King Ottoman Prevails in Texas Derby Stretch Duel

Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen won the Texas Derby for the first time May 30 when King Ottoman  prevailed in a stretch duel with his stablemate Presidential  in the $300,000 race at Lone Star Park.

Three Chimneys Farm's homebred son of Curlin   reached two milestones in the Texas Derby by getting his first win and his first stakes win simultaneously. He came into the race off a third-place finish in a one-mile maiden special weight at Churchill Downs on the Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve (G1) undercard.

In the Texas Derby, King Ottoman was the fifth betting choice in a field of eight going 1 1/16 miles. Stewart Elliott broke alertly aboard the gray colt but was intent on rating his mount behind the early pacesetter Cover Me Up , who is trained by Richard Baltas. Favorite A.P.'s Secret with jockey Edwin Gonzalez and Got Thunder  with Victor Espinoza stalked the leader through opening fractions in a pedestrian :24.22 and :48.12.

Turning for home, the Asmussen stablemates were forced wide around the three frontrunners heading into the stretch. Elliott took King Ottoman widest of all to collar Presidential, ridden by Isaac Castillo, and the two bumped and battled to the wire, where King Ottoman ($23.60) prevailed by a head. The final time was 1:45.29.

"I was in behind horses and I tried to get (King Ottoman) to run up in there, as I thought I would have room to do so," said Elliott. "The horse was a bit hesitant to do just that, and therefore I decided to take him out to go around the horse in front of us. Once he was clear he began to fire down the lane, and he showed me that he was a bit green as he was trying to lay over on the other horse in the stretch. It was a great win, and this horse is going to be really nice once he really starts to figure things out."

The 1-2 finish in the Texas Derby capped off a four-win day for Asmussen, who also won with Silver Prospector  in the Steve Sexton Mile (G3) and Kalypso  in the Memorial Day Sprint.

"I am extremely proud of both colts that we ran today in the Texas Derby, as they both showed up to run," Asmussen said. "King Ottoman has always worked in the mornings with the best horses that we have in our barn and has flashed his talent in some of those works. We were flabbergasted he had gotten beat in some of his maiden races. Having faith in him and staying the course proved the right thing with him."

King Ottoman is out of the grade 1-placed Tapit   winner Shook Up , who is out of grade 1 winner Sugar Shake . Three Chimneys acquired Shook Up for $1.65 million at the 2015 Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale. The colt is her second starter and first winner. She foaled a colt by Volatile   March 4.