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‘Rising Star’ Leading Change Wins Indiana Derby, Stays Unbeaten

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It’s a tall order to go from a maiden sprint to a two-turn graded race, but Wathnan Racing’s Leading Change (c, 3, Gun Runner–Starship Warpspeed, by Congrats) did it with aplomb, staying unbeaten with a score in Saturday’s GIII Indiana Derby at Horseshoe Indianapolis.

“He’s a nice colt that’s lightly raced, just had the one run,” said winning trainer Brad Cox. “Big ask here today. It was definitely a bit of an unknown with going straight from a maiden race to a Grade III for a 3-year-old, running against seasoned horses. But he showed that he’s got a lot of class and talent.”

Did he ever. Named a ‘TDN Rising Star, presented by Hagyard’ and given a 92 Beyer Speed Figure on his June 7 debut at Churchill Downs going seven furlongs, the half-brother to GI Kentucky Oaks heroine Shedaresthedevil (Daredevil) showed he was something special from the start. Incidentally, he had been entered in a maiden race at Keeneland last October, but came up with an injury which put an end to his 2-year-old campaign before it started.

What gave Cox the confidence to go straight from a maiden to a graded race with a 3-year-old? His occasional work partner might have had something to do with it.

“[He] worked a few times against Commandment, held his own. His work last week [four furlongs in :47 4/5 (8/94) at Churchill on July 4] 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.”

Commandment (Into Mischief), of course, is also owned by Wathnan Racing and captured the GI Curlin Florida Derby and GII Coolmore Fountain of Youth Stakes this spring, as well as finished second in the GI Belmont Stakes last month.

Last to load Saturday, Leading Change broke from the outside and, as the dust settled, came away with a tracking spot just off the outside flank of Delaware Derby runner-up Out of the Woods (Constitution). Those two put daylight on the field before the :23.40 first quarter while Leading Change continued to track from second and the rest of the field bunched up three or four lengths behind them. Leading Change collared Out of the Woods three furlongs from home, edging in front as last-out GIII Matt Winn second Our Moneyman (Mr. Money) mounted a fresh attack from the outside. The bay held sway, dispensing of Out of the Woods while holding off Our Moneyman by a neck at the wire in a game effort. Out of the Woods finished two lengths back in third.

“It looked like he had the horse on the lead measured,” said Cox. “He stayed on well to dig down that last bit, keep his head in front, show his talent, his class, his determination.”

Cox wasn’t ready to commit to a next target for Leading Change after the Indiana Derby, but indicated one of the major late summer Grade I races for 3-year-olds will be under consideration.

Pedigree Notes:

Despite just six crops to race, including current 2-year-olds, Gun Runner is firmly entrenched among the nation’s elite sires. He’s currently third on the general sires list, while Leading Charge marks his 40th graded winner and 60th black-type winner. The Three Chimneys stallion and 2017 Horse of the Year has 12 stakes winners–eight graded–thus far in 2026. His top runners of the first half of the year include Leading Change’s fellow ‘Rising Stars’ in GI Kentucky Oaks winner Always a Runner and GI Toyota Blue Grass Stakes winner Further Ado.

Leading Change is the first stakes winner for broodmare sire Congrats by Gun Runner, but his 43 black-type winners out of his daughters include global superstar Forever Young (Jpn) (Real Steel {Jpn}) and Leading Change’s half-sister Shedaresthedevil, who won a pair of additional Grade I races after the Oaks. Starship Warpspeed has also produced Star of Wonder (Uncle Mo), a stakes winner in Saudi Arabia who was third in the 2025 GIII Pimlico Special, and GSP Mojovation (Quality Road). Leading Change is Starship Warpspeed’s last reported foal.

#8 LEADING CHANGE under @iradortiz wins the $300,000 Indiana Derby (G3) over Our Moneyman.

