Familiar foes rematched

The top three finishers from the Hall of Fame Stakes on Aug. 1 meet again as a field of six will go a mile and 70 yards in the $10,000 Van Berg Derby at Columbus.

Coble Avenue, the upset winner of the six-furlong Hall of Fame at 10-1, will be back in to face Conclusive and Zack Cape as he tries a route for the first time this year.

Trained by Robert Mitzner, Coble Avenue is gunning for his fourth consecutive win at three different tracks. He won July 10 at Evangeline Downs then was haltered on July 19 at Anthony Fair in Kansas for $5,000. Making his first start for Mitzner, Coble Avenue rallied strongly through the lane and posted a length win in the Hall of Fame Stakes. Wilfredo Arroyo has the return mount.

Conclusive was sent off the 6-5 favorite in the Hall of Fame and is likely to vie for that role once again. Trained by Kim Veerhusen, Conclusive was a strong winner of the State Fair Derby, setting all of the pace in the one-mile race on June 20 in Lincoln. He has since shown the ability to rate off the pace, which could work to his benefit with a pair of speedy opponents making their first start at a distance. Jordan Olesiak will be aboard.

Zack Cape, trained by Jon Beekman, figures to be part of the pace along with Comedy Kid and Classy Carl, who will go as an uncoupled entry for trainer David Anderson.

Zack Cape will also be making his first start at a distance of ground. He has not been worse than third in his five starts this year.