Major Fed to Get Litmus Test in Indiana Derby

Trainer Greg Foley allowed himself to dream a bit after after Lloyd Madison Farms' Major Fed impressively won a 1 1/16-mile maiden race on New Year's Day.

But now it is crunch time. The Churchill Downs-based Foley said he needs to be proven right in the $300,000 Indiana Derby (G3) July 8 at Indiana Grand, in which Major Fed will break from post 8 in the field of 10. The 3-year-old son of Ghostzapper  is the morning-line 7-2 second choice behind 3-1 program favorite Winning Impression.

"If this horse can't run good in this race, we don't need to think about the Kentucky Derby anymore," Foley said. "Not saying we have to win, but we have to run really good. If he doesn't, our Derby hopes are probably at the end. But the horse is going great, and we're expecting a big race."

This year there are plenty of late-developing sophomores with excited trainers, who were given a different kind of playing field when the Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve (G1) was postponed to Sept. 5. Major Fed ranks 17th on the Road to the Kentucky Derby leaderboard with 30 points. A win in the Indiana Derby—worth 20 points—would virtually assure Major Fed a spot, with time for one more prep race.

Major Fed won second time out at Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots after adding blinkers and stretching out in distance. That encouraged Foley to try him in a division of the Feb. 15 Risen Star Presented by Lamarque Ford (G2), with Major Fed a bit wide on both turns but closing well to finish second to Modernist.

Major Fed drew the rail in the March 21 Twinspires.com Louisiana Derby (G2), broke slow to trail the field, and then came extremely wide to finish fourth. In the May 23 Matt Winn (G3) at Churchill he broke from the outside in the 10-horse field and was wide and wider on both turns, languishing home last.

"I think he's been very unlucky the last two races," Foley said. "He went from the 1 hole in the Louisiana Derby. He turned his head when they broke and he got left. He was five lengths behind the next-to-last horse going into the first turn, so he had to be 15-20 lengths out of it. I thought with a decent break that day, if he doesn't win then he's right there. Then the last race, we were in the outside hole, the total opposite. The ground kind of broke out from under him leaving there so he didn't get away great.

"I think you can draw a big line through that race. Maybe I'm wrong. If he doesn't run well in this one, I'd say maybe he just isn't that type. But I don't see that … He's no bad gate horse. He's smart. He doesn't do anything wrong. It's just whatever you want to call it. Bad luck is all I can call it."

James Graham will ride Major Fed for the first time.

"He's a good rider, and I'm confident in him," Foley said. "I want somebody who is going to sit still and finish on the horse. I mean, James can ride a variety of ways, but I think he's a good 'sit still and finish strong' rider—and that's what I want on this horse."

Winning Impression could prove a threat. The Paynter  gelding, trained by Dallas Stewart for West Point Thoroughbreds and Pearl Racing, placed fourth in a division of the May 2 Arkansas Derby (G1) in his most recent effort, but he has only won once in seven starts, taking a maiden special weight at Fair Grounds in December.

Others in the mix include the Brad Cox-trained Shared Sense, who races for Godolphin and has won twice; and Steve Asmussen trainee Earner, who has won or placed in all three of his starts, which all came in 2020.

Entries: Indiana Derby (G3)

Indiana Grand, Wednesday, July 08, 2020, Race 11

• Grade III
• 1 1/8m
• Dirt
• $300,000
• 3 yo
• 7:45 PM (local)

PP	Horse	Jockey	Wgt	Trainer	M/L
1	1No Getting Over Me (FL)	Miguel Mena	118	Saffie A. Joseph, Jr.	12/1
2	2Extraordinary (KY)	Luis Saez	118	Rodolphe Brisset	10/1
3	3Taishan (KY)	Rafael Bejarano	122	Richard Baltas	6/1
4	4Earner (KY)	Stewart Elliott	118	Steven M. Asmussen	8/1
5	5Shared Sense (KY)	Florent Geroux	122	Brad H. Cox	4/1
6	6Background (FL)	Tyler Baze	118	Michael Puhich	20/1
7	7Juggernaut (KY)	Deshawn L. Parker	118	J. Keith Desormeaux	15/1
8	8Major Fed (KY)	James Graham	118	Gregory D. Foley	7/2
9	9Winning Impression (KY)	Julien R. Leparoux	118	Dallas Stewart	3/1
10	10Necker Island (KY)	Mitchell Murrill	122	Chris A. Hartman	20/1