The winner is by @Three_Chimneys Gun Runner and is a half-brother to 2020 Kentucky Oaks heroine Shedaresthedevil. @bradcoxracing trains the unbeaten colt. pic.twitter.com/C6a7APNQW8

— FanDuel Racing (@FanDuel_Racing) July 11, 2026

Saturday, Horseshoe Indianapolis
INDIANA DERBY-GIII, $300,000, Horseshoe Indianapolis, 7-11, 3yo, 1 1/16m, 1:41.36, ft.
1–LEADING CHANGE, 118, c, 3, by Gun Runner
              1st Dam: Starship Warpspeed, by Congrats
              2nd Dam: Andria’s Forest, by Forestry
              3rd Dam: Andriana B., by Far North
1ST BLACK TYPE WIN, 1ST GRADED STAKES WIN. ($800,000
Ylg ’24 KEESEP). O-Wathnan Racing; B-WinStar Farm, LLC
(KY); T-Brad H. Cox; J-Irad Ortiz, Jr. $178,200. ‘TDN Rising
Star, presented by Hagyard’ Lifetime Record: 2-2-0-0,
$246,696. *1/2 to Mojovation (Quality Road), GSP,
$375,988; 1/2 to Star of Wonder (Uncle Mo), SW-KSA,
GSP-USA, $419,347; 1/2 to Shedaresthedevil (Daredevil),
MGISW, $2,777,458. Werk Nick Rating: A+++. *Triple Plus*
Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree or the free
Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–Our Moneyman, 118, c, 3, Mr. Money–Lipstick Junky, by
Flatter. O/B-Allied Racing Stable, LLC (LA); T-W. Bret
Calhoun. $59,400.
3–Out of the Woods, 124, g, 3, Constitution–Sensitive, by
Divine Park. 1ST GRADED BLACK TYPE. ($50,000 Ylg ’24
FTKOCT; $325,000 2yo ’25 OBSAPR). O-Little Red Feather
Racing, Madaket Stables LLC, Panic Stable LLC and William
Strauss; B-Daniel Burke & Kathleen Burke Schweizer (KY);
T-Philip D’Amato. $32,670.
Margins: NK, 2, 1 3/4. Odds: 0.50, 3.70, 10.60.
Also Ran: Zihnal, Mister T, Creole Chrome. Scratched: Bricklin, Desert Gate, Lighter.
Click for the Equibase.com chart or the TJCIS.com PPs.

The post ‘Rising Star’ Leading Change Wins Indiana Derby, Stays Unbeaten appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Maximum Offer Gate To Wire In Indiana Oaks

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Able to have things all her own way up front, Maximum Offer (Maxfield) set an easy tempo early and had something left late to win the GIII Indiana Oaks in gate-to-wire fashion Saturday at Horseshoe Indianapolis.

After breaking her maiden in her 3-year-old debut, trainer Ken McPeek pointed her on the Road to the Kentucky Derby. After pressing the lead early, she wound up fourth just a length back in the Martha Washington at Oaklawn Park but a non-impact fifth in the GII Fair Grounds Oaks March 21 ended her pursuit of the lilies.

But while she didn’t wind up contesting the Oaks, she did pick up a win at Churchill Downs on the undercard in an allowance spot at Saturday’s distance of 1 1/16 miles.

Most recently, she was tested for class in upstate New York but, after setting the lead early, faded to fifth at long odds in the GI Acorn Stakes June 5.

Cutback Saturday to 1 1/16 miles, Maximum Offer was the fastest of the quintet from the gate, putting up an opening quarter of just :24.74, a fraction which track announcer John G. Dooley referred to as “the slowest ever [quarter mile] in the Indiana Oaks”.

Chased by Prom Queen (Quality Road) up the backstretch through a measured half in :48.95, Maximum Offer let that filly inch a little closer around the far turn but as her rivals fanned out on either side of her, Luis Saez let his filly out a notch and she kicked away, leading in Betty’s Pearl (Munnings) and Nahla (Authentic) in a final time of 1:42.65.

