First Look: Baffert's Desert Gate ships into Ohio Derby

The Derby trail scatters its runners by summer, but it does not erase the rivalries built along the way. Those scores get settled at the regional derbies, where colts who traded punches through the prep season and the classics meet again away from the spotlight. This Saturday serves up one of the better reunions of the lot.

The Grade 3 Ohio Derby is that reunion. Much of this field came through the Kentucky Derby and Preakness without settling who belongs on top, and the argument picks up right where it left off. Ocelli carries the strangest case of all, a colt good enough to run with the best of the class yet still searching for his first win. The complication is Desert Gate, the Bob Baffert colt who skipped the classics, ran off a regional winning streak and ships in favored to crash the party.

The reunion headlines four stakes across three tracks Saturday, four of them written for fillies and mares. For the horseplayer working the full board, there is plenty to pull apart and prices worth attacking.

Saturday

Chicago (G2), Churchill Downs, 7 furlongs, fillies and mares, 4-year-olds and up

Usha turned back a late charge to win the Winning Colors (G3) by a head at Churchill Downs on May 25, a second graded score for the La Brea (G1) winner, who romped by 5 1/4 lengths in that Santa Anita feature in December for a career-top 99 Beyer Speed Figure, according to Daily Racing Form. Runner-up Zeitlos rallied from last and missed by a head, the latest effort from a 6-year-old who ran third in last year's Chicago. Foie Gras set the pace and held third, 4 3/4 lengths clear of the rest, after a runner-up finish in the Matron and a win in the Bugler at Oaklawn.

Lady's Secret, Monmouth Park, 1 1/16 miles, fillies and mares, 3-year-olds and up

Rallying from last, Ourdaydreaminggirl finished third in the Cotillion (G1) 2025 at Parx, beaten less than half a length by Clicquot and Dry Powder. Louis Linder Jr.'s deep closer had run second in the Cathryn Sophia a month earlier. The mare stayed in stakes company through the spring, most recently finishing third in the Serena's Song at Monmouth on May 16.

Ohio Derby (G3), Thistledown, 1 1/8 miles, 3-year-olds

Chad Allan ran second in the Texas Derby behind Desert Gate, his third runner-up finish of 2026 without a win for trainer Bob Young. Robusta contested both the Kentucky Derby and Preakness, trailing in each, though he placed second in the San Felipe (G2) at Santa Anita. Chip Honcho closed for third in the Preakness and ran second in the Risen Star (G2) for trainer Steve Asmussen. Trendsetter won the Lexington (G3) at Keeneland, driving past rivals up the rail, then finished third in the Peter Pan (G3). Ocelli rallied for third in the Kentucky Derby and fourth in the Preakness, yet remains a maiden through eight starts, earning $729,800 without a victory. Bull by the Horns checked in sixth in the Preakness after winning the Rushaway Stakes at Turfway. Desert Gate, the 5-2 favorite, won his last two, the Hot Springs Stakes and the Texas Derby, for trainer Bob Baffert. Albus captured the Wood Memorial (G2) before finishing 15th in the Kentucky Derby.

Lady Jacqueline, Thistledown, 1 1/8 miles, fillies and mares, 3-year-olds and up

Standoutsensation closed 2025 with four straight wins, capped by stakes scores in the Turnback the Alarm and the Pippin. The 5-year-old mare cooled in 2026, running second in the Houston Ladies Classic (G3), fourth in the Azeri (G2) and third in the Dig a Diamond, her first start for new trainer Kinnon LaRose.