Horse Betting World

An Unlikely Stop

By Joey Adams

Hoosier Park in Anderson, Indiana, has never been a popular stop for horses prepping for the Breeders’ Cup World Thoroughbred Championships, but that is where you will find Bob Baffert and his top three-year-old LOOKIN AT LUCKY on Saturday in the $500,000 Indiana Derby-G2. After winning the Preakness-G1 and Haskell-G1, Lookin at Lucky was sidelined by an injury. After missing five weeks of training he returned to the work tab in early September, and Baffert was pleased enough with the progress to load his star colt on a plane headed east Wednesday morning. Baffert won this race last year with Misremembered, but that runner was not preparing for an engagement nearly as big as the Breeders’ Cup Classic-G1.

This is a race Baffert should win again. Among eight rivals, there is only one other graded stakes winner, that being THISSKYHASNOLIMIT who won the Iroquois-G3 at Churchill Downs 11 months ago. Should the favorite not be back at his best, there is the potential for an upset – most likely from the above-mentioned runner, or WORLDLY (two narrow losses in Grade III company recently), LITIGATION RISK (talented enough but drilled in two prior graded events), UAREOUTLAW (Grade I winner in Brazil making his U. S. debut with bullet works), or NACHO FRIEND (the only runner besides the favorite with a triple-digit Beyer Speed Figure).

As a sign of confidence, Baffert and a trio of owners will be present at Hoosier Park. Following this race it will be back to California to prepare for a start in the Breeders’ Cup Classic-G1, where even with a win today, Lookin At Lucky may be no better than fourth choice against a field of older runners expected to include Zenyatta, Blame and Quality Road. Currently the leader in the three-year-old division, this guy certainly has his work cut out moving forward. Del Mar Horse Betting

The Indiana Derby is the feature event on a 14-race card that begins at 12:35 PM (ET), and also includes the $200,000 Indiana Oaks-G2, an open $100,000 stake and a quartet of $84,000 stakes for Indiana-breds. The Derby goes as Race 12 (post time 6:02 PM, ET) and anchors an Indiana Derby Day Pick Four. With a $0.50 minimum, let’s take a shot. Here are the tickets:

Indiana Derby Day Pick Four … (beginning in Race 9)

($24.00) … 1-2-3-5-7-8-9-10 / 1-3-4 / 3-7 / 6
($15.00) … 1-3-7-8-9 / 1-3-4 / 1-6 / 6
($15.00) … 1-3-7-8-9 / 5-8 / 3-7 / 6
($36.00) … 1-7 / 1-3-4 / 3-7 / 2-3-4-6-7-8