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Dr. T.F. Classen Memorial Stakes – Race 10 at Thistledown – Post Time 4:48 PM Eastern

Top Win Contender(s): Authoritarian Girl, Miz Keeta, Solute the Kid

Authoritarian Girl won all four of her races this year and last year, except for her first races off the layoff in 2025 and this year. All her wins came from the front, with no threats in the stretch. Last year, she won her second race off the layoff in a $50,000 claiming race before she won this stakes race. She is on the same pattern, as she won her last race on June 1 in a $50,000 claiming race after finishing fifth on May 6 off a nine-month layoff. There may be other horses with early speed, but Authoritarian Girl has the outside, allowing her to stalk, as she won twice that way. She has a decent shot at her 10th win in 15 starts.

Still, there are two other mares with a shot, and their odds make them worth a bet. Miz Keeta is one of the pressers who can get up to win. She finished second to Authoritarian Girl in her last race on June 1, her first start in nearly six months. She closed three and one-half lengths in the last eighth, missing by just a half-length. She has improved, and if any horse has a shot at the upset, she has the best. She starts at 15 to 1.

Salute the Kid is intriguing, particularly since she starts at 30 to 1. In 2024, she won off a layoff, then finished third in this stakes race, after rallying from fourth to take the lead at the eighth pole. Last year, she came back from a layoff, finishing fifth and second before finishing fifth in this race. This year, she won the layoff on May 25 easily, her best effort since 2024. She has won six of 19 races at this distance. She can improve, and she has a shot to upset.

 Handicapper Picks

Win bets: Authoritarian Girl at 2 to 1 or higher.

Miz Keeta and Solute the Kid at 4 to 1 or higher.

Exacta: Box Authoritarian Girl, Miz Keeta, Solute the Kid

Lady Jacqueline Stakes – Race 11 at Thistledown – Post Time 5:35 PM Eastern

Top Win Contender(s): Tirupati, Low Country Magic

Other contenders: Nerazurri, Take Charge Omaha

Tirupati has had 16 starts, winning four times on turf routes in 9 races. In her 6 non-grass races, she has a record of 1-1-4, and in the win, she won by four lengths. Only she and two other horses (Nerazurri and Take Charge Omaha) have run in two recent graded stakes, and Tirupati’s last race was faster than the other two. She earned a 97 Equibase Speed Figure when she finished fourth, beaten a neck by the third finisher and by one and one-half lengths in the Royal Heroine Stakes on April 25. This compares to Nerazurri, who earned an 84 figure when she finished eighth, and to the 89 earned by Take Charge Omaha when she was beaten by 10 lengths, finishing fourth. While Standoutsensation earned her best recent figure, which was 93, she finished third.

Tirupati is on her third race after a long layoff from April 2025 to April 2026. She returned in a sprint, improved in her last race, and finished fourth, beaten just over one length. She also had two excellent races before the layoff. She missed by a head in the Grade 3 Buena Vista (March 2025) and then won the Grade 3 Wilshire Stakes in March of last year. She earned 107 and 100 figures, and no other filly or mare has run that fast except Nerazurri. Nerazurri earned a 100 figure in January in a restricted stakes, then a career-best 109 when she finished second in the Grade 3 Bayakoa Stakes in February. Nerazurri finished sixth in her second race back, beaten by 13 lengths, and then finished eighth in her last race on May 1, where she earned only 84. Another horse with lower starting odds than Tirupati is Standoutsensation, who earned a 93 figure when she finished third in the Dig A Diamond Stakes on April 25 and a 93 figure when she finished fourth in the Grade 2 Azeri Stakes on March 7.

California jockey Kimura has the ride and has won two of her last three races. He also rode her in her recent race, her third start off the layoff, where Tirupati ran faster than Nerazurri, Standoutsensation, and Take Charge Omaha, so Tirupati has a good shot to win and starts at 9 to 2 odds.

Low Country Magic has an inside post and tactical speed. She won her last two races in May and June 2025, leading from the start, and in her second race, she earned a 95 figure. She was off from October until February, then made her comeback at this distance and finished third. Next, she finished fourth at nine furlongs, where she didn’t use her early speed. Her third race off the layoff was her best of the year, when she led from the start. Although she finished second, she was seven lengths ahead of the third-place finisher. Jockey Tyler Gaffalione rode her in her last race, the Allaire DuPont Distaff Stakes. She will go a long way on the front and could keep going. She starts at 5 to 1.

Handicapper Picks

Win bets: Tirupati and at 2 to 1 or higher.

Low Country Magic and at 3 to 1 or higher.

Exactas: Tirupati, Low Country Magic over Tirupati, Low Country Magic, Nerazurri, Take Charge Omaha

Tirupati, Low Country Magic, Nerazurri, Take Charge Omaha Tirupati, Low Country Magic over Tirupati, Low Country Magic

Ohio Derby (Grade 3) – Race 12 at Thistledown – Post Time 6:20 PM Eastern

Top Win Contender(s): Desert Gate, Zihnal

Exactas in second: ALL (except Chip Honcho, Ocelli, and Trendsetter)

Desert Gate is the fastest horse in the field. He won his last two races by 10 and seven lengths, earning 101 and 98 Equibase Speed Figures. His last two wins came when he tried blinkers, and the win in his second race back came with Flavien Prat, who will be piloting him here. Bob Baffert has never had a horse in this race, and this colt is the lone frontrunner, so he could win his third straight stakes race.

Desert Gate will obviously be the favorite, but there is money to be made with Zihnal, who starts at 30 to 1. His odds are high because he just won his maiden. However, that was also his third race, and his two previous races don’t mean much. His debut, a two-turn race, is very hard to win in California. His second was a turf race when he shipped to Kentucky, where he stalked fourth for the half, then packed it on and finished ninth. His recent race was excellent. He raced third until the stretch and won by a length. He earned an 89 figure, which, except for Desert Gate, is one of the best, even better than horses with lower odds, such as Chip Honcho (91), Robusta (78), Trendsetter (90), and even Albus (89 when he won the Wood Memorial in April). He is trained by Thomas Jonathan, the same trainer as Tirupati. Jonathan has won two stakes races from two starts. Zihnal is improving when many other horses aren’t in good form.

Handicapper Picks

Win bets: Desert Gate at 1 to 1 (even more) or higher.

Zihnal is a good bet for a win, place (and perhaps show) at 6 to 1 or higher.

Exacta: Desert Gate over all except Chip Honcho, Ocelli, and Trendsetter. (Those are the three lowest exactas)

Trifecta: Desert Gate over ALL over Zihnal.