‘We Haven’t Had Any Hiccups’: Derby Runner-Up Two Phil’s Leads Eight-Horse Field In Ohio Derby

Trainer Larry Rivelli has confidence in his Kentucky Derby runner-up Two Phil's ahead of this Saturday's Grade 3, $500,000 Ohio Derby at Thistledown Racino, reports bloodhorse.com. The 3-year-old son of Hard Spun drew post four in the field of eight runners entered for the 1 1/8-mile contest.

“We haven't had any hiccups, he's been training really good, just as good as he was going into the Derby,” Rivelli told bloodhorse.com. “If everything goes well he'll make a good showing and we'll move onto the next, probably the Haskell and the Travers. That's our goal for the rest of the year.”

Jockey Jareth Loveberry will be aboard Two Phil's again in the Ohio Derby, and the pair have been tabbed as the 8-5 favorite on the morning line.

Second choice at 3-1 goes to the Brad Cox-trained Bishops Bay, last-out second in the G3 Peter Pan to eventual Belmont Stakes winner Arcangelo. Florent Geroux ships in to ride the son of Uncle Mo.

Scratched from the Kentucky Derby after his trainer Saffie Joseph sent out a pair of unexplained sudden deaths earlier in the week, Lord Miles has not raced since winning the G2 Wood Memorial on April 8, 2023. The son of Curlin is the third choice on the morning line at 7-2 in the Ohio Derby, and will be piloted by Edgard Zayas.

Third in the G3 Peter Pan, the Doug O'Neill-trained Henry Q is the fourth choice at 5-1 on the morning line for Saturday's Ohio Derby. He will be ridden by Kendrick Carmouche.

The full field for the Ohio Derby is as follows:

Henry Q (Kendrick Carmouche, Doug O'Neill) 5-1
Timesatappin (Kevin Gonzalez, Lori Loudin-Smith) 30-1
Bishops Bay (Florent Geroux, Brad Cox) 3-1
Two Phil's (Jareth Loveberry, Larry Rivelli) 8-5
Agnello's Dream (Erik Barbaran, Jeffrey Skerrett) 20-1
Last Cookie (Leandro Briceno, Johanna Urieta) 30-1
Lord Miles (Edgard Zayas, Saffie Joseph) 7-2
Hayes Strike (Cristian Torres, Ken McPeek) 6-1