Photo:

Casey Laughter / Eclipse Sportswire

This year’s Preakness Stakes was advertised as the weak sister of the 2026 Triple Crown series. While Golden Tempo, Renegade, Commandment, and Chief Wallabee all took a hard pass on the middle jewel, they still ran the race at Laurel Park. The brunt of jokes before and after Napoleon Solo’s victory, the Preakness may yet enjoy the last laugh.

While Napoleon Solo and Iron Honor, the top two finishers from Maryland’s classic, will wait for the $1 million Haskell (G1) next month at Monmouth Park, Saturday’s $500,000 Ohio Derby (G3) attracted a solid field of 3-year-old males to Thistledown. Included in the group was a quartet coming straight out of the Preakness, led by Chip Honcho and Ocelli.

Bull by the Horns and Robusta were longshots off their results at Laurel and they ran like it in Ohio. Chip Honcho and Ocelli, on the other hand, were well supported on Saturday after running third and fourth in the Preakness.

After the pair put away the favored Desert Gate at the top of the stretch, they battled it out down the lane. In the end, it was Chip Honcho getting the better of his rival late to pull clear to a one-length score in the Ohio Derby. The Lexington Stakes (G3) winner Trendsetter was able to rally and get by the favorite for third, but this really was a two-horse race down the Thistledown stretch.

Trained by Steve Asmussen and ridden again by Jose Ortiz, Chip Honcho earned his second stakes win of his career, and his first of his sophomore season with the performance. 

Before his solid third-place effort in the Preakness behind Napoleon Solo and Iron Honor, the son of Connect had run several good efforts in New Orleans, including a win in the Gun Runner and a strong second-place performance behind Paladin and ahead of the Kentucky Derby and Belmont Stakes hero Golden Tempo in the Risen Star (G2).

Despite his solid racing at Fair Grounds the decision was made to skip the Kentucky Derby with Chip Honcho and point for the Preakness instead. That decision already seems to be paying dividends.

On Saturday, he was steadied just a bit heading into the first turn but had already been asked to keep off the early lead set by Robusta. His ability to stalk from just off the pace in his last two races has seemingly made him a better and more dangerous horse.

When Ocelli rolled by him on the turn, he had to come up with a strong stretch drive to win and he did just that. Other than the Louisiana Derby, where he was hung out to dry a little bit early and faded to fifth, Chip Honcho has run nothing but good races in his career and looks to continue to be a player in the division as we move into the second half of the season.

As for Ocelli, I must admit that he was the one I was pulling for in the Ohio Derby. Also a son of the Curlin stallion Connect, he is a horse that I find it impossible not to root for.

After Saturday’s strong run for second, Ocelli has now run nine times in his career and remains winless. Sent off as the third choice in the Ohio Derby behind Desert Gate and Chip Honcho, the maiden once again ran a big race in defeat.

After displaying some rallying talent in his first three career starts, it has been a steady diet of stakes races and tough competition for the Whit Beckman-trained runner.

Even in the Sam F. Davis, won by Renegade, and the Virginia Derby, won by Incredibolt, Ocelli made his move from behind, but in both races, he was too immature to handle any adversity, and he backed out down the lane.

Undeterred, his connections were willing to keep trying. A solid rally to be third in the Wood Memorial (G2) was enough to get him into the Run for the Roses and his connections took full advantage. He actually briefly led in the stretch run of the Kentucky Derby, before finishing third as the longest shot on the board.

No horse was able to make up much ground in the Preakness, but Ocelli was the best of the late-runners, checking in 4th of 14. In the first two legs of the Triple Crown, the maiden finished ahead of all but 5 of the 30 horses he faced. 

In the Ohio Derby, he had a wide trip and came with his patented rally under rider Tyler Gaffalione but could not hold off Chip Honcho in an exciting battle.

Despite still being winless in nine career starts, Ocelli has amassed $829,800. Not bad for a maiden, and not bad for a horse that was originally purchased for $12,000 as a yearling.

I cannot recall a maiden ever reaching the $1 million mark in earnings. I believe Ocelli has a chance to be the first. With a demanding schedule and a consistent far turn rally, it has been fun to watch the ride.

Chip Honcho and Ocelli, coming out of good efforts at Laurel Park, absolutely dominated Saturday’s Ohio Derby. Maybe we should start taking a more positive view of the 2026 Preakness Stakes.

PIERRE, S.D. — A governor-appointed board unanimously approved higher prices and a higher income limit Monday for an affordable housing program.

