Wathnan Racing's Leading Change backed up an impressive 6 1/2-length career debut win last month by jumping immediately into graded stakes company and winning the $300,000 Grade 3 Indiana Derby July 11 at Horseshoe Indianapolis.

The move up to the stakes level in just the second start for Leading Change was one trainer Brad Cox admitted was unusual for him to make with a one-start colt midway through his 3-year-old campaign.

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The Indiana Derby option gave Cox the opportunity to stretch out Leading Change around two turns after his seven-furlong debut win at Churchill Downs June 7 and stay competing against 3-year-olds. Both of the allowance races Cox considered for Leading Charge at either Saratoga Race Course or Ellis Park would have required running a mile against older horses. Further, the talented colt had been holding his own in training against Wathnan stablemate Commandment, the winner of this spring's Curlin Florida Derby and runner-up in the Belmont Stakes presented by NYRA Bets.

"There was a lot of the unknown with this," Cox said. "Working with Commandment helps. His work last week with Commandment was a really good move. When you have other horses in the barn, you can kind of test them a little bit. That sometimes can give you a line and give you confidence."

Breaking from the outside of a six-horse field in the Indiana Derby, jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. worked Leading Change into stalking position chasing Out of the Woods company behind fractions of :23.40, :46.42, and 1:10.16. He drew even for the lead approaching quarter-pole and then also had to hold off an outside rally from last by Our Moneyman in the stretch. Leading Change dueled for the final sixteenth of a mile and out-finished the more well-seasoned and stakes-proven Our Moneyman by a neck and Out of the Woods held third.

Leading Change completed 1 1/16 miles in 1:41.36 and paid $3.00 to win.

"I'm so happy to see him in the winner's circle," Ortiz said. "We're very high on him. We were high on him since day one."

Getting the graded stakes win justified all the early expectations the connections have had since purchasing the colt for $800,000 as a yearling.

Cox won his fourth Indiana Derby since 2020. Cox said that a Grade 1 target could be next for Leading Change in either the $1.25 million Travers Stakes Aug. 29 at Saratoga or the $1 million Pennsylvania Derby Sept. 19 at Parx Racing.

"He stayed on well and to dig down that last bit, keep his head in front, shows his talent, class, and determination," Cox said. "We do think he's a big-time horse."