Wootton Asset ends seven-race skid in Virginia Derby

Wootton Asset finally got a North American win, holding off Slicked Back to capture the Grade 3, $250,000 Virginia Derby on Tuesday at Colonial Downs.

Maryland-based Graham Motion, who has been racing at Colonial Downs since 1997, trains the winner for Madaket Stables, and Wootton Asset’s victory had much to do with jockey Jose Ortiz.

Racing midpack and along the rail as Indian Lake went an opening half-mile over a firm outer turf course in a moderate 48.13 seconds, Wootton Asset and Ortiz were hemmed inside Slicked Back as the horses bent into the far turn. But Ortiz asked Wootton Asset for more run at about the three-furlong marker, getting in front of Slicked Back and outside into the clear. Full of run and cornering athletically, Wootton Asset seized the lead at the three-sixteenths pole and opened daylight on the rest of the field. Slicked Back, much slower to find his best stride, began seriously cutting into the lead at the sixteenth pole but fell about three-quarters of a length short of victory.

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Wootton Asset was timed in 1:46.79 for the 1 1/8 miles and paid $11.20 to win. It Can Be Done, who attended the pace, finished third as Hidden Enemy rallied mildly for fourth.

Wootton Asset won two minor races in France during late spring 2020 before being sold and exported to America later in his 2-year-old season. He missed by a nose in the Laurel Futurity, his North American debut, and was somewhat less effective in two subsequent starts last season. Third in the Kent at Delaware Park and in the Bald Eagle over 1 1/2 miles at Pimlico, Wootton Asset ended a seven-race losing streak Tuesday with easily the most complete performance of his career. Wootton Asset is by Wootton Basset out of Love Liu, by Librettist.