“We looked at [this race] really hard,” McPeek said. “Actually (co-owner) Chris Baccardi and I [are] at the [Fasig-Tipton July] yearling sale talking and he said, ‘Do you think we need to take her back?’ I said, ‘I don’t think we need to tell Luis Saez anything. Let him do what he does.’ And he did. I was concerned about how she acted in the post parade. She was quirky. I’m not sure what that was about, maybe unfamiliar territory or something. I think the key is if she gets her way, she will gut it out the last quarter. She fights. And extremely hard-trier. If she doesn’t get her way earlier in the race, then she will falter. But that’s the difference in a Grade I and a Grade III.”

McPeek noted that the GI Cotillion Stakes could be a likely landing spot for Maximum Offer moving forward.

“We need to keep her against straight 3-year-old fillies as long as we can,” McPeek said. “I’d love to think she could make the (GI) Cotillion (at Parx). But she needs to find some place in between.”

Pedigree Note:
Maximum Offer is the second graded stakes winner for sire Maxfield whose oldest crop are now 3-year-olds. KMN Racing purchased first dam No Better Terms for $52,000 as a yearling out of Keeneland September in 2012. While she was a winner for that operation, she’s been largely more successful in the breeding shed having produced a perfect six-for-six winners from runners including Puerto Rican champion 2-year-old filly Another Miranda (Classic Empire) and SW/GSP Stealthediamonds (Unusual Heat). Two more of her daughters have also picked up listed black type.

Culled for $110,000 at the 2024 Keeneland November Sale to Waldorf Farm, No Better Terms has given them a yearling McKinzie colt and a colt by Oscar Performance this spring.

#3 MAXIMUM OFFER ($13) went wire to wire to take the $200,000 Indiana Oaks (G3) at @HSIndyRacing.

The daughter of @DarleyAmerica Maxfield was ridden by @luissaezpty for trainer @KennyMcPeek. pic.twitter.com/9Y8EHxpGEY

— FanDuel Racing (@FanDuel_Racing) July 11, 2026

Saturday, Horseshoe Indianapolis
INDIANA OAKS-GIII, $200,000, Horseshoe Indianapolis, 7-11, 3yo, f, 1 1/16m, 1:42.65, ft.
1–MAXIMUM OFFER, 124, f, 3, by Maxfield
                1st Dam: No Better Terms, by Pure Prize
                2nd Dam: Easy Action, by Crafty Prospector
                3rd Dam: Tipsy Girl, by Raise a Cup
1ST BLACK TYPE WIN, 1ST GRADED STAKES WIN. ($170,000 Ylg ’24 KEESEP). O-Baccari Racing Stable, LLC, Riccio, Alfred and Cotrone, Robert; B-KMN Racing, LLC (KY); T-Kenneth G. McPeek; J-Luis Saez. $120,000. Lifetime Record: 8-3-0-1, $311,097. *1/2 to Another Miranda (Classic Empire), Ch. 2-year-old Filly-PR, MSW-PR, $122,752; 1/2 to Kimberlea K (Indian Evening), SW, $118,995; 1/2 to Stealthediamonds (Unusual Heat), SW & GSP, $335,655. Werk Nick Rating: A+. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree. Click for the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–Betty’s Pearl, 124, f, 3, Munnings–Tapping Pearl, by Tapit. 1ST BLACK TYPE, 1ST GRADED BLACK TYPE. ($300,000 Ylg ’24 KEESEP; $700,000 2yo ’25 OBSAPR). O-William K. Werner; B-Stonestreet Thoroughbred Holdings LLC (KY); T-Brian A. Lynch. $40,000.
3–Nahla, 118, f, 3, Authentic–Twinkling, by War Chant. 1ST BLACK TYPE, 1ST GRADED BLACK TYPE. ($550,000 Ylg ’24 KEESEP). O-Shadwell Stable; B-Taylor Made Stallions Inc., Joel Politi, Ramspring Farm, et al (KY); T-Brad H. Cox. $22,000.
Margins: 2HF, NK, 1 3/4. Odds: 5.50, 1.90, 8.70.
Also Ran: Prom Queen, Star Actress. Scratched: Mizumi.
Click for the Equibase.com chart or the TJCIS.com PPs.

