibase Speed Figure: 89

Pedigree: Quality Road – Theodora B., by Ghostzapper

Color: Bay

Running style: Stalker

Analysis: Unraced as a 2-year-old, Zihnal earned the first win of his career in his most recent start with a one-length maiden special weight victory going one mile and 70 yards June 10 at Horseshoe Indianapolis. The Quality Road gelding out of Canadian champion Theodora B. looked like he relished getting back on dirt after a disappointing try on grass in May at Churchill Downs. Zihnal has been entered and scratched out of multiple stakes since mid-May, so trainer Jonathan Thomas has been looking for a spot to test his class. He’s eligible to improve in the Indiana Derby but would need to take a sizable step forward to win against quality competition.

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4. Our Moneyman

Jockey: Axel Concepcion

Trainer: Bret Calhoun

Owner: Allied Racing Stable

Career record: 8 starts – 3 wins – 4 seconds – 1 third

Career earnings: $332,667

Top Equibase Speed Figure: 95

Pedigree: Mr. Money – Lipstick Junky, by Flatter

Color: Bay

Running style: Stalker

Analysis: Louisiana-bred Our Moneyman has never finished outside the top three in eight starts and enters the Indiana Derby off a runner-up finish to Grade 1 winner Further Ado in the June 7 Matt Winn Stakes at Churchill Downs. A stakes-winning sprinter at age 2, he has held his own when stretching out in distance this year, winning the 1 1/16-mile Crescent City Derby in March at Fair Grounds against Louisiana-breds and taking second in the Grade 3 Matt Winn. He profiles as a win contender for trainer Bret Calhoun and owner Allied Racing Stable, who teamed to win this race in 2019 with Mr. Money, the sire of Our Moneyman. Calhoun also won the Indiana Derby in 2021 with Mr. Wireless.

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5. Bricklin

Jockey: Fernando De La Cruz

Trainer: Rodolphe Brisset

Owner: Imagine Racing

Career record: 7 starts – 2 wins – 0 seconds – 1 third

Career earnings: $229,318

Top Equibase Speed Figure: 96

Pedigree: Nyquist – Majestic Vixen, by Majesticperfection

Color: Dark bay or brown

Running style: Press the pace

Analysis: Bricklin was third in the Sunland Park Derby in February and finished fourth in the Grade 1 Arkansas Derby two starts back, well-beaten in that race by subsequent Kentucky Derby runner-up Renegade while earning a career-top 96 Equibase Speed Figure. He’s won twice in his career, including a one-mile race at Oaklawn Park in his season debut, but the Nyquist colt has been beaten by 5 ¼ lengths or more in each of his four tries in stakes races. His overall résumé and top speed figure offer reason for optimism, but Bricklin is tough to endorse coming off a last-of-four finish at 11-10 odds in the Long Branch Stakes May 10 at Monmouth Park. Holding on for a minor award might be the best-case scenario for Bricklin, who is cross-entered in the Iowa Derby.

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6. Creole Chrome

Jockey: Junior Alvarado

Trainer: Joe Sharp

Owner: Three Diamonds Farm

Career record: 7 starts – 4 wins – 0 seconds – 1 third

Career earnings: $254,400

Top Equibase Speed Figure: 95

Pedigree: Volatile – Funny Moon, by Malibu Moon

Color: Chestnut

Running style: Pacesetter/press the pace

Analysis: Creole Chrome won three of his first four starts, including a 6 ¾-length runaway in the one-mile and 70-yard Louisiana Stallion of the Year Star Guitar Stakes Feb. 28 at Fair Grounds against fellow Louisiana-breds. Tested on the Triple Crown trail, the bay Volatile colt finished fourth in the Grade 1 Toyota Blue Grass Stakes before a sixth-place finish on Kentucky Derby day in the Pat Day Mile Stakes Presented by SAP. He looks like a major player in the Indiana Derby coming off a confidence-building 18-length romp in the Louisiana Legends Cheval Stakes June 6 at Evangeline Downs, but he needs to prove he can clear the class hurdle in a graded stakes.

