Morey hopes Brotha Keny’s perfect record at Horseshoe Indianapolis carries over to Indiana Derby

Brotha Keny has never been in — let alone win — a stakes race as he comes into Saturday’s $300,000 Grade 3 Indiana Derby at Horseshoe Indianapolis. But the 3-year-old horse has this going for him in Indiana’s 1 1/16-mile signature race: He’s 2-for-2 over the surface.

“We know we’ll be a little bit of a long shot in the Indiana Derby, but we’re taking a chance,” said trainer Bill Morey, who is based at Turfway Park in northern Kentucky. “He’s 2-for-2 on the track, so hopefully that plays to our advantage. Obviously, it will be a tough race, but we’re excited to try it. It’s always a good race and should be a fun race.”

Brotha Keny (pronounced Kenny) is the 12-1 seventh choice in the field of nine 3-year-olds. Coal Battle is the tepid 7-2 favorite in the morning line over Instant Replay (4-1), Big Truss (9-2), Publisher (5-1) and Chunk of Gold and Tip Top Thomas (both 6-1).

The Indiana Derby is one of eight stakes on Saturday’s 13-race card that also includes the Grade 3 $200,000 Indiana Oaks, presented by Daily Racing Form. First post for the day is noon with the Indiana Derby set as Race 12 with an estimated post time of 6:33 p.m.

Brotha Keny, whose earnings of $60,850 have more than paid back his $25,000 purchase price at Keeneland’s 2023 yearling sale, started his career 0-for-6, but was only soundly beaten once. After two starts last fall at Churchill Downs, he ran four times over Turfway Park’s synthetic surface, with a second, a third and two fourths.

Shipping twice to Horseshoe Indy this spring, Brotha Keny won a mile maiden race by a neck and an allowance race at a mile and 70 yards by 3 1/4 lengths to encourage his team to swing for the fences in the Indiana Derby.

The transformation from maiden to two wins in a row followed a switch back to dirt and the addition of blinkers four races ago. But Morey says what really seemed to catch Brotha Keny’s attention was being gelded.

“He showed a decent run at Churchill his first couple of starts,” Morey said. “They weren’t bad races; they were tough races. At Turfway, he was OK. He didn’t seem to love the synthetic, but he was doing OK on it. We actually gelded him late in the meet there. His last three starts are as a gelding, and that seemed to be the biggest factor that made the change in his race performances. His last two have been at Indiana, and they both were wins.” 

Brotha Keny has three good works, including five-eighths of a mile in a minute that was the fastest of the morning at Turfway on June 2, since his previous start May 28.

“He’s training great,” Morey said. “He’s always trained pretty well, but the latest couple of months he’s trained really, really well ever since we ‘cut’ him. And those wins kind of pumped him up. You know how that goes: A horse wins a couple and they get a little extra strong in the mornings.

“… We’ve always liked him. He’s really leggy, a long-legged horse. We always thought he’d go long. We’ve finally been able to get him going long in the better races, and he’s excelled at it.”

And it doesn’t hurt that Brotha Keny will be ridden for the third straight race by Joseph Ramos, Horseshoe Indy’s 2023 meet leader who once more is locked into battle with Fernando De La Cruz to top the current standings.

“We’re happy to get him,” Morey said.

Brotha Keny is named for a friend of owners Lance Kinross and Steve Kinross of Utah.

“And his name is spelled K-E-N-Y,” Morey said. “So that’s where the name came from.”

The Kinrosses sent Morey a pair of 2-year-olds last year, one being Brotha Keny. He said he first met the owners when he was training in California.

“We probably used to compete against each other back then,” Morey said. “Some friends of mine trained for them. Monte (Turner), who trains for them in Utah, is a friend of mine as well. But they’re excited to come out and run in a big race.”

Brotha Keny is a son of the Ashford Stud/Coolmore America stallion Mo Town, who stood for $5,000 in 2025. Mo Town is a son of the late Uncle Mo, a 2-year-old champion and wildly successful stallion that early in his stud career sired 2013 Kentucky Derby winner Nyquist.

Brotha Keny’s broodmare sire is the deceased Northern Afleet, whose most famous progeny was 2005 Preakness and Belmont winner Afleet Alex.

“The owners and Monte come back to Keeneland every year and pick out the horses themselves,” Morey said. “They spend a lot of time at it, work hard at it. They don’t spend a lot, but they’ve come up with some decent ones. And this is another good one for a good price.”

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