Welcome to Kentucky Derby Prospect Profiles, where we take a look each week at a recent winner of a race on the Road to the Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve schedule offering qualifying points for the 1 ¼-mile Derby May 2, 2026, at Churchill Downs.

This week, we take a closer look at Chip Honcho, winner of the $100,000 Gun Runner Stakes Dec. 20 at Fair Grounds. Chip Honcho earned his first 10 points on the Road to the Kentucky Derby and is ranked 12^th on Churchill Downs’ latest leaderboard.

Racing Résumé: Chip Honcho has yet to run a poor race through three career starts. He debuted Oct. 16 at Keeneland Race Course in a seven-furlong maiden race and overcame a slow start to rally well and finish second, 2 ¾ lengths behind odds-on favorite Dr. Kapur. He returned at Churchill Downs during its fall meet Nov. 20 and was the 1.70-1 favorite in a maiden race held at one mile around one turn and on a muddy, sealed track. The colt benefited from a much better start and was able to clear the field early and set a solid but relatively pressure-free pace through the turn under jockey Jose Ortiz, and he was kept to task late to rebuff a challenge from the runner-up and win by 1 ¼ lengths.

Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen shipped Chip Honcho to Fair Grounds for the Gun Runner, where he gained the services of Paco Lopez, his third jockey in as many starts. Making his first attempt around two turns, Chip Honcho was positioned close behind and to the outside of pacesetting Crown the Buckeye, and Lopez kept the reins tight on his mount through the backstretch while the leader set honest fractions. Chip Honcho remained in second at the top of the homestretch, and he steadily wore down Crown the Buckeye in the final sixteenth to prevail by three-quarters of a length over favored Liberty National, who rallied late on the inside and edged Crown the Buckeye by a head for second. The final time for 1 1/16 miles was a slow 1:44.76.

Speed Figures: Chip Honcho made incremental progress as measured by his Equibase Speed Figure pattern in the Gun Runner, moving from 83 figures earned in his first two starts to an 89. His Beyer Speed Figures have remained steady at 81-82-81 through three races, and as it stands now, this talented colt is a couple of rungs below the best in his crop. There’s plenty of time to improve with maturity, of course.

Running Style: Chip Honcho’s maiden win at Churchill Downs came on the front end and was impressive, as he sped to the front and set a solid pace over the slop. He turned back a mild challenge from 45.93-1 longshot Marauder (also trained by Asmussen) and drew clear again at the finish in a gate-to-wire victory where the winner and runner-up were first and second at every point of call.

Stretched out to two turns in the Gun Runner, Chip Honcho was directed to employ a pace-pressing strategy by Paco Lopez, who tugged on his reins soon after the start and again for a longer time in the backstretch to make sure he stayed just behind leader Crown the Buckeye. The colt showed versatility in only his third start and was able to grind out a win that in all honesty appeared to be more a result of Crown the Buckeye tiring late than any burst of speed from Chip Honcho.

Pedigree Notes: Chip Honcho is a son of young stallion Connect, who was a standout middle-distance dirt horse during 2016 posting wins in the Cigar Mile Handicap and the 1 1/8-mile Pennsylvania Derby. Connect is by leading sire Curlin, who was two-time Horse of the Year in the late 2000s and often imparts stamina to his offspring, but so far Connect has been most productive as a sire of horses just like himself – milers and middle-distance dirt runners (the best arguably being $2.3 million earner Rattle N Roll).

Chip Honcho’s dam is Miss My Rose, a daughter of Breeders’ Cup Turf winner Magician. Miss My Rose only raced twice and won both of her outings, a six-furlong maiden race and a seven-furlong stakes, both at Santa Anita Park. Although there are stamina influences in both Curlin and Magician deeper into his pedigree, overall Chip Honcho profiles more as a horse who would perform best at distances around seven furlongs to one mile.

Derby Potential: Chip Honcho has started out his career in impressive fashion with two wins and a second, and he showed the ability to rate just off of the pace and win in his first stakes try on the road to Derby 152. That being said, he’ll need to get a lot faster over the next four-plus months to be a classics contender and it’s questionable how he’ll handle longer distances based on his slow finish in the Gun Runner Stakes and his bloodline. Based on what I’ve seen, this talented colt appears more suited to the Pat Day Mile Stakes Presented by SAP on the May 2 undercard at Churchill than to the mile-and-a-quarter Kentucky Derby itself.