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7. Out of the Woods

Jockey: Luis Saez

Trainer: Phil D'Amato

Owners: Little Red Feather Racing, Madaket Stables, Panic Stable, and William Strauss

Career record: 8 starts – 2 wins – 1 second – 0 thirds

Career earnings: $210,544

Top Equibase Speed Figure: 97

Pedigree: Constitution – Sensitive, by Divine Park

Color: Chestnut

Running style: Pacesetter

Analysis: Out of the Woods looks like a racehorse who needed some time to figure things out and find his niche as he was unplaced in his first five starts, including a couple of races on turf. The Constitution gelding has turned it on in his last three races — two wins and a second — by utilizing his early speed effectively in two-turn dirt races. He won a 1 1/16-mile allowance race two starts back at Churchill Downs that earned a career-best 97 Equibase Speed Figure and 93 Beyer Speed Figure and enters off a second-place finish in the $300,000 Delaware Derby June 13. Jockey Luis Saez won the Indiana Derby in 2014 on East Hall, and he could be in front at the top of the stretch aboard Out of the Woods Saturday with a shot at a second victory in the race.

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8. Leading Change

Jockey: Irad Ortiz Jr.

Trainer: Brad Cox

Owner: Wathnan Racing

Career record: 1 start – 1 win – 0 seconds – 0 thirds

Career earnings: $68,496

Top Equibase Speed Figure: 90

Pedigree: Gun Runner – Starship Warpspeed, by Congrats

Color: Bay

Running style: Press the pace

Analysis: Trainer Brad Cox has won the Indiana Derby three times, including two of the last three editions, and sends recent runaway debut winner Leading Change to Horseshoe Indianapolis for his stakes debut. The bay Gun Runner colt dominated by 6 ½ lengths in a seven-furlong maiden special weight race June 7 at Churchill Downs and earned a 92 Beyer Speed Figure and 90 Equibase Speed Figure for the victory. Cox is very familiar with Leading Change’s family as he trained his half-sister (same dam [mother], different sire [father]) Shedaresthedevil, the 2020 Kentucky Oaks winner who earned more than $2.7 million on the track. Jumping from the maiden ranks to a graded stakes is a tough ask, but Cox and jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. win at 30% and impeccably bred Leading Change looks fast enough to compete here.

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9. Desert Gate

Jockey: Florent Geroux

Trainer: Bob Baffert

Owners: Mike Pegram, Karl Watson, and Paul Weitman

Career record: 8 starts – 4 wins – 2 seconds – 0 thirds

Career earnings: $574,300

Top Equibase Speed Figure: 101

Pedigree: Omaha Beach – Theogony, by Curlin

Color: Chestnut

Running style: Press the pace

Analysis: Like Bricklin, Desert Gate is cross-entered in the Iowa Derby Saturday at Prairie Meadows, but he would very likely be a heavy favorite for the Indiana Derby if he competes Saturday at Horseshoe Indianapolis … for good reason. His trainer, Bob Baffert, has won this race a record four times; his jockey, Florent Geroux, is tied with Robby Albarado with a record three wins in the race; and Desert Gate has a track record of success at the stakes level. The Omaha Beach colt won the Grade 3 Best Pal Stakes at age 2 and placed in two Grade 1 races last year in Southern California. This season, Desert Gate dominated the one-mile Hot Springs Stakes by 9 ¾ lengths in March at Oaklawn Park and the Texas Derby by 6 ¼ lengths in May at Lone Star Park. The main red flag is a disappointing fourth-place finish as the 9-10 favorite in the Ohio Derby June 20, where he finished six lengths behind winner Chip Honcho. At his best, Desert Gate figures to be tough to beat. Owners Mike Pegram, Karl Watson, and Paul Weitman won the Indiana Derby in 2010 with Preakness Stakes winner and two-time champion Lookin At Lucky, trained by Baffert.