by Mike Curry

Hold Me Back entered the Lane’s End Stakes (G2) as barely a blip on the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (G1) radar and came out of the race at Turfway Park with enough graded stakes earnings to cement a spot in the first jewel of the Triple Crown.

Fitness was not an issue for the Giant’s Causeway colt in the 1 1/8-mile Lane’s End as he made his first start in more than 3 1/2 months for Racing Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott. Hold Me Back rallied from 11th in the field of 12 three-year-olds with a sweeping five-wide bid entering the lane and seized command inside the final furlong under Kent Desormeaux.

Sent off at 9.10-to-1 odds, Hold Me Back drove clear to win by 1 3/4 lengths in 1:49.63 on the synthetic Polytrack surface. Out of the unraced Unbridled’s Song mare Restraint, he improved to three wins in four starts and earned $282,000 for the victory.

Hold Me Back picked up $6,000 for a fifth-place finish in the Remsen Stakes (G2) in his previous start on November 29 at Aqueduct. The $288,000 in graded stakes earnings should be sufficient to guarantee Hold Me Back a starting spot in the 1 1/4-mile Kentucky Derby on May 2, should Mott and owner WinStar Farm decide to point him to the classic race.

“This was a $500,000 race and it gave us graded earnings if we want to dream big, and we’re dreaming big,” WinStar Farm President Doug Cauthen said. “He’s really strengthened and matured since last year. … The credit really goes to Bill [Mott] and the horse. We are very fortunate to have Bill and [WinStar Vice President] Elliott Walden plotting his course.”

The field for the Kentucky Derby is determined by graded stakes earnings if more than 20 horses are entered, with one spot automatically given to the victor of England’s Kentucky Derby Challenge Stakes, which was won by Mafaaz on March 18.

“The Derby is definitely our plan, but we’ll let the horse and Bill tell us if that is the right place,” Walden said. “Our goal is the Derby every year.”

Walden said Hold Me Back will either train up to the Derby or contest the Toyota Blue Grass Stakes (G1) on April 11 at Keeneland Race Course.

Orthodox set a solid pace in the Lane’s End through a half-mile in :47.84 and six furlongs in 1:12.43 with Proceed Bee, Parade Clown, and Flying Private stalking in striking distance.

Proceed Bee and Parade Clown overpowered pacesetter Orthodox and dueled into the stretch before Flying Private rallied into contention and seized command near the eighth pole. Flying Private put away Proceed Bee and Parade Clown but could not turn back the sustained charge of Hold Me Back.

Runner-up Flying Private finished four lengths clear of Proceed Bee, who edged Parade Clown by a half-length for third.

Grade 3 winner West Side Bernie finished a dull sixth as the 2.10-to-1 favorite. Fellow Grade 3 winner Bittel Road was never in contention and finished tenth as the 2.30-to-1 second betting choice.

For an Equibase chart, click here.

Mike Curry is a Thoroughbred Times TODAY editor