S8E52: 1st steps on Kentucky Derby 2026 trail
About this episode
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.
Get every episode summarized
Each time The Ron Flatter Racing Pod publishes, we email you a written briefing from the transcript — the topics, who appeared, and any specific claims, with the ad reads skipped.
Email me new episodesFree for 3 shows. No card needed.
Hosts & guests
No transcript yet
This episode has not been transcribed. Request it and it moves to the front of the queue.
More episodes
More from The Ron Flatter Racing Pod
S9E52: End of summer, sort of
The Ron Flatter Racing Pod
S9E51: Stamp out August, but not the Travers
The Ron Flatter Racing Pod
S9E50: Behind the Pamplemousse
The Ron Flatter Racing Pod
S9E49: Pop-up episode on leak of HISA vet records
The Ron Flatter Racing Pod