Bright One Seems OK; Classic Remains Option

Despite a seventh-place effort in the $513,200 Indiana Derby (gr. II) at Hoosier Park Oct. 7, the connections of West Virginia Derby (gr. III) winner Bright One have not ruled out the Nov. 4 Breeders' Cup Classic - Powered by Dodge (gr. I) as the next stop for their colt.

Trained by Dale Romans, the son of Dance Brightly suffered his second defeat in five career starts and finished off the board for the first time in the Indiana Derby. Bright One was heavily favored in the Indiana Derby.

"It's still an option," breeder Mike Bruder said Oct. 8 from his Evansville, Ind., home. "We're going to keep all our options open. We just want to figure out what happened."

Owned by Bruder's wife, Carolyn Sue, and Delmar Daubs, Bright One was pushed three-wide in the 1 1/16-mile contest before pursuing pacesetters Star Dabbler and Acts Like A King on the backstretch. Ridden by Mark Guidry, the colt raced five-wide into the far turn before fading in the lane.

Hoosier Park is seven-eighths-mile track, so horses can lose substantial ground when wide on the turns.

"We're not making any excuses," Bruder said. "He seemed to recover on the backside. When it came time to run, he just started retreating. We're just dumbfounded. We've done a lot of vet work and can't find anything wrong with him."

Romans, at Keeneland Oct. 8, also indicated Bright One seemed to come out of the race fine.

Star Dabbler and Cielo Gold finished in a dead-heat in the 12th Indiana Derby, Hoosier Park's signature event, in a time of 1:42.84.