Dragoon Guard. (Coady Media)
Arrogate colt passed his first two-turn test with aplomb in his stakes debut Saturday at Horseshoe Indianapolis
by Jennie Rees/Horseshoe Indianapolis
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind.—Juddmonte homebred Dragoon Guard made his stakes debut a winning one Saturday as he led at every point of call and scored comfortable victory in the $300,000 Indiana Derby (G3) at Horseshoe Indianapolis.
With Florent Geroux aboard for trainer Brad Cox, who won last year’s edition with Verifying, the striking gray colt by late sire Arrogate cruised home by 2 1/2 lengths, defeating 6-5 favorite Stronghold. Informed Patriot, who pressed the winner throughout, was another three lengths back in third in the field of seven 3-year-olds.
Trying two turns for the first time, Dragoon Guard covered 1 1/16 miles in 1:42.46 on a track rated as fast after setting early fractions of :23.74, :47.24, and 1:10.77 through six furlongs.
“He broke good, made the lead, relaxed for me nicely on the first turn,” said Geroux, who scored his third Indiana Derby win. “He set reasonable fractions, and just kept on going. First try at two turns, it was the right move.”
Favored Stronghold turned in a great performance since running in the Kentucky Derby (G1) in early May. Fresu noted the Grade 1 winner of the Santa Anita Derby turned in a solid performance.
“He (Stronghold) ran a good race,” said Fresu. “I think the winner (Dragoon Guard) is a very good horse, a very good horse in the making. I didn’t have the best trip because he broke well, and my intention was not to go. When I tried to set him down, he was really keen behind the horses. But then he relaxed really well and picked it up. I was trying to chase the winner but there was no challenge. The winner was too good today.”
Cox said Dragoon Guard ran well.
“I thought Florent did a good job of getting him away and getting him involved and taking control of the race. Look, based off pedigree and his physical, he’s bred to be a two-turn, mile-and-an-eighth and farther type horse. He stepped up today in his first start around two turns and ran well. He ran a really good race against a really good horse of Steve Asmussen’s last year in September. He came out of the race just not quite as well as we needed him to. We gave him time off, he came back, and he was definitely a bigger, better stronger version of himself. The way he looks, and the way he trains and just his attitude, he’s probably a horse that’s meant to be better as he gets older. He’s obviously really stepped up this year going 3-for-3. We’re excited about him long term.”
“I think if he continues to make progress, he could be a top 3-year-old,” added Cox. “I really believe that. He’s a good colt. This was just the next step in his progression. I’m happy with what he was able to do today. To be one of the top 3-year-olds in the country he’s going to have to take a couple of more steps forward. We’re hopeful that he can. I’ll talk it over with Garrett (O’Rourke, who runs Juddmonte’s American operation) and obviously over with Prince (Fahad bin) Khalid’s family, the Juddmonte team. We may take him up to Saratoga and train him. I don’t know if that means we take him up to Saratoga and train him. I don’t know if we look at something at Parx, the Pennsylvania Derby (G1). We’ll let the dust settle and let him determine whether he’s ready to step forward and face the best 3-year-olds out there.”
The victory marked his third straight from four career starts. He came in off three-length-plus victories in a Keeneland maiden special weight race at seven furlongs April 21 and a one-mile allowance race in the slop June 2 Churchill Downs. He ran once as a 2-year-old last September at Churchill, finishing second by a neck. The colt more than doubled his career earnings with Saturday’s win and now has in excess of $335,000 on his card.
Dragoon Guard ($5.80) was produced by the Mizzen Mast mare Filimbi.
For Juddmonte, Dragoon Guard is the changing of the guard for their operation. His sire, Arrogate, passed away in 2020, leaving opportunity for Dragoon Guard to have a second career someday for Juddmonte.
“It would be awesome, great for Juddmonte to have a homebred by Arrogate,” Cox said. “It would be very special to them and to the farm and the Juddmonte team. When they have pedigrees like this, he’s a big good-looking horse and there’s plenty of him, he’ll definitely be in the stallion barn someday.”
Dragoon Guard highlighted a record setting day for Horseshoe Indianapolis. Both on track handle was up year over year compared to 2023, which was a record-setting year. Total handle from all sources on the day exceeded $8.147 million, a new track record for handle compared to $7.98 million wagered last season. More than $1.1 million alone was wagered on the Indiana Derby during the 12-race card.
