Actuator’s 2-year-old campaign consisted of two defeats in Horseshoe Indianapolis maiden turf routes. The second start of his 3-year-old season can produce victory in Indiana’s biggest race, the Indiana Derby. Actuator never has faced other winners and never has started around two turns on dirt, but talent often trumps experience, and Actuator has as good a chance as anyone in the Grade 3, $300,000 Indiana Derby on Saturday at Horseshoe Indianapolis. Trained last year by Rodolphe Brisset, Actuator moved into the Kentucky string of trainer Michael McCarthy this spring. His 3-year-old debut June 8 was revelatory. Showing good sprint speed, Actuator pressed the pace in a seven-furlong maiden contest, took over in upper stretch, and powered to a 7 1/4-length score. He won with something left, galloped out strongly, and got a 92 Beyer Speed Figure, tops among the 10 Indiana Derby entrants. “I believe he’s fast enough and fits with these horses,” McCarthy said. Actuator and Indiana Derby entrant Rattle N Roll were entered in Saturday’s Iowa Derby, but both are expected in Indiana. Mowins and New Year’s Fever are entered in the Indiana Derby and the Snack Stakes for Indiana-breds earlier Saturday. Trainer Mike Lauer said scratches and weather will determine where Mowins runs. :: Bet the races on DRF Bets! Sign up with code WINNING to get a $250 Deposit Match, $10 Free Bet, and FREE DRF Formulator. First Glimpse has lost four first-level allowance races and merits 50-1 win odds in the Indiana Derby. Fowler Blue is just 8-1 on the morning line but has done nothing in a dozen starts to suggest he can come close to winning. One-eyed Un Ojo has one performance among seven career starts, a 75-1 upset of the Rebel Stakes at Oaklawn, hinting he might be good enough. He probably isn’t, nor is Trademark, no better than fifth in four stakes starts this season. That leaves a “big four” of Actuator, Best Actor, King Ottoman, and Rattle N Roll. Rattle N Roll runs back just a week after capturing the American Derby over lesser rivals by one length. Trainer Kenny McPeek acknowledged the move was “unconventional” but said Rattle N Roll had come out of his race last Saturday “breathing fire.” The last five years, three McPeek-trained horses have made stakes starts within one week of their previous race; two ran out of the money but Vettori Kin won the 2018 Louisville, a 1 1/2-mile grass race. King Ottoman lost his first three outings before capturing the $300,000 Texas Derby on May 30 as a maiden. The colt, trained by Steve Asmussen, appeared to be spinning his wheels at the three-furlong marker before finishing with interest on the far outside, beating his unheralded stablemate Presidential by a head. King Ottoman’s winning Beyer, an 88, was nothing special, but he has room to improve. “A son of Curlin, very big-bodied horse, obviously getting considerably better with his races. Definitely don’t believe we’ve seen the best of him,” Asmussen said. Best Actor won an off-turf one-turn-mile allowance race by four lengths last out at Churchill, but failed to change leads. He actually looked better winning his debut in a two-turn Oaklawn maiden contest. “He sat close to a hot pace last time and finished, but I do think he’s a two-turn horse,” trainer Brad Cox said. Best Actor, King Ottoman, and Rattle N Roll all won 3-year-old-restricted races last out, but Actuator beat older rivals in his maiden romp. He also appears to be the most physically mature of the quartet. “He’s big and strong, covers a lot of ground,” said McCarthy, who won this race four years ago with Axelrod. “He looks like he should go two turns.” The Indiana Derby, scheduled to go off at 6:40 p.m. Eastern, is one of eight stakes and is the last of 12 races on a Horseshoe Indianapolis card that starts at 12:20 p.m. Before the derby – the cashing leg of all-stakes pick five, pick four, and pick three wagers – comes the Indiana Oaks, which has Interstatedayream as a strong favorite. Also on the card is an appealing renewal of the $100,000 Jon Schuster Memorial featuring the 2022 debut of Grade 1 winner Ivar. Saturday afternoon should be sunny and pleasant, but Friday night rain could soften the grass course.