(Encino wins the Jonathan B. Schuster Memorial Stakes at Horseshoe Indianapolis on Saturday / All Photos by Coady Media)

From the Horseshoe Indianapolis Media Team:

Encino wins Jonathan B. Schuster Memorial

at Horseshoe Indianapolis

 

SHELBYVILLE, Ind. (Saturday, July 5, 2025) – Encino and Luan Machado were solid in the 16th running of the $100,000 Jonathan B. Schuster Memorial, a Listed race part of Indiana Derby Saturday, July 5 at Horseshoe Indianapolis. Favored by the public, Encino completed the one and one-sixteenth mile turf event in 1:39.38, a new track record for the distance.

Encino and Machado began from the outside of the field scratched down to five. They were able to settle into second as Runaway Storm and Alex Achard took over the top spot, leading the field by as many as four lengths in the early stages of the race. Encino began to get into gear in the final turn and was the new leader at the head of the lane. Runaway Storm was holding his own against the rest of the opponents as they all began closing in. At the wire, Encino was the winner by one and one-quarter lengths over Runaway Storm. Money Supply and Edgar Morales finished third.

Encino paid $4.20 for the win. The four-year-old son of Nyquist is a homebred, owned by Godolphin LLC. Brad Cox trains the colt, who is now five for nine in his career. His win in the Schuster Memorial put him over the half-million dollar mark in earnings.

“We were going to find out today if he liked grass or not,” said Michael Banahan, director of bloodstock for Godolphin. “It looked like he did very well out there. We were a bit concerned whether he was going to settle or not. It was a smaller field, and he was on the outside. Luan did a good job getting him settled out there. It was nice to see the other horse (No. 8 Runaway Storm) go on about his business and give us a target to run at. It was a pretty nice group; we were pleased with that. Ricky (Giannini, Brad Cox’s Horseshoe Indianapolis assistant) just said to me it was a track record.”

Encino came into the race as a Graded Stakes winner. He scored the win in the Grade 3 Lexington at Keeneland last year. The win in the Schuster Memorial was his third stakes victory.

“We tried him at Gulfstream against Mindframe, and that was a bit too tough, and I don’t think he ran his race,” continued Banahan. “(After a second in Turfway’s G3 Kentucky Cup Classic) he came back at Pimlico and same story. He sort of floundered a little bit. But he had a nice run at Turfway. He’s run well on the synthetic surface, and he’s won on dirt. Maybe turf is the way to go. He doesn’t look like a turf horse, but we said we’d give him a try on it. He worked well on it at Churchill Downs. Yeah, this gives us a couple more options. He’s a nice horse. A Grade 3 winner already, so we’ll hopefully also pick up some more races with him.”

The race was named in honor of former Vice President and General Manager of Racing Jon Schuster, who passed away in 2019. Schuster was a graduate of the University of Arizona’s Racetrack Industry Program. Current U of A student Nathan Klein is currently working as a race marketing intern this summer. He joined Vice President and General Manager Eric Halstrom, also a graduate of the program, for a check presentation to honor Schuster.

Schuster’s daughter, Rachel Schuster, was also in the presentation, which grants $2,500 to U of A for their scholarship program for students seeking to enter the horse racing industry. This is the sixth year the donation has been made in Schuster’s honor.

“My dad was the best and we miss him so much,” said Rachel during an interview from the winner’s circle. “He set up many of the things that are part of the success of this track. We are very proud of him and the work he did here. This annual donation is very rewarding to know he is being honored in this way.”

The 23rd season of live Thoroughbred and Quarter Horse racing runs through Thursday, Nov. 13. For more information on racing at Horseshoe Indianapolis, visit www.caesars.com/horseshoe-indianapolis/racing or find details on social media @HSIndyRacing.