Magnitude gamely fended off a challenge from Hit Show in the final strides to win the Clark Stakes Nov. 28 at Churchill Downs, with pacesetter Chunk of Gold (obscured on rail) also running valiantly in third. (Eclipse Sportswire)
When Magnitude romped by 9 ¾ lengths in the Feb. 15 Fasig-Tipton Risen Star Stakes at Fair Grounds, he looked like a horse poised for success at Churchill Downs.
His connections naturally hoped that achