With only four weeks left until Kentucky Derby 2025, the last three major qualifying preps have the attention of this week’s Ron Flatter Racing Pod.

Derby-winning trainer Rick Dutrow discusses Captain Cook, one of the top contenders in what is expected to be a wet running Saturday of the Grade 2 Wood Memorial at Aqueduct. Dutrow talks about whether the weather will benefit his colt and how the race will be run. He also talks about the two years he has been back in racing after his 10-year suspension ended.

FanDuel TV analyst Joaquin Jaime looks at the overall Kentucky Derby picture, including the showdown between consensus futures favorite Journalism and Eclipse Award winner Citizen Bull in the Santa Anita Derby (G1) on Saturday. There also will be conversation about the Wood and about Tuesday’s Blue Grass (G1) at Keeneland.

Super Screener creator Mike Shutty zeroes in on each of the three Derby qualifiers, and co-host John Cherwa of the Los Angeles Times checks in from California to field listener and reader feedback.

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.

Handicapping of Kentucky Derby 2025 qualifiers this weekend and a tribute to the late San Diego columnist Bryce Miller take center stage on the Ron Flatter Racing Pod.

Del Mar president Joe Harper offers a tribute to Miller, whose turf writing took him from the seaside track to Triple Crown races to Breeders’ Cups.

Colleagues reminisce about a newspaper career that took Miller from his native Iowa to USA Today to the San Diego Union-Tribune. Former sports editor Jay Posner and podcast co-host and Los Angeles Times contributor John Cherwa share stories about their working with Miller.

Highlights of a 2022 interview with Miller will be replayed, including an infamous story about an Iowa man whose embarrassment about something he left in his car led him to a $2.2 million lottery win.

Paddock Prince handicapper David Levitch focuses on the Florida Derby and the Arkansas Derby, this weekend’s Grade 1 races that are automatic qualifiers for Churchill Downs in May. He also has tips for the Kentucky Oaks (G1) preps at Gulfstream Park and Oaklawn.

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.

On the track, off the track and at the window. They are the three stages for this week’s Ron Flatter Racing Pod.

The biggest preps for Kentucky Derby 2025 begin Saturday. Reigning champion jockey Flavien Prat has the ride on John Hancock, the undefeated colt who is the morning-line favorite for the Grade 2 Louisiana Derby. Prat discusses that race and his assignment on Eclipse Award winner Sierra Leone in the New Orleans Classic (G2).

This week’s vote in a legislative committee to advance the potential decoupling of Gulfstream Park’s racing and slot-machine licenses is discussed by National Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association CEO Eric Hamelback. He explains why every horse-racing state should be concerned about what happens in Florida.

Handicapper Ed DeRosa offers tips for this weekend’s Louisiana Derby and Muniz Memorial Classic presented by Horse Racing Nation (G2) at Fair Grounds and the Jeff Ruby Steaks (G3), Turfway Park’s win-and-you’re-in qualifier for the Kentucky Derby.

Co-host John Cherwa joins in the analysis of listener and reader feedback on the Florida decoupling controversy.

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.

A new Kentucky Derby 2025 prep, how racing is reacting to tariffs and decoupling and the National Horseplayers Championship are the subjects in the spotlight on the Ron Flatter Racing Pod.

Colonial Downs hosts this weekend’s $500,000 Virginia Derby, a qualifier for the run for the roses May 3. Churchill Downs Inc. vice president of racing Gary Palmisano Jr. talks about the race, the ongoing rise of the sport in Virginia and his family legacy that continues to drive him.

From federal tariffs to the proposed decoupling of racing and slot machines at Gulfstream Park, National Thoroughbred Racing Association CEO Tom Rooney provides an update. He also previews this weekend’s 26th annual NHC in Las Vegas, where an $800,000 first prize and an Eclipse Award will go to the winner.

Super Screener creator Mike Shutty handicaps the Virginia Derby and the Virginia Oaks at Colonial Downs and the Grade 3 Whitmore Stakes at Oaklawn.

John Cherwa joins in the conversation generated by listener and reader feedback from the past week, including reaction to the retirement of Del Mar announcer Trevor Denman.

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.

Seizing on the momentum of eye-catching events the Grade 1 Saudi Cup and the Four Nations hockey tournament, is the timing right for the World Riding Championship of Thoroughbred Racing? The concept catches the spotlight this week on the Ron Flatter Racing Pod.

Leon Nichols and Calvin Davis, the founders of the Project to Preserve African-American Turf History, return to the podcast in their roles with Bet the World Entertainment. The proposal to bring together an international cast of horses, trainers and riders has received endorsements at the same time as it faces obstacles. Nichols and Davis discuss these matters in depth.

California Horse Racing Board vice chair Oscar Gonzales also joins the panel to discuss the proposal for what is envisioned as a global event.

Mark Midland handicaps weekend races including the Grade 3 Tampa Bay Derby, a virtual win-and-you’re-in qualifier for Kentucky Derby 2025.

Listener and reader feedback is focused on last week’s column calling for a more balanced scheduling of Kentucky Derby points preps.

To keep up with developments with the World Riding Championship, go to the ppaath.net.

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.

At least three more spots in the Churchill Downs gate are likely to be decided this weekend with important Kentucky Derby 2025 points races at Gulfstream Park, Aqueduct and Santa Anita. They get the spotlight on this week’s Ron Flatter Racing Pod.

Racetrack personality Eddie the Hat Wilson checks in from Los Angeles to talk about Barnes’s return to the Derby trail for trainer Bob Baffert in the Grade 2 San Felipe Stakes. He also discusses the future of racing in California, Baffert’s return to Churchill Downs and an overarching view of the Derby trail.

In Florida, trainer Ian Wilkes discusses Burnham Square, the Holy Bull (G3) winner who comes back this weekend in the Fountain of Youth (G2). He offers a long-range view of plans for the gelding as he campaigns for the Florida and Kentucky derbies.

Ed DeRosa handicaps races he has chosen from this busy weekend, and co-host John Cherwa joins for feedback from listeners and readers.

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.

It may have been postponed a day, but the Grade 2, $1.25 million Rebel Stakes at Oaklawn should be worth the wait. With a full field of 14 horses, the virtual win-and-you’re-in qualifier for Kentucky Derby 2025 is the focus this week of the Ron Flatter Racing Pod.

Trainer Lonnie Briley, who never has had a graded-stakes victory, is on the doorstep of that and his first Derby horse with three-time stakes winner Coal Battle. He talks about the colt’s journey and his own from the oil fields of Louisiana to a career with Thoroughbreds.

Oaklawn announcer Matt Dinerman discusses the challenges of a cold winter in Arkansas as well as his own insights on the Rebel and other stakes on Sunday’s card.

Paddock Prince handicapper David Levitch has tips for an all-stakes Pick 4 ticket Sunday at Oaklawn.

Co-host John Cherwa helps to go over listener and reader feedback about the importance of last week’s Risen Star (G2) at Fair Grounds and jockey Frankie Dettori’s decision to move his tack east from 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.

The first of the virtual win-and-you’re-in qualifiers for Kentucky Derby 2025 arrives Saturday with the Grade 2 Risen Star Stakes at Fair Grounds in New Orleans. That is where the spotlight is focused for this week’s Ron Flatter Racing Pod.

Trainer Brendan Walsh discusses morning-line favorite East Avenue, who carried two open-lengths victories into the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile. That was where a stumbling start doomed him to finish off the board. Walsh discusses how the 3-year-old Godolphin homebred colt has been doing since his disappointment at Del Mar and how he hopes East Avenue’s Grade 1-winning form will show itself again.

Fair Grounds track announcer John G. Dooley checks out East Avenue and other contenders in the Risen Star as well as undefeated Good Cheer, who will be favored to win the Rachel Alexandra (G2) and the Kentucky Oaks (G1) first-place qualifying points that go with it.

Super Screener creator Mike Shutty offers handicapping tips for the Risen Star and two turf stakes in New Orleans, including the Fair Grounds Stakes presented by Horse Racing Nation (G3) and the Colonel Power sprint.

Listener and reader feedback is focused on the Florida bill that would allow Gulfstream Park and Tampa Bay Downs to decouple their Thoroughbred and gaming licenses, opening the door for either track to stop racing while still running their slot machines and poker tables.

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.

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.

Kentucky Derby 2025 points preps at Aqueduct, Gulfstream Park and Santa Anita have the floor this week on the Ron Flatter Racing Pod.

From California, longtime horse owner and public handicapper Jon Lindo offers his thoughts about north-state racing coming to an end, decoupling proposals in Florida and Virginia and small fields for stakes this weekend at Santa Anita. He also previews the Robert B. Lewis, one of Saturday’s Derby points preps.

Co-owner Ramiro Restrepo, who won the Kentucky Derby two years ago with Mage, is back with Ferocious, the favorite to win the Grade 3 Holy Bull, the latest Gulfstream Park stop on the road to Louisville.

Ed DeRosa handicaps weekend races, including the Bob Lewis, the Holy Bull and the Withers at Aqueduct. Each will be worth 20 Derby qualifying points to the winner.

Co-host John Cherwa helps to go over listener and reader feedback, much of which is about the future of Gulfstream Park, the apparent death of Northern California racing and reaction to the Eclipse Awards last week in Florida.

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.