Zipse: Desert Gate will be tested for class in the Ohio Derby

Fresh off a pair of dominant wins in the Hot Springs Stakes and the Texas Derby, it’s time for Desert Gate to face some stiffer competition. He’ll find just that at Thistledown on Saturday. 

The 92nd running of the Ohio Derby has attracted a solid field of ten colts and geldings to the Big T in Suburban Cleveland. The Grade 3, $500,000 affair features the third-place finishers in both the Kentucky Derby and Preakness, as well as a trio of graded stakes winners. 

Trained by Bob Baffert and to be ridden by Flavien Prat, Desert Gate figures to vie for favoritism in the 1 1/8-mile test with the well-tested Chip Honcho. 

From the barn of Steve Asmussen, the latter exits a solid third-place effort in the Preakness behind Napoleon Solo and Iron Honor. Before that, the Connect colt had run several good efforts in New Orleans, including a win in the Gun Runner and a strong second-place effort behind Paladin and ahead of Golden Tempo in the Risen Star (G2). 

Other top contenders for the Ohio Derby include Ocelli, who while still a maiden rallied to finish third in the Kentucky Derby and fourth in the Preakness; Albus, the winner of the Wood Memorial (G2) before running a troubled 15th on the first Saturday in May; and Trendsetter, the winner of Keeneland’s Lexington Stakes (G3) two starts back. 

As for Desert Gate, the plan should be to go right to the lead as he has done in his last two starts. At both Oaklawn Park and Lone Star Park, the heavily favored frontrunner set all the fractions before pouring it on down the stretch to win for fun. His combined winning margin in the two listed stakes races was an impressive 16 lengths. 

A son of Omaha Beach, out of the Curlin mare Theogony, Desert Gate has already faced plenty of graded stakes competition, but got a kickstart to his career when he left Southern California to find softer competition in Arkansas and Texas. 

A $260,000 2-year-old in training purchase for the Three Amigos of Michael Pegram, Karl Watson, and Paul Weitman, Desert Gate won at first asking one year ago at Santa Anita. The sharp maiden score propelled him right into a steady diet of graded stakes racing. 

He won the 6-furlong Best Pal Stakes (G3) at Del Mar in his second career start by a wide margin. From there, he closed out his juvenile season by finishing a competitive second in a pair of Grade 1 races at Del Mar and Santa Anita respectively. 

A graded stakes winner with two wins and good seconds in both the Del Mar Futurity (G1) and American Pharoah (G1), Desert Gate looked like a horse to watch on the Kentucky Derby trail, but it never happened. 

Perhaps believing that rating him was the way to go if he was to handle longer distances, Desert Gate was held off the early lead in the one-mile Robert B. Lewis Stakes (G3) as the favorite in his sophomore debut. The result was a disappointing fourth-place finish in early February. 

That effort, which is his only poor performance to date in seven career starts, was apparently enough for his connections to pass on a run at the Kentucky Derby. 

Instead he appeared in the starting gate at Oaklawn Park the following month for the $200,000 Hot Springs. He dismantled the small field there, defeating Soldier N Diplomat by nearly ten lengths in the two-turn, one-mile race. 

Two months after that, he employed a similar go to the lead and run the competition off their feet style in the 1 1/16-mile Texas Derby. 

In both wins, Desert Gate looked very good but did not face strong competition. Saturday at Thistledown will be a different level of quality. 

It might seem strange to classify the Ohio Derby as a class test for Desert Gate considering what he faced earlier in his career, but I believe that is exactly where we are with the impressive son of Omaha Beach. 

With newfound confidence from a pair of romping wins against lesser competition, plus now allowing him to freewheel early on the lead, his sophomore campaign has been reinvigorated. 

Will it be enough to compete and win against the best of his foal crop? 

The answer to that is still to be determined, but Saturday’s Ohio Derby should tell us more about Desert Gate’s chances to shine in bigger races to come.