The post Maximum Offer Gate To Wire In Indiana Oaks appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

‘Rising Star’ Leading Change Wins Indiana Derby, Stays Unbeaten

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It’s a tall order to go from a maiden sprint to a two-turn graded race, but Wathnan Racing’s Leading Change (c, 3, Gun Runner–Starship Warpspeed, by Congrats) did it with aplomb, staying unbeaten with a score in Saturday’s GIII Indiana Derby at Horseshoe Indianapolis.

“He’s a nice colt that’s lightly raced, just had the one run,” said winning trainer Brad Cox. “Big ask here today. It was definitely a bit of an unknown with going straight from a maiden race to a Grade III for a 3-year-old, running against seasoned horses. But he showed that he’s got a lot of class and talent.”

Did he ever. Named a ‘TDN Rising Star, presented by Hagyard’ and given a 92 Beyer Speed Figure on his June 7 debut at Churchill Downs going seven furlongs, the half-brother to GI Kentucky Oaks heroine Shedaresthedevil (Daredevil) showed he was something special from the start. Incidentally, he had been entered in a maiden race at Keeneland last October, but came up with an injury which put an end to his 2-year-old campaign before it started.

What gave Cox the confidence to go straight from a maiden to a graded race with a 3-year-old? His occasional work partner might have had something to do with it.

“[He] worked a few times against Commandment, held his own. His work last week [four furlongs in :47 4/5 (8/94) at Churchill on July 4] 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.”

Commandment (Into Mischief), of course, is also owned by Wathnan Racing and captured the GI Curlin Florida Derby and GII Coolmore Fountain of Youth Stakes this spring, as well as finished second in the GI Belmont Stakes last month.

Last to load Saturday, Leading Change broke from the outside and, as the dust settled, came away with a tracking spot just off the outside flank of Delaware Derby runner-up Out of the Woods (Constitution). Those two put daylight on the field before the :23.40 first quarter while Leading Change continued to track from second and the rest of the field bunched up three or four lengths behind them. Leading Change collared Out of the Woods three furlongs from home, edging in front as last-out GIII Matt Winn second Our Moneyman (Mr. Money) mounted a fresh attack from the outside. The bay held sway, dispensing of Out of the Woods while holding off Our Moneyman by a neck at the wire in a game effort. Out of the Woods finished two lengths back in third.

“It looked like he had the horse on the lead measured,” said Cox. “He stayed on well to dig down that last bit, keep his head in front, show his talent, his class, his determination.”

Cox wasn’t ready to commit to a next target for Leading Change after the Indiana Derby, but indicated one of the major late summer Grade I races for 3-year-olds will be under consideration.

Pedigree Notes:

Despite just six crops to race, including current 2-year-olds, Gun Runner is firmly entrenched among the nation’s elite sires. He’s currently third on the general sires list, while Leading Charge marks his 40th graded winner and 60th black-type winner. The Three Chimneys stallion and 2017 Horse of the Year has 12 stakes winners–eight graded–thus far in 2026. His top runners of the first half of the year include Leading Change’s fellow ‘Rising Stars’ in GI Kentucky Oaks winner Always a Runner and GI Toyota Blue Grass Stakes winner Further Ado.

Leading Change is the first stakes winner for broodmare sire Congrats by Gun Runner, but his 43 black-type winners out of his daughters include global superstar Forever Young (Jpn) (Real Steel {Jpn}) and Leading Change’s half-sister Shedaresthedevil, who won a pair of additional Grade I races after the Oaks. Starship Warpspeed has also produced Star of Wonder (Uncle Mo), a stakes winner in Saudi Arabia who was third in the 2025 GIII Pimlico Special, and GSP Mojovation (Quality Road). Leading Change is Starship Warpspeed’s last reported foal.

#8 LEADING CHANGE under @iradortiz wins the $300,000 Indiana Derby (G3) over Our Moneyman.

