Led by Cox-trained Leading Change, KY horses dominate HS Indy’s showcase card
Kentucky-based horses take five of Horseshoe Indiana’s six open stakes, headed by Leading Change (Brad Cox) in the $300,000 Indiana Derby (Coady Media/Devin Hall photo above) and Maximum Promise (Kenny McPeek, winning the G3 stakes for a record fourth time) in the $200,000 Indiana Oaks. The others: Kapoor (Bill Mott’s KY division with Kenny McCarthy) in the Mari Hulman George Memorial, In the Stars (Rusty Arnold) in the Indiana General Assembly Handicap and Seminole Chief (Joe Sharp) in the Jonathan B. Schuster. The exception was Bendoog, in Michael G. Schaefer Memorial, who came from Mott’s Saratoga division but was based at Churchill Downs last fall.
Leading Change cashes in during Grade 3 $300,000 Indiana Derby at Horseshoe Indianapolis
KY editor’s note: The top three finishers — Leading Change, Our Moneyman and Out of the Woods — are all based at Churchill Down, while fourth-place Zihnal is stabled at Turfway Park.
SHELBYVILLE, Ind. (Saturday, July 11, 2026) – The connections have been high on their horse, Leading Change, for good reason. The sophomore just proved himself with a big step up to score the win in the 32nd running of the Grade 3 $300,000 Indiana Derby at Horseshoe Indianapolis.
Guided by prominent North American jockey Irad Ortiz Jr., Leading Change came into the race off one start, a win in a maiden special weight at Churchill Downs in early June. He has been nothing but impressive from day one, prompting a step up into Graded Stakes action for the Indiana Derby, a race Trainer Brad Cox has won three times before.
“Obviously this horse was a big reason we brought Irad in here,” said Cox. “He’s a nice colt that’s lightly raced, just had the one run. Big ask here today. It was definitely a bit of an unknown with going straight from a maiden race to a Grade 3 for a 3-year-old, running against seasoned horses. But he showed that he’s got a lot of class and talent.”
Leading Change and Ortiz Jr. powered out of post six and sat just to the outside of Out of the Woods and Luis Saez, who claimed the top spot early in the one and one-sixteenth mile race. Local horse Mister T and Mitch Murrill also used early speed but settled into fourth with Creole Chrome and Junior Alvarado taking over third. Fractions of :23.40 and :46.42 set up the first half of the race with Leading Change never wavering on the outside of Out of the Woods.
At the head of the lane, Leading Change took over and began to power home. Our Moneyman and Axel Concepcion began to close in on the outside. The top two were in a battle to get to the wire first as Leading Change held off Our Moneyman for the win by a neck in 1:41.36. Out of the Woods finished third.
Leading Change was the people’s choice, paying $3.00 for the win. The son of Gun Runner now has nearly a quarter million on his card in only two starts. Wathnan Racing owns the product of WinStar Farm, who was purchased as a yearling from Keeneland for $800,000.
“He (Leading Change) started out at seven furlongs, which really isn’t his bag,” said Case Clay, racing manager for winning owner Wathnan Racing’s U.S. operation. “But he won that impressively. The thought was to come here and give him hopefully a good experience going two turns. Even if he had not won the race but had a good experience, we would have been happy. And he fought until the end. He got a good experience.”
Leading Change also provided a good experience for his maternal family. He continued the family tradition of winning a Graded Stakes race at Horseshoe Indianapolis as his older half-sister, Shedaresthedevil, won the 2020 Grade 3 Indiana Oaks for Cox. She retired with nearly $3 million in earnings as a multiple Grade 1 winner.
“We’ve dealt with several of the foals from this mare (Starship Warpspeed) and they have been very good to us,” added Cox. “We’ve had a couple of her foals now. This one is definitely a good one.”
For Irad Ortiz Jr., it was his first stakes victory in Indiana. The five-time Eclipse Award winning outstanding jockey from Puerto Rico understands the capabilities of Leading Change.
