Flatter Pod: Free, Kenneally, DeRosa are on Ky. Derby trail

By Ron Flatter
Photo:

The first race carrying points toward qualifying for Kentucky Derby 2026 arrives this weekend, and it is the focus of the Ron Flatter Racing Pod.

TV analyst Kaitlin Free offers a preview of Saturday’s Grade 3 Iroquois Stakes at Churchill Downs and the context it has not only for next year’s Triple Crown series but the final four months of the 2025 racing season.

Eddie Kenneally trains Comport, the morning-line favorite for the Iroquois. He is at the Keeneland September yearling sale, which is where he identified the colt around this time last year.

Handicapper Ed DeRosa has tips for the Iroquois as well as Saturday’s Pocahontas (G3), the first points race for the Kentucky Oaks (G1), and the Woodbine Mile (G1). 

Co-hosts John Cherwa of the Los Angeles Times and Keith Nelson of Fairmount Park join in the reading of feedback from listeners and readers.

The Ron Flatter Racing Pod via Horse Racing Nation is available via free subscription from Apple, Firefox, iHeart and Spotify as well as HorseRacingNation.com.

Read More

Travers 2026: Draw & odds for mid-summer derby at Saratoga
Golden Tempo makes his eagerly anticipated return from winning two classics after drawing post 9 and being made...
Zipse: The summer of Manny Franco rolls on at Saratoga
As scorching as the weather, Manny Franco continued his red-hot riding on Saturday at Saratoga with a hard-earned...
Proletariat makes every pole a winner in Del Mar Derby
Odds-on favorite Proletariat dashed to the front out of the gate under Kyle Frey, dictated terms from the inside...
Front-runner Storm Miami faces stiff test in Saratoga's Waya
Storm Miami has raced on the lead in each of her last three starts and could find herself...
Sunday works: Ag Bullet puts in turf drill at Del Mar
Ag Bullet , the Grade 1 winner who most recently placed second in the Jaipur, breezed four furlongs...