Ete Indien, Sole Volante Remain on Kentucky Derby Trail

Ete Indien, who missed a start in the TVG.com Haskell Stakes (G1) at Monmouth Park due to a setback, and his graded stakes-winning stablemate Sole Volante remain pointed for the Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve (G1) at Churchill Downs, trainer Patrick Biancone said July 22.

If Ete Indien runs in the Sept. 5 Derby as intended, he would do so without a race in between, Biancone said, while Sole Volante could race in the $200,000 Runhappy Ellis Park Derby Aug. 9. A decision on Sole Volante's potential participation at Ellis Park might come by the end of the week, the trainer said.

Toyota Blue Grass Stakes (G2) winner Art Collector, one of the Derby favorites, is also slated to run in the Ellis Park Derby, an ungraded 1 1/8-mile dirt race that offers Derby qualifying points on a 50-20-10-5 basis to its top four finishers.

As the eighth-ranked horse on the Kentucky Derby leaderboard with 74 points, Ete Indien appears safely in the Derby field if it oversubscribes beyond its maximum field size of 20 horses. Sole Volante is not as assured of making the race under such a scenario, ranking 20th with 30 points and with the potential for other horses to pass him, either by earning more points or by horses becoming late supplements to the Derby that were not nominated earlier in the year. Horses who fall in the latter camp can be supplemented at a cost of $45,000 at the time of entry.

Biancone said he is not concerned about Sole Volante's point total, believing that horses ranked ahead of him could also bow out of the Derby.

"We should be all right," he said.

Late-running Sole Volante, the winner of the Pulpit Stakes and Sam F. Davis (G3) Stakes, was a nonthreatening sixth in the Belmont Stakes Presented by NYRA Bets (G1) June 20 for owners Reeves Thoroughbred Racing and Andie Biancone, the trainer's daughter and assistant. A winner of four of seven starts and $323,310, the 3-year-old Karakontie  gelding has not worked since the Belmont.

Ete Indien, a frontrunning 3-year-old by Summer Front  owned by Linda Shanahan, Sanford Bacon, Dream With Me Stable, Horse France America, D P Racing, and Patrick L. Biancone Racing, last breezed June 28, covering six furlongs on turf in 1:20.05 at Palm Meadows Training Center in South Florida before his training was interrupted. Biancone did not specify the nature of the colt's setback.

This winter and spring at Gulfstream Park, he ran second to Tiz the Law in the Holy Bull Stakes (G3), won the Fasig-Tipton Fountain of Youth Stakes (G2), and finished third in the Curlin Florida Derby (G1) behind winner Tiz the Law and Shivaree. He then faded to fourth after engaging in a speed duel in an allowance optional claiming race won by his stablemate at Gulfstream June 10. He has a record of 3-1-1 from seven starts and earnings of $407,406.

Meanwhile, upcoming race plans for dual grade 3 winner Diamond Oops, one of Biancone's top older horses, are not established. The trainer nominated him to the July 25 Alfred G. Vanderbilt Handicap (G1) at Saratoga Race Course but bypassed that race and began considering the Aug. 1 Bing Crosby Stakes (G1) at Del Mar.

On Wednesday, he expressed reservations about shipping him to California amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Andie typically accompanies his horses when they travel.

"I don't want to get a phone call that she's got the virus," he said. "We may wait and keep him fresh for the end of the year."

A 5-year-old gelding by Lookin At Lucky , the versatile Diamond Oops has earned $794,440 in winning five of 14 starts. He has raced just twice this year, running fourth in the Pegasus World Cup Invitational Stakes Presented by Runhappy (G1) at Gulfstream Jan. 25 and second in a comeback race in a handicap there June 13. He has not breezed since a five-furlong drill on a good turf course at Palm Meadows in 1:03.70 July 9.