Triple Crown race alumni Clever Again and Chunk of Gold will bump heads in a chance at redemption in the $500,000 Ohio Derby (G3) at Thistledown.
Clever Again, a $500,000 yearling owned by Winchell Thoroughbreds in conjunction with the Coolmore partners, was exceptional in his two victories prior to the Preakness. The son of American Pharoah recorded a 108 Equibase Speed Figure when romping to a four-length gate-to-wire score in Oaklawn Park's Hot Springs Stakes March 30. Lining up against top-level competition in the May 17 Preakness Stakes (G1), Clever Again paced the field into the far turn before eventual race winner Journalism slammed the colt into the inside rail and Clever Again was checked hard by jockey Jose Ortiz. Clever Again never recovered from the incident and was eased across the wire in last.
Steve Asmussen, Clever Again's trainer, was publicly critical of the ride Umberto Rispoli gave Journalism in the Preakness and told radio host Steve Byk that he believed his colt got the worst of Rispoli's "dangerous" maneuvering.
Since the Preakness, Clever Again has bounced back with three works for Asmussen at Churchill Downs. The 9-5 morning-line favorite in the 1 1/8-mile Ohio Derby, the colt appears to be the inside speed in the race breaking from post 6, with two other front-running types, Master Controller and Mo Plex breaking from the far outside 9 and 10 posts, respectively.
Jose Ortiz will ride the lightly raced Clever Again in his second attempt at graded glory.
Chunk of Gold, one of the Cinderella stories of this year's Kentucky Derby (G1), has been unraced since finishing ninth in the Run for the Roses. The Preservationist colt, who sold for only $2,500 as a yearling, is trained by 32-year-old Ethan West, who also gallops the gray or roan in the mornings, and owned by Terry Stephens. Chunk of Gold established himself as consistent closer on the Derby trail, earning his way into the May 3 starting gate with back-to-back runner-up efforts in the Risen Star Stakes (G2) and Louisiana Derby (G2) at Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots.
Jareth Loveberry gets the call on the 7-2 third choice.
McAfee, a half brother to 2024 Horse of the Year Thorpedo Anna, was considered for the Belmont Stakes (G1) after his game second to Hill Roadin the Peter Pan Stakes (G3) but ultimately skipped the classic. The Peter Pan, the colt's first outing adorning blinkers, was a breakout performance for the son of Cloud Computing, who had been unplaced in both the Wood Memorial Stakes (G2) and Gotham Stakes (G3).
The Richard Dutrow trainee, 3-1 on the morning line, retains the services of Hall of Famer John Velazquez for Saturday's race.
New York-bred Mo Plex, a stakes winner last out going seven furlongs in Aqueduct Racetrack's Bay Shore Stakes April 19, will make his first start around two turns for R and H Stable and trainer Jeremiah Englehart. The Big Apple invader was third in the one-turn mile Champagne Stakes (G1) last year as a 2-year-old.
Thistledown, Saturday, June 21, 2025, Race 12Entries: Ohio Derby (G3)
PP Horse Jockey Wgt Trainer M/L 1 1Brereton's Baytown (KY) Marshall Mendez 126 Paul McEntee 30/1 2 2Chunk of Gold (KY) Jareth Loveberry 126 Ethan W. West 7/2 3 3Capo Luca (KY) Luis Antonio Gonzalez 126 Kim A. Puhl 10/1 4 4McAfee (KY) John R. Velazquez 126 Richard E. Dutrow, Jr. 3/1 5 5Extradition (KY) Rocco Bowen 126 Jason DaCosta 20/1 6 6Clever Again (KY) Jose L. Ortiz 126 Steven M. Asmussen 9/5 7 7Bohemian Style (FL) Israel O. Rodriguez 126 Nestor R. Rivera 30/1 8 8Curvino (KY) Mike E. Smith 126 Peter Miller 12/1 9 9Master Controller (KY) Christopher A. Emigh 126 Brittany A. Vanden Berg 20/1 10 10Mo Plex (NY) Joseph D. Ramos 126 Jeremiah C. Englehart 6/1
Lady Jacqueline Stakes
Graded stakes winner Where's My Ring headlines a field of nine older fillies and mares for Saturday's $250,000 Lady Jacqueline Stakes.
Michael McMillan's Where's My Ring makes her second start since joining the barn of Peter Miller. The 4-year-old Twirling Candy filly was a last-out sixth in Churchill Downs' Shawnee Stakes (G3) May 31.
Ridden by Mike Smith in the 1 1/16-mile Lady Jacqueline, Where's My Ring will be looking to return to the form she showed at Oaklawn over the winter, where she dominated an allowance race by 12 1/4 lengths before finishing third to Thorpedo Anna in the Apple Blossom Handicap (G1).
Thistledown, Saturday, June 21, 2025, Race 11Entries: Lady Jacqueline S.
PP Horse Jockey Wgt Trainer M/L 1 1Lucky Cougar (MD) Luis Raul Rivera 118 Jason DaCosta 12/1 2 2Goldeneye Magic (KY) Fernando Salazar Becerra 115 Jason DaCosta 10/1 3 3Red Hot Lass (KY) Jose A. Bracho 118 Jeffrey Skerrett 8/1 4 4In Just My Heels (KY) Evin A. Roman 120 Ron Moquett 9/2 5 5Candlelight Hours (OH) Andrew R. Ramgeet 118 James R. Jackson 12/1 6 6Where's My Ring (KY) Mike E. Smith 124 Peter Miller 2/1 7 7Peignoir (KY) Jose L. Ortiz 120 Rodolphe Brisset 9/5 8 8Just Be Quiet (KY) Joseph D. Ramos 118 Robert M. Gorham 15/1