The South Dakota

Governor’s House

program sells two- and three-bedroom homes built by inmates at Mike Durfee State Prison in Springfield that are shipped across the state to eligible buyers.

The program also offers daycare models, which can be owned by daycare providers or nonprofit organizations. For buyers in rural areas with less than 5,000 people, the authority provides

DakotaPlex

units intended to be used as duplexes, triplexes or quadriplexes.

Buyers are responsible for buying a building permit, finding a lot, laying the foundation and flooring, and hooking up utilities and appliances.

This year’s change is the “smallest price increase we’ve had in many, many years,” according to Mike Harsma, who heads the Governor’s House program for South Dakota Housing.

On July 1, the start of the new fiscal year, the homes will be priced as follows:

• Two bedroom: $89,000, up from $86,000, or a 3.49% increase.
• Three bedroom: $99,000, up from $96,000, or a 3.13% increase.
• Dakotaplex two bedroom: $99,000, up from $97,000, or a 2.06% increase.
• Dakotaplex three bedroom: $109,000, up from $106,000, or a 2.83% increase.
• Daycare: $99,000, up from $96,000, or a 3.13% increase.

Last year

, units increased at least 6%. The rise in prices this year is due mostly to increased fuel costs, according to Chas Olson, executive director of the South Dakota Housing Development Authority. The cost of delivery for a home is included in the total price of a Governor’s House.

“Whether we’re moving a Governor’s House from Springfield to Sioux Falls or we’re moving it across the state to Buffalo, South Dakota, we get the same amount for that moving fee,” Olson said. “The cost of fuel, where it is now and kind of the uncertainty around that, we had to build in a little bit of a cushion just to be sure that we weren’t taking too big a loss on the fuel.”

Buyers of Governor’s Houses must meet income requirements. The board approved a higher income limit, now at 100% of the state’s median income, regardless of household size.

Families that make up to $103,400 now qualify for the program. In previous years, buyers in one- to two-person households could qualify if they made $72,380 or less and households of three or more people could qualify if they made $82,720 or less.

“It’s hard to get people qualified at those income levels,” Olson said. It had been about 14 years since that limit was adjusted, he said, “and with the cost of everything now, I mean, it was just time.”

Board members also approved a program that’s modeled after a

piece of legislation

that failed earlier this year in the Legislature. It’s a mortgage assistance program for qualifying buyers of manufactured homes.

The authority also provides

down payment assistance

for traditional homes. Down payments for manufactured homes are often higher than a typical mortgage down payment, according to Amy Eldridge, of the authority.

A

manufactured home

is a mobile home that’s built on a permanent framework. The homes must have all required utilities, including plumbing and climate control.

Eligible buyers can apply for a low-interest loan of up to 50% of their mortgage down payment from the assistance program, with total assistance not exceeding $10,000. The income limit for the program is $124,080.

Olson hopes to see the program available to interested buyers within the next month.

“We just need more homes at lower price points,” he said, “and we need ways to get that done.”

• Showers will be most likely for areas along and south of the I-94 corridor
• Dry and pleasant conditions for Monday and Tuesday
• Showers and thunderstorms will return Tuesday night and into the day Wednesday

MADISON, Wis. (WMTV) – We are starting the day with some sunshine, but high-level clouds will continue to move in out ahead of a weather system to the southwest. This area of low pressure will move eastward across Illinois and Indiana today, bringing an increase in cloud cover as well as the chance for rain in southern Wisconsin. There is still some uncertainty with exactly how far north the rain will extend, but there is a higher confidence in the presence and coverage of showers along and south of the I-94 corridor this afternoon and evening. Activity will likely be much more hit-or-miss in areas farther north, with some spots potentially not seeing any rain at all.

The cloud cover and rain combined will work to limit temperatures today, with highs only ranging from the upper 60s (in southern Wisconsin) to the low 70s (further north where the sun may linger longer, and it will be drier). We are not expecting a heavy rain, nor are we expecting storms. In areas closer to the state line, rainfall accumulations may be around a half inch. Tonight, rain will end as the system moves east.

What’s Coming Up…

Monday will be dry and pleasant with highs into the mid-70s and some sunshine. This trend continues Tuesday, with highs in the upper 70s. Rain and thunderstorms are then likely to return Tuesday night and Wednesday, with a chance for some stronger storms Wednesday afternoon. Additional showers may linger into Thursday.

Looking Ahead…

Friday looks mostly dry before more chances for showers and thunderstorms return next weekend as temperatures warm up a bit closer to normal for this time of the year.

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