Columbus: 'Chasin' stretches out

Chasin the Wind seeks his second straight stakes victory in the $10,000 Van Berg Derby, a mile and 70-yard race at Columbus that will have a field of six.

Trained by Chuck Wiley, Chasin the Wind collected his first stakes victory, and fourth win of the year, when he captured the six-furlong Hall of Fame Handicap here Aug. 6. He has proven capable at a mile, missing by a nose to The Straw Man in the State Fair Derby on June 25. Wiley will break from post 5 under jockey R.D. Williams.

Pepper Lang, the lone filly in the field, rates a good shot at an upset. She comes off her initial stakes win, against females in the Inaugural Stakes here July 29. Before that, she defeated males going a mile in a nonwinners-of-two allowance race at Lincoln on July 9.