Red Route One is coming back to his roots as he switches surfaces for Sunday’s Grade 3, $1 million Dueling Grounds Derby at Kentucky Downs, the course on which he won his maiden nearly a year ago. The Dueling Grounds Derby, which has drawn a field of 12 3-year-olds to go the 1 5/16-mile route on the undulating course, is one of three featured events on Sunday’s 12-race card that begins at 12:30 p.m. Central. It is joined by the $1 million Dueling Grounds Oaks, which attracted 13 entrants, and the $500,000 National Thoroughbred League Handicap, with a field of 10. Red Route One made his first two career starts on turf before switching to the dirt, where he has made his last 10 starts, including a breakthrough victory last time out in the Grade 3 West Virginia Derby. That pushed his career earnings to $1,045,025. “His versatility has allowed both,” trainer Steve Asmussen said. “But his ability has made that money.” :: Download a free copy of Daily Racing Form's 2023 Kentucky Downs Player's Guide Red Route One, by the red-hot young sire Gun Runner, races as a homebred for Kentucky Downs co-managing partner Ron Winchell. The colt sports a versatile pedigree. He is a full brother to Red Run, who won last year’s Texas Turf Mile. Their dam is a full sister to Kentucky Oaks and Breeders’ Cup Distaff winner and Eclipse Award champion Untapable, but also a half-sister to Grade 1 winner Paddy O’Prado, who won five graded stakes on turf. Red Route One started out on that surface and won his maiden in his second start, going a mile on the Kentucky Downs turf – the shortest race he has ever run in. “He’s a very athletic horse,” Asmussen said. “He was a horse that obviously needed a distance of ground from the beginning, and our opportunities to run him two turns were on the turf. That was how it all started.” Red Route One subsequently moved to dirt and finished third in the Grade 1 Breeders’ Futurity at Keeneland. This year, he was second in the Grade 3 Southwest and Grade 2 Rebel before winning the Bath House Row Stakes at Oaklawn. The latter earned him a berth in the Preakness Stakes, in which he was fourth; he finished eighth in the Belmont Stakes. Red Route One got his breakthrough score in the West Virginia Derby. With a faster pace to rally into – 1:11.50 for the first six furlongs on the good track at Mountaineer, compared to 1:13.49 in the Preakness and 1:12.56 at Belmont, both on fast tracks – Red Route One rallied from fifth at that point to a three-length score. A lack of committed pace on Sunday may be something that Red Route One and Cristian Torres, who partnered with him successfully last time, need to overcome. The same is true of another of the class horses in this field, Far Bridge, and his jockey, Jose Ortiz. The colt, who has never missed the board, rallied to win the Grade 1 Belmont Derby at 1 1/4 miles two starts back, and most recently was third in the Grade 1 Saratoga Derby. :: Bet the races with a $250 First Deposit Match + $10 Free Bet and FREE Formulator PPs! Join DRF Bets. The best chances for early pace come from stakes-placed Desert Duke, who is well drawn in post 2, and stakes winner Wizard of Westwood. Desert Duke raced on the front end for maiden and allowance wins earlier this year, making the lead and then rating kindly to slow the pace down. Wizard of Westwood won the Cinema Stakes at Santa Anita by leading early. He finished ninth in the Belmont Derby after being bumped at the break and recovering somewhat to stalk the pace. Really Good has shown the ability to overcome a soft pace. The Mike Maker trainee was sixth after an opening six furlongs in 1:14.43 in the Grade 3 Kent Stakes on a soft Delaware Park turf course on July 15. He rallied to win the 1 3/8-mile race by three-quarters of a length. Lion of War, eighth in the Saratoga Derby, is making his second start in the United States and first for trainer Brendan Walsh. He may appreciate the firm turf he is likely to get this weekend. Rounding out the field are Grade 3-placed Battle of Normandy, stakes-placed Anglophile, Highway Robber, Out of Deductions, Clever Thought, whose only win came in a maiden special weight, and last-out maiden-claiming winner Just a Photo. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.