The winner is by @Three_Chimneys Gun Runner and is a half-brother to 2020 Kentucky Oaks heroine Shedaresthedevil. @bradcoxracing trains the unbeaten colt. pic.twitter.com/C6a7APNQW8

— FanDuel Racing (@FanDuel_Racing) July 11, 2026

Saturday, Horseshoe Indianapolis
INDIANA DERBY-GIII, $300,000, Horseshoe Indianapolis, 7-11, 3yo, 1 1/16m, 1:41.36, ft.
1–LEADING CHANGE, 118, c, 3, by Gun Runner
              1st Dam: Starship Warpspeed, by Congrats
              2nd Dam: Andria’s Forest, by Forestry
              3rd Dam: Andriana B., by Far North
1ST BLACK TYPE WIN, 1ST GRADED STAKES WIN. ($800,000
Ylg ’24 KEESEP). O-Wathnan Racing; B-WinStar Farm, LLC
(KY); T-Brad H. Cox; J-Irad Ortiz, Jr. $178,200. ‘TDN Rising
Star, presented by Hagyard’ Lifetime Record: 2-2-0-0,
$246,696. *1/2 to Mojovation (Quality Road), GSP,
$375,988; 1/2 to Star of Wonder (Uncle Mo), SW-KSA,
GSP-USA, $419,347; 1/2 to Shedaresthedevil (Daredevil),
MGISW, $2,777,458. Werk Nick Rating: A+++. *Triple Plus*
Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree or the free
Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–Our Moneyman, 118, c, 3, Mr. Money–Lipstick Junky, by
Flatter. O/B-Allied Racing Stable, LLC (LA); T-W. Bret
Calhoun. $59,400.
3–Out of the Woods, 124, g, 3, Constitution–Sensitive, by
Divine Park. 1ST GRADED BLACK TYPE. ($50,000 Ylg ’24
FTKOCT; $325,000 2yo ’25 OBSAPR). O-Little Red Feather
Racing, Madaket Stables LLC, Panic Stable LLC and William
Strauss; B-Daniel Burke & Kathleen Burke Schweizer (KY);
T-Philip D’Amato. $32,670.
Margins: NK, 2, 1 3/4. Odds: 0.50, 3.70, 10.60.
Also Ran: Zihnal, Mister T, Creole Chrome. Scratched: Bricklin, Desert Gate, Lighter.
Click for the Equibase.com chart or the TJCIS.com PPs.

The post ‘Rising Star’ Leading Change Wins Indiana Derby, Stays Unbeaten appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Maximum Offer Gate To Wire In Indiana Oaks

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Able to have things all her own way up front, Maximum Offer (Maxfield) set an easy tempo early and had something left late to win the GIII Indiana Oaks in gate-to-wire fashion Saturday at Horseshoe Indianapolis.

After breaking her maiden in her 3-year-old debut, trainer Ken McPeek pointed her on the Road to the Kentucky Derby. After pressing the lead early, she wound up fourth just a length back in the Martha Washington at Oaklawn Park but a non-impact fifth in the GII Fair Grounds Oaks March 21 ended her pursuit of the lilies.

But while she didn’t wind up contesting the Oaks, she did pick up a win at Churchill Downs on the undercard in an allowance spot at Saturday’s distance of 1 1/16 miles.

Most recently, she was tested for class in upstate New York but, after setting the lead early, faded to fifth at long odds in the GI Acorn Stakes June 5.

Cutback Saturday to 1 1/16 miles, Maximum Offer was the fastest of the quintet from the gate, putting up an opening quarter of just :24.74, a fraction which track announcer John G. Dooley referred to as “the slowest ever [quarter mile] in the Indiana Oaks”.

Chased by Prom Queen (Quality Road) up the backstretch through a measured half in :48.95, Maximum Offer let that filly inch a little closer around the far turn but as her rivals fanned out on either side of her, Luis Saez let his filly out a notch and she kicked away, leading in Betty’s Pearl (Munnings) and Nahla (Authentic) in a final time of 1:42.65.

