Saratoga and Del Mar around a couple corners. For now, North Randall, Ohio. Ohio Derby Will Clever Again be the 9-5 favorite? How much support will McAfee attract? The questions arise because Chunk of Gold, listed as the 7-2 third choice, might offer value. McAfee could go favored over Clever Again. Rick Dutrow trains McAfee, and his horses in spots like this often take more betting than they should. Dutrow sent him early to work over the track. He means business, apparently. I preferred McAfee to his shorter-priced stablemate Captain Cook in the Peter Pan. Captain Cook’s Withers might’ve been the most overrated stakes win of the winter-spring 3-year-old season. Since the Withers, Dutrow is 12-0-1-3 in stakes. Before he won a couple races this past week, the barn had lost 37 in a row. Peter Pan winner Hill Road showed his limitations in the Belmont, and McAfee might have peaked in the Peter Pan. I liked Clever Again’s romp in the Hot Springs enough to pick him in the Preakness. The pace didn’t come up crazy fast, yet front-running Clever Again was toast at Pimlico’s three-sixteenths pole. There was talk of switching to turf, but he shows up at Thistledown instead. :: Access the most trusted data and information in horse racing! DRF Past Performances and Picks are available now. Clever Again needs the lead. Master Controller and Mo Plex – the latter in with a chance – won’t let that comfortably happen. Chunk of Gold should go favored but probably won’t. Batten Down crashed the party last year, but Two Phils in 2023 and Tawny Port in 2022 exited, like Chunk of Gold, the Kentucky Derby. Chunk of Gold’s Derby was – fine. He didn’t have a great trip, but neither was it a nightmare. Did he love the sloppy, sealed track? Didn’t look like it. Regardless, at the eighth pole, where the Ohio Derby would’ve ended, he was a lot closer to winning than at the finish. Chunk of Gold’s against-the-flow showings in two Fair Grounds stakes are well documented. He showed merit in two Turfway races that launched his career. He’s had one race in three months and is a fresh horse who’s fast enough, gets 1 1/8 miles, and should pull a favorable trip. Chicago Emery and Vahva, probably the two shortest prices, look vulnerable. Emery never has hit a level as high as Vahva, but Vahva hasn’t hit her top level in a year. Her three losses since she won this race a year ago come with plausible excuses, but at the expected price, I’ll guess she’s not getting back to her best even on a class drop and over her favorite track. Emery’s been a good horse from the start, but unlike Vahva, she’s never been substantially better than the Chicago’s supposed second tier. She’s drawn poorly on the rail, and I see her trend line pointing more down than up. The 5-1 morning line on My Mane Squeeze seems reasonable and fair. She needed the Madison at Keeneland, first start after a winter break, far more than Emery, and a lot of things went against her in the Ruffian. I think she’ll beat the two favorites and still not win. Surely Zeitlos has returned at age 5 because she only began to peak at age 4. The Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint proved a bridge too far, but that marked the ninth start of a long campaign that culminated in October at Keeneland. Connections might think she has a Grade 1 in her. She might. Her smooth Skipat score shook off rust as much as anything, and Zeitlos will improve off it. That she ran so well first time after a winter break suggests her development last year has carried over to 2025. :: Get the Inside Track with the FREE DRF Morning Line Email Newsletter. Subscribe now.  Seven furlongs initially looked like a stretch, but going through the entirety of her form, that concern recedes. Zeitlos will get a favorable trip at what ought to be a favorable price. Alywow Sure wish we had workout video for American Women. Would love to have a look at the quick breezes, turf and Tapeta, she’s posted since joining the stable of trainer Kevin Attard. Alas. American Women has raced four times, three duds and an encouraging second-start maiden win, which is the race that hints she might upset the Alywow if, as the works suggest, she’s not meant for dirt. American Women did train on Tapeta at Turfway before her debut, and I wonder if that’s part of the reason she wound up at Woodbine. None of the favorites here scare me, and maybe American Women can give them a scare. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.