Derby prep: Otto the Conqueror narrowly wins Springboard

Like two fighters engaged in an intense battle to the finish, Otto the Conqueror and Glengarry threw everything except the kitchen sink at each other from gate to wire with Otto gaining the edge by a head at the end to win the $300,000 Remington Springboard Mile on Friday night at Remington Park, earning 10 Kentucky Derby qualifying points.

Trainer Steve Asmussen, a winner of this race seven times, may have summed it up best.

Click here for Remington Park entries and results.

“It’s off to Hot Springs (Ark.), and Derby trail, here we come,” said the all-time winningest North American trainer, referring to 3-year-old preps in 2024 at Oaklawn. “You just saw two nice horses hooked up from start to finish.”

Tyler Gaffalione, after winning the Eclipse Award as the champion apprentice rider in 2015, has been called one of the rising stars as a jockey. He won the 2019 Preakness aboard War of Will and now has Otto the Conqueror as a possibility going forward in racing for a spot in Kentucky Derby 2024.

Gaffalione showed why the spotlight shines so brightly on him in the Springboard as he went to work on Otto the Conqueror in the eye-to-eye war against Glengarry. By the time those two hit the backstretch, they had extended a chasm of about six lengths from their nearest competitors.

They were neck and neck after three-quarters of a mile, covering the ground together in 23.48 seconds for the first quarter-mile, a brisk 46.35 seconds for the half-mile and swift 1:11.40 for six furlongs.

When they hit finish, Otto the Conqueror had garnered a three-quarter-length victory at 1:39.91 over the muddy track.

Magic Grant rallied for third, closing like a freight train at the end and finishing only 1 1/4 lengths in back of Glengarry.

“He fired a big one,” Gaffalione said of Otto the Conqueror. “He never gave it up. Steve brought him over, and he ran a big race.”

The Kentucky Derby points broke out behind Otto the Conqueror with Glengarry earning five, Magic Grant three, Third Street in fourth gaining two and My Buddy Mel in fifth captured one point. Raging Torrent, a shipper for West Coast trainer Doug O’Neill got nothing for a last-place effort in the field of six.

Brad Cox, the nation’s leading trainer by earnings, had Fidget and Gettysburg Address entered but scratched them both Friday morning. Rhino Runner also was scratched from the original field.

The betting public had trouble sorting among the three shippers for favoritism in the Springboard. Raging Torrent was a slight favorite at 6-5 odds and threw the disappointing effort after breaking poorly from the gate. Otto the Conqueror was sent off as the 7-5 second choice, and Glengarry was 2-1 at post time.

Otto the Conqueror paid $4.80 to win, $3.20 to place and $2.40 to show. He is a 2-year-old colt by Kentucky Derby winner Street Sense out of the Shackleford mare Dream It Is. He earned $180,000 and improved his record to 4: 3-1-0 and $337,360 in earnings for owner Three Chimneys Farm.

With the victory, Otto the Conqueror moved into second among Street Sense’s progeny in earnings for 2023 behind the $464,110 for First Mission, a 3-year-old trained by Brad Cox. Otto the Conqueror was bred in Kentucky by Hoolie Racing Stable and was bought for $450,000 from the Keeneland September yearling sale in 2022.

Otto the Conqueror’s sire Street Sense won the Kentucky Derby in 2007, and his maternal grandsire Shackleford won the Preakness in 2011.

Asmussen’s other six Springboard winners were Shoplifted in 2019, Long Range Toddy in 2018, Bayerd in 2014, Test Boy in 2005, Smooth Bid in 2004 and Shawklit Man in 2002.

It was the first Springboard win for Gaffalione and for Three Chimneys Farm.