Indiana Derby 2026: Full Preview, Field and Best Bets at Horseshoe Indianapolis
A field of eight goes to post for the richest race in the state after morning line favorite Desert Gate was scratched to the Iowa Derby, and the market has been scrambled in the days before the gates open.
Every July, Horseshoe Indianapolis turns the volume up for one Saturday, and the Indiana Derby 2026 is the reason why. This is the 32nd running of the race, the richest on the Indiana calendar, and for once the build up has been about who is not running rather than who is. Bob Baffert's Desert Gate came into the week as the 5/2 favorite and the story of the race, a colt with a Hot Springs Stakes romp and a Texas Derby blowout on his resume. Then, on July 7, Baffert picked up the phone to Brad Cox and confirmed Desert Gate would instead run in the Iowa Derby at Prairie Meadows the same afternoon. That single call reshaped the entire Indiana Derby 2026 betting market, and we have rebuilt this preview from scratch to reflect it, so nothing below is stale odds copied from a press release.
Indiana Derby 2026 Date, Time, Purse and How to Watch
Indiana Derby Day runs Saturday, July 11, 2026 at Horseshoe Indianapolis in Shelbyville, Indiana, with first post at noon ET and 13 races on the card. Eight of those races carry six figure purses, and more than $1.27 million in total purse money is up for grabs across the afternoon, making it comfortably the richest day of the season at the track. The Indiana Derby 2026 itself is Race 12, a 1 1/16 mile dirt test for three year olds worth $300,000, with a scheduled post time of 6:40 p.m. ET on Fox Sports. The Grade 3 Indiana Oaks for three year old fillies runs one race earlier, with a 5:55 p.m. ET post time. Track management is chasing last year's numbers too. The 2025 renewal drew more than 5,000 fans on site and pushed handle past $9 million, a track record, so expect a full house, a $3,000 Derby Megabet promotion, a hat contest with real prize money, and a cigar rolling station for anyone 21 and over who fancies the full Derby Day theatre alongside the racing.
Indiana Derby 2026 Field and Odds
Our Moneyman inherits favoritism at 4/1 following the Desert Gate defection, with Out of the Woods next in the market at 9/2 and Leading Change at 5/1 on his stakes debut. Here is the full Indiana Derby 2026 field with confirmed morning line odds.
| Post | Horse | Jockey | Trainer | Last Start | Odds |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lighter | Marcelino Pedroza Jr. | Rodolphe Brisset | 3rd, CD allowance | 20/1 |
| 2 | Mister T | Mitchell Murrill | Justin Bailey | 7th, Lexington S. (G3) | 30/1 |
| 3 | Zihnal | Umberto Rispoli | Jonathan Thomas | 1st, IND maiden | 12/1 |
| 4 | Our Moneyman | Axel Concepcion | W. Bret Calhoun | 2nd, Matt Winn S. (G3) | 4/1 |
| 5 | Bricklin | Fernando De La Cruz | Rodolphe Brisset | 4th, Long Branch S. | 8/1 |
| 6 | Creole Chrome | Junior Alvarado | Joe Sharp | 6th, Pat Day Mile S. (G2) | 6/1 |
| 7 | Out of the Woods | Luis Saez | Phil D'Amato | 2nd, Delaware Derby | 9/2 |
| 8 | Leading Change | Irad Ortiz Jr. | Brad Cox | 1st, CD maiden | 5/1 |
Our Moneyman has never finished outside the top three in eight career starts for trainer W. Bret Calhoun, and he arrives off a second placed finish behind Further Ado in the Grade 3 Matt Winn Stakes at Churchill Downs. The Mr. Money colt already owns a stakes win around two turns, taking the 1 1/16 mile Crescent City Derby at Fair Grounds in March, and Calhoun knows this race intimately, having won it himself in 2021 with Mr. Wireless. He is the form pick in a field that is short on proven graded winners, which is precisely why 4/1 looks about right rather than short.
Out of the Woods took time to find his stride, missing the board in his first five starts, but the Constitution gelding has strung together two wins and a second placed run in his last three tries around two turns. Jockey Luis Saez knows how to close in this race, having won it in 2014 aboard East Hall, and he takes over here after Out of the Woods ran a career best second in the Delaware Derby on June 13.
Leading Change makes his first start beyond a maiden race for Brad Cox, who has won the Indiana Derby three times in the last six years, including two of the last three runnings. The Gun Runner colt won his only career start by 6 1/2 lengths at Churchill Downs on June 7, and Irad Ortiz Jr. is skipping mounts at Saratoga specifically to be here, which tells you plenty about how the Cox barn rates him. There is a neat family thread too. Leading Change is a half brother to Shedaresthedevil, the $2.7 million earner who won the 2020 Indiana Oaks for Cox before going on to take the Kentucky Oaks. If bloodlines mean anything on a hot Indiana evening, this is the one to watch.
