Itzforever tough in Fireball Baby Handicap at Horseshoe Indianapolis

What a move, and what a fight to the finish.

Itzforever and Santo Sanjur had a plan mapped out before the running of the $55,000 Fireball Baby Handicap Wednesday and a well-timed journey brought them home a winner in the second running of the event.

Itzforever (photo, left), a multiple stakes winner at Horseshoe Indianapolis, is known for her slow starts. She leisurely got away from the gate in sixth as Lil Gin N Class and Emmanuel Esquivel took over the top spot from the start. They led the field through the first turn with Temple Paynter and Joe Ramos sitting in a stalking position on the outside.

Down the backstretch, Lil Gin N Class was able to establish a moderate tempo to reserve energy for the latter stages of the one and one-sixteenth mile race. As Lil Gin N Class continued to lead the way, Itzforever began getting interested in advancing, moving swiftly along the inside, passing rivals with almost every stride.

When the field moved into the second turn, Lil Gin N Class was still in command with Itzforever joining the top two and maneuvering for stretch drive position. Coming out of the turn, Sanjur moved Itzforever to the outside of Lil Gin N Class and the battle was on.

The two females battled each other all the way down the lane. It appeared Itzforever had gotten the edge over Lil Gin N Class, but she came battling back in the final strides, only to come up short by a head at the finish line to Itzforever. Kaboom and Joseph Bealmear finished several lengths back in third.

Itzforever paid $7.00 for the win. The six-year-old daughter of Forever D’Oro is owned by Michael J. Wern, Bob Dhondt, and Anthony Granitz, who has trained the mare her entire career. It was her first win of 2026 but her seventh in her career.

She moved her total earnings to more than $460,000 with the win in the Fireball Baby Handicap. It was the third premier win for Itzforever and her first with Sanjur aboard.

The race was named in honor of Fireball Baby, a former Indiana sired standout for Ron and Tammy Rigney’s racing stable. Philip Bauer trained the Noble’s Promise mare to nearly $600,000 in earnings before she was retired in 2022.

The multiple stakes winner’s first foal, Weekend Storm, is a two-year-old in 2026 and currently racing out East.

The Shelby County Post is a digital newspaper producing news, sports, obituaries and more without a pay wall or subscription needed.