Ohio Derby J

AMERICAN

GRADED STAKES PREVIEWS

A field of eight will go postward in the $300,000 Ohio Derby (G2), a 1

1/8-mile event at Thistledown on Saturday. SMOOTH AIR (Smooth Jazz), a tremendously consistent performer for

conditioner Bennie Stutts Jr., seems poised to add another graded stakes win to

his resume. The Florida-bred colt placed in a pair of stakes events in a

productive juvenile year and improved in nice fashion at three, capturing the

Hutcheson S. (G2) in his sophomore bow, finishing third in the Sam F. Davis S.

and placing second behind Big Brown (Boundary) in the Florida Derby (G1), more

than seven lengths clear of his nearest foe. The colt endured traffic when 11th

in the Kentucky Derby (G1) but has trained well in the interim and he's

favorably

drawn on the rail in here. Regular rider Manoel Cruz retains the mount.

Zayat Stables' Z FORTUNE (Siphon [Brz]) dominated the Lecomte S. (G3) in his three-year-old debut,

and the Steve Asmussen trainee ran a

big second in the Arkansas Derby (G2) prior to his 10th-place effort in the Run

for the Roses. The New York-bred is a very talented colt who has an

adaptable running style, and he shouldn't be far from the tempo at any point in

the race under Garrett Gomez. The gray will be a major force with anything close

to his peak performance.

YOUR ROUND (Distorted Humor) has a nice turn of foot and has held up well

versus stakes foes to this point of his career, so we'll tab the bay colt to

complete the trifecta in this contest. The Mark Hubley pupil raced just once on

the dirt, and it resulted in a solid third-place effort against future Grade 1

winner Monba (Maria's Mon) and Preakness S. (G1) runner-up Macho Again (Macho

Uno) while seven wide in the lane. If Your Round, who finished second in both

the WEBN S. and John Battaglia Memorial S. on the Polytrack, could put in an effort resembling

his initial dirt try, he should finish in the top three.

CHEROKEE ARTIST (Cherokee Run) is ambitiously placed in here by Graham

Motion, coming off a smart maiden win on Derby Day. The bay colt handled two

turns with ease in his recent win, but this is a major step up in class and it's

hard to back him with confidence in this spot. We'd be more intrigued if John

Velazquez, who piloted the Kentucky-bred in both of his prior starts, came along

for the ride in here, but Jeremy Rose picks up the mount.

INSTILL (Proud Citizen) earned a solid 104 BRIS Speed figure for his win

versus older Illinois-bred foes last out and is the most experienced entrant in the field

with 10 lifetime starts. The John Wainwright trainee is a tough read for us, so

we'll put him in our gimmicks. MEDJOOL (Monarchos) registered his best effort

when third in the Lane's End S. (G2) but showed little when stepping up in class

in the Blue Grass S. (G1) at Keeneland. The chestnut has been transferred to the

Michael Matz barn in advance of this contest, but he's never raced on anything

but synthetic and we have no interest in this one.

STOLEN CHEVY (Flying Chevron) has cleared three conditions in

fairly easy fashion at Mountaineer for trainer Michael Estes and gets his deserved stakes try

in this spot. The speedy gelding appears to be the inside speed of the field,

but even if he does clear, we can't imagine him holding off our top two picks.

The Kentucky-bred might hang on for a minor award with a soft early tempo.

CELTIC MEAL (Formal Dinner) is the other speed horse in the group, but he looks

better suited to sprinting, and we'll look elsewhere.