“He broke fresh,” said Ortiz Jr. “So, we went easy the first part of it. I was trying to make him come back to me, which he did. At the three-quarters he slowed down a little bit, so I was happy there. He was doing it easy. I let him be him. Then turning for home, I asked him, and he had another run. Good horse. Second race, a good step up against this kind of horse. First time two turns, and he showed up again. He worked for it. It was a good race, and he kept going. I’m so happy to see him in the winner’s circle. He’s been so nice in the mornings. We were high on him since day one.”
As for the next stop for Leading Change, Cox is looking at a couple of options on the Grade 1 schedule. His team will reevaluate the plan following the Indiana Derby.
“We will let him regroup from this race and hope for another Graded Stakes win,” said Cox. “Working him against Commandment helps (laughs). No, he’s really well. Worked a few times against Commandment, held his own. His work last week with Commandment was a really good move. When you have other horses in the barn you can test them and they can sometimes give you a line.”
For runner-up finisher the Louisiana-bred Our Moneyman, he was traveling in the same path as his father, Mr. Money did. Now a sire, Mr. Money won the 2019 Grade 3 Indiana Derby for the same connections of Allied Racing Stable and Trainer Bret Calhoun. The team felt the start worked against their horse in the latter stages of the race.
“I think we had the best horse,” said Calhoun. “The gate break beat us. He was moving around in there, wouldn’t stand up, hopped the start, and got shuffled back too far, and he had to move him a little early, had to move him into a quick pace, a half in 46 and he was moving forward pretty good on them there. He ran a great race. Can’t take anything away from the winner or us. I just think if we’d have broken from the gate a little better, it might have been a different race.”
Said Axel Concepcion, Our Moneyman’s jockey: “He was a little anxious in the gate. He broke slow, and then they squeezed me a bit. After that I took my time. He tried. He has a lot of heart. He shows up every race.”
One thing Our Moneyman did accomplish was raising a little money for Homeless Veterans and Families of Central Indiana (HVAF). Part of the winning package for Road to Louisville winner Randy Franklin was to place a $3,000 wager across the board on his choice for the Indiana Derby. Franklin’s choice was Our Moneyman, who brought in $2,450 for HVAF. The day hosted a full clubhouse and trackside level to usher in the Indiana Derby, which has become one of Central Indiana’s biggest summer sporting event.
It was another neck back to Out of the Woods, whose form has changed dramatically since trainer Phil D’Amata moved the gelding out of California. Out of the Woods set the pace with pressure from Leading Change.
“He ran pretty well. He tried hard,” said jockey Luis Saez. “We thought we were going to get a little slower pace, but we were pressured the whole way. But that’s how racing is, and he tried hard. He fought to the end. He just got beat.” (on the winner) “One race. Pretty nice horse. And he was pressing the whole way. We went pretty fast, and he still finished pretty strong.”
Billy Koch, co-managing partner, Out of Woods’ co-owner Little Red Feather Racing), flew in and out Saturday for the race, his first time at Horseshoe Indianapolis.
“It was a great day, and they put on a great show,” he said. “I’m very impressed with the track and everything that was here. He was his game self. Probably went a little bit faster than we wanted to go. Irad was putting a lot of pressure on him the whole way. He never really had a breather. I’m just happy he was so game down the lane, never really gave in until about the last 200 yards.”
Of Leading Change, Koch said: “He was so highly regarded. He was 3-5 today. So it was no surprise to anybody. But you still have to go out and prove it. And he got the right trip today, putting the pressure on us from the outside. I don’t think we’d have done anything differently. he was a better horse today, and he’s a really good horse. You’ll see a lot from this horse, I think.”
Indiana Derby Day once again set an all-sources handle record with $9,536,346 wagered on the 13 race card. Last year’s record handle was $9,163,693. On track wagering was also up with $433,220 collected from racing fans trackside compared to $385,488 last year. Attendance for the 2026 event was 4,754.
Saturday’s other open stakes recaps:
Kenny McPeek wins Indiana Oaks for record fourth time with Maximum Offer
Rusty Arnold-trained In the Stars gets her black type in Indiana General Assembly Distaff
Joe Sharp-trained Seminole Chief takes Schuster
Mott-trained Kapoor leads all the way in Mari Hulman George
7yo Bendoog, trained and co-owned by Mott, wins first stakes in Schaefer
