LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The connections of the top three finishers in Saturday’s Grade 2, $750,000 Alysheba Stakes all have reason to walk away from the race feeling good about the future for their horses. In the moment, however, only the connections of Corporate Power could walk out of Churchill Downs being content with the result. Corporate Power achieved his biggest victory to date, prevailing in a stretch-long battle with Skippylongstocking to win the Alysheba by a neck. It was another half-length back to Baeza in third, that horse totally compromised by a bad break that, it could be argued, cost him a victory in the race. Things got tight between Corporate Power, under Jose Ortiz, and Skippylongstocking, ridden by Tyler Gaffalione, from the quarter pole to the wire. Skippylongstocking was three-wide, Corporate Power four-wide, going around Nu What’s New and East Avenue, who were beginning to fade after setting the pace. In deep stretch, Corporate Power drifted in, tightening things up on Skippylongstocking and Gaffalione, who appeared to lose balance just at or after the wire. :: DRF Kentucky Derby Package: Save on Past Performances, Clocker Reports, Betting Strategies, and more. Both Gaffalione and Saffie Joseph Jr., the trainer of Skippylongstocking, lodged an objection against Corporate Power with the stewards, who also posted the inquiry sign regarding the whole race. After about a 10-minute review, the stewards allowed the result to stand.   Joseph was visibly upset with the riding of Ortiz aboard Corporate Power.  “He herded me from the three-eighths,” Joseph said. “It was terrible. From the three-eighths pole, he bumped the horse the whole way. It’s terrible to allow a guy to bump for three furlongs. That’s a lot of bumping.” Naturally, Ortiz didn’t see it the same. Ortiz said he thought Gaffalione on Skippylongstocking “made some contact with me from the quarter pole to the eighth pole to make his way [out], which he did. I put my head in front at the eighth pole. You can see Skippy’s head shying away from me when I get in front of him and he went in. I took everything he gave me. At the end, I felt like I had him tight, but I never gave him a major bump. I was just race-riding him.” Corporate Power was four-wide going into the first turn and down the backstretch before Ortiz was able to move him in a path or two entering the far turn. “Skippy pushed him out from the rail to four-wide coming into the stretch. I’m extremely proud of Corporate Power’s effort in the race,” trainer Steve Asmussen said. “Going into the first turn, nothing was absolutely ideal. He could have given up there. Coming into the stretch, he had to earn it. He fought back and proved what a quality horse he is.” It was the first graded stakes win for Corporate Power, a 5-year-old son of Curlin owned by Courtlandt Farm, who was making his third start for Asmussen after making his first seven starts for Shug McGaughey. He came to Asmussen following more than a year away from the races. :: Get DRF Kentucky Oaks & Derby Betting Strategies by Marcus Hersh and David Aragona. Full analysis and wager recommendations! Corporate Power covered the 1 1/16 miles on dirt in 1:41.82 and returned $13.20. Meanwhile, jockey Junior Alvarado was livid with the gate crew, who popped the starting gate when Baeza was unprepared. Baeza broke about five lengths slow and rallied from last to get beat three-quarters of a length. “Those guys did a poor job at the gate,” Alvarado said. “I keep telling them, 'no, no, no.’ They don’t give [a care] about it. He ran pretty good, but it was a lot to do.” Baeza, third in last year’s Kentucky Derby and Belmont Stakes and winner of the Grade 1 Pennsylvania Derby, was making his first start since the Breeders’ Cup Classic and first for Bill Mott. The horse was transferred to Mott following the death of trainer John Shirreffs in February.  Mott worked the horse out of the gate last week at Payson Park and stood him in the gate this week in Kentucky. He was upset the gate crew didn’t listen to Alvarado.  “The jock is hollering that his horse is not going to break, they should give him a chance, you know what I mean?” Mott said. “It’s not that they were in there that long. It was a good race. He gave them five lengths at the break, maybe more.” There is likely more to come from these three horses in an older dirt male division that includes Sovereignty, White Abarrio and Journalism and Magnitude. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.