Creole Chrome brings the most raw upside of the group. The Volatile colt won three of his first four starts before finishing fourth in the Grade 1 Toyota Blue Grass Stakes, and he returns to winning form with an 18 length romp in the Louisiana Legends Cheval Stakes at Evangeline Downs on June 6. Whether he can carry that class jump into a graded stakes field is the real question mark. Bricklin, Zihnal, Mister T and Lighter round out the field as the longer priced contenders, and there is a fun wrinkle for pace watchers. Bricklin and Lighter share a trainer in Rodolphe Brisset, and neither horse is shy about going forward, which points toward a genuinely fast pace through the opening quarter mile, and a field that could set things up nicely for whoever is finishing best.
A Brief History of the Indiana Derby
The Indiana Derby was first run in 1995 at Hoosier Park, won by Peruvian as part of a Peter Vestal entry, and the race has been the signature event at Horseshoe Indianapolis, formerly Indiana Downs and then Indiana Grand, ever since. It was upgraded to Grade 2 status in 2004 before settling back to its current Grade 3 grading in 2017, and the race moved from Indiana Grand to what is now Horseshoe Indianapolis in 2013. Canyon Run still holds the track record of 1:41.40, set in just the second running back in 1996, three decades of Indiana summers ago.
| Year | Winner | Why It Mattered |
|---|---|---|
| 1995 | Peruvian | Inaugural running at Hoosier Park, part of a Peter Vestal entry. |
| 1996 | Canyon Run | Set the still standing track record of 1:41.40 for 1 1/16 miles. |
| 2001 | Orientate | Went on to be named champion sprinter the following season. |
| 2002 | Perfect Drift | Grade 1 winner who went on to earn more than $4.7 million. |
| 2004 | Brass Hat | Grade 1 winner and $2.1 million career earner. |
| 2009 | Misremembered | Set a new track record, Baffert's first Indiana Derby win. |
| 2010 | Lookin At Lucky | First horse to win a Triple Crown race and then race in Indiana, won last to first at 2/5. |
| 2016 | Cupid | Baffert's fourth and, so far, most recent Indiana Derby win. |
| 2019 | Mr. Money | Won for trainer W. Bret Calhoun and owner Allied Racing Stable. |
| 2024 | Dragoon Guard | Brad Cox's third Indiana Derby win in six years. |
Bob Baffert holds the record for training the most Indiana Derby winners, with four, and his rider Florent Geroux is tied for the record for most winning rides in the race with three, alongside Robby Albarado. Baffert's most famous winner remains Lookin At Lucky in 2010, sent off at odds of 2/5 and closing from last to first to become the first horse to win a Triple Crown race and then race in the state of Indiana. Baffert's absence from this year's Indiana Derby 2026 field, with Desert Gate rerouted to Iowa, breaks a run of Baffert runners that regulars at Horseshoe Indianapolis had come to expect every July. Here is a snapshot of the race's most notable winners.
Betting Tips and Exotic Angles for the Indiana Derby 2026
With the market blown open by a late defection, this is exactly the kind of Indiana Derby renewal where value hides in the exotics rather than the win pool. Our view on how to attack it below.
| Bet Type | MyWinners Angle |
|---|---|
| Win | Our Moneyman at 4/1. He has never finished off the board in eight career starts, and the two turn Crescent City Derby win proves he handles this trip. |
| Trifecta key | Key Our Moneyman on top, then add Out of the Woods, Leading Change and Creole Chrome as your other selections underneath. Leading Change is the debut wildcard, Creole Chrome the class dropper with the highest upside. |
| Value play | Leading Change each way at 5/1. A first time stakes runner is always a leap of faith, but Brad Cox has landed this exact race three times in six years, and Irad Ortiz Jr. rearranged his Saratoga book to be here. |
Indiana Oaks 2026 Preview: Mizumi Heads the Fillies
The 31st running of the Grade 3, $200,000 Indiana Oaks drew a field of six three year old fillies, and Bob Baffert's Mizumi is a clear standout on paper, giving the barn a leading contender on the card even without Desert Gate in the feature. The Justify filly, out of a Triple Crown winning sire line herself, is a perfect two for two this season for owners Charles and Susan Chu, including a win in the Grade 3 Summertime Oaks at Santa Anita in her most recent start. Mizumi has drawn post six with Florent Geroux, who was originally engaged to ride Desert Gate in the Indiana Derby before that colt's scratch to Iowa, taking the mount instead in the Oaks.
It’s worth noting Brad Cox already has history in this exact race, having won the 2020 Indiana Oaks with Shedaresthedevil, the half sister of Indiana Derby runner Leading Change, so the Cox barn's fingerprints are all over Indiana Derby Day even in the races it is not saddling a runner. The rest of the Indiana Oaks 2026 field had not been officially confirmed with morning line odds at the time of writing, and we will update this preview once the connections and prices are locked in.
How to Bet the Indiana Derby 2026 Online
You can bet every race on Indiana Derby Day, including the Indiana Derby 2026 and the Indiana Oaks, through MyWinners.
Bet online at app.mywinners.com, on the MyWinners: Racing & Sports app on iOS or Android, or go here to find your nearest MyWinners or Winners venue in CT.
Frequently Asked Questions
Photo by Jeff Kubina, licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.