“We looked at [this race] really hard,” McPeek said. “Actually (co-owner) Chris Baccardi and I [are] at the [Fasig-Tipton July] yearling sale talking and he said, ‘Do you think we need to take her back?’ I said, ‘I don’t think we need to tell Luis Saez anything. Let him do what he does.’ And he did. I was concerned about how she acted in the post parade. She was quirky. I’m not sure what that was about, maybe unfamiliar territory or something. I think the key is if she gets her way, she will gut it out the last quarter. She fights. And extremely hard-trier. If she doesn’t get her way earlier in the race, then she will falter. But that’s the difference in a Grade I and a Grade III.”

McPeek noted that the GI Cotillion Stakes could be a likely landing spot for Maximum Offer moving forward.

“We need to keep her against straight 3-year-old fillies as long as we can,” McPeek said. “I’d love to think she could make the (GI) Cotillion (at Parx). But she needs to find some place in between.”

Pedigree Note:
Maximum Offer is the second graded stakes winner for sire Maxfield whose oldest crop are now 3-year-olds. KMN Racing purchased first dam No Better Terms for $52,000 as a yearling out of Keeneland September in 2012. While she was a winner for that operation, she’s been largely more successful in the breeding shed having produced a perfect six-for-six winners from runners including Puerto Rican champion 2-year-old filly Another Miranda (Classic Empire) and SW/GSP Stealthediamonds (Unusual Heat). Two more of her daughters have also picked up listed black type.

Culled for $110,000 at the 2024 Keeneland November Sale to Waldorf Farm, No Better Terms has given them a yearling McKinzie colt and a colt by Oscar Performance this spring.

#3 MAXIMUM OFFER ($13) went wire to wire to take the $200,000 Indiana Oaks (G3) at @HSIndyRacing.

The daughter of @DarleyAmerica Maxfield was ridden by @luissaezpty for trainer @KennyMcPeek. pic.twitter.com/9Y8EHxpGEY

— FanDuel Racing (@FanDuel_Racing) July 11, 2026

Saturday, Horseshoe Indianapolis
INDIANA OAKS-GIII, $200,000, Horseshoe Indianapolis, 7-11, 3yo, f, 1 1/16m, 1:42.65, ft.
1–MAXIMUM OFFER, 124, f, 3, by Maxfield
                1st Dam: No Better Terms, by Pure Prize
                2nd Dam: Easy Action, by Crafty Prospector
                3rd Dam: Tipsy Girl, by Raise a Cup
1ST BLACK TYPE WIN, 1ST GRADED STAKES WIN. ($170,000 Ylg ’24 KEESEP). O-Baccari Racing Stable, LLC, Riccio, Alfred and Cotrone, Robert; B-KMN Racing, LLC (KY); T-Kenneth G. McPeek; J-Luis Saez. $120,000. Lifetime Record: 8-3-0-1, $311,097. *1/2 to Another Miranda (Classic Empire), Ch. 2-year-old Filly-PR, MSW-PR, $122,752; 1/2 to Kimberlea K (Indian Evening), SW, $118,995; 1/2 to Stealthediamonds (Unusual Heat), SW & GSP, $335,655. Werk Nick Rating: A+. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree. Click for the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–Betty’s Pearl, 124, f, 3, Munnings–Tapping Pearl, by Tapit. 1ST BLACK TYPE, 1ST GRADED BLACK TYPE. ($300,000 Ylg ’24 KEESEP; $700,000 2yo ’25 OBSAPR). O-William K. Werner; B-Stonestreet Thoroughbred Holdings LLC (KY); T-Brian A. Lynch. $40,000.
3–Nahla, 118, f, 3, Authentic–Twinkling, by War Chant. 1ST BLACK TYPE, 1ST GRADED BLACK TYPE. ($550,000 Ylg ’24 KEESEP). O-Shadwell Stable; B-Taylor Made Stallions Inc., Joel Politi, Ramspring Farm, et al (KY); T-Brad H. Cox. $22,000.
Margins: 2HF, NK, 1 3/4. Odds: 5.50, 1.90, 8.70.
Also Ran: Prom Queen, Star Actress. Scratched: Mizumi.
Click for the Equibase.com chart or the TJCIS.com PPs.

The post Maximum Offer Gate To Wire In Indiana Oaks appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.