With less than three months before the run for the roses, a mock draft for Kentucky Derby 2025 brings together seven handicapping minds for this week's Ron Flatter Racing Pod.

Horse Racing Nation hard-core handicapper and fair-odds author Ed DeRosa will be joined by Chip Gehrke, the Doctor Derby curator of weekly division rankings.

Five other media horseplayers take part, including Sara Elbadwi from Fox Sports and the New York Racing Association, Betting on Horse Racing for Dummies author Richard Eng from Las Vegas, Churchill Downs analyst and Turfway Park host Kaitlin Free, turf writer and publicist Alicia Hughes and sports-gambling host and former NFL quarterback Shaun King.

The draft will last four rounds to determine who will be best positioned to have the winner among their four horses who could be in the May 3 running of the Derby.

Also, co-host John Cherwa discusses the biggest talking points in his Los Angeles Times story this week on the future of horse racing with an emphasis on California.

The Ron Flatter Racing Pod via Horse Racing Nation is available via free subscription from Apple, Firefox, iHeart and Spotify as well as HorseRacingNation.com.