Ivory Six Pac (inside), under jockey Giovani Vazquez-Gomez, dead-heats with Rk Lady Dana (#5) to set the co-fastest times for the $126,800 QHRAI Derby trials at Horseshoe Indianapolis Saturday.

© Coady Photography

SHELBYVILLE, IN–JUNE 3, 2023–A dead heat between Ivory Six Pax and RK Lady Dana will lead the field of qualifiers into the $126,800 Horseshoe Indianapolis QHRAI Derby final.

Both horses hit the wire together in the first of five trials slated on the first all-Quarter Horse racing program of 2023 at Horseshoe Indianapolis.

Ivory Six Pax and Giovani Vazquez Gomez dueled early in the 400-yard contest with RK Lady Dana and Francisco Quintero.

The duo battled all the way to the wire and could not be separated at the end for the dead heat in a time of :20.027, the quickest for the trials. Apollitical Face and Juan Marquez finished three-quarters of a length back in third.

Ivory Six Pax is owned and trained by Jessi Vazquez, who is coming off a banner year last season when she set several records for female Quarter Horse trainers. The Bobby Cox-bred daughter of Ivory James scored her second win overall in 10 outings and is now two for two in 2023.

The $18,000 Heritage Place Yearling Sale graduate is from the One Famous Eagle mare Epix.

RK Lady Dana is a homebred owned by Kathleen Stumpf and trained by Tony Cunningham. It was also her second straight win of 2023 and paired with a string of wins last season, she is now on a five-race win streak.

The stakes winning daughter of Bogart is out of Rk Rollin Cartel by Coronas Prospect.

The second fastest trial of the day was recorded in the very next race as Kaysweetlass and Martin Munoz stopped the timer in :20.079. The sophomore daughter of One Sweet Jess was a gate to wire winner in the event over Winner Spirit and Juan Marquez for second. Namgis Kodiak Kiss and L.D. Martinez finished third.

Kaysweetlass, out of the Strawfly Special mare Lass To Know, is owned by Cesar Cano and trained by Felix Barraza. It was her first career win in only three career starts.

Other trial winners included Extermynator and Juan Marquez, Jupyter and German Rodriguez, and Vegas Modelo and Jose Ruiz, who did not make the cut for the top 10.

For the complete list of QHRAI Derby qualifiers, times, sires, dams, owners, breeders, trainers and jockeys CLICK HERE.

Randy Smith will saddle four for the final (Winner Spirit, Apollitical Face, Extermynator, Jupyter) while Cunningham will saddle three (RK Lady Dana, Namgis Kodiak Kiss, Louisiana Faster).

The $126,800 final of the Horseshoe Indianapolis QHRAI Derby is slated for Saturday, June 24. First post time for the racing program is 5:30 p.m. with the Quarter Horse Stakes set for the end of the card.

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The 21st season of live Thoroughbred and Quarter Horse racing extends through Friday, Nov. 17. Live racing is held Monday through Wednesday at 2:30 p.m. with Thursday post time set for 2:10 p.m. Saturday racing will be held during the summer months featuring six all-Quarter Horse dates June 3, July 1, July 22, Aug. 12, Sept. 2, and Oct. 7 beginning at 10:45 a.m. Indiana’s featured event, the Grade 3 $300,000 Indiana Derby is set for Saturday, July 8 with a first post time of 12 p.m. Also, the Summer Saturday Racing Series includes seven Thoroughbred racing cards beginning Saturday, June 10 through Saturday, Aug. 26. For more information on live racing at Horseshoe Indianapolis, visit www.caesars.com/horseshoe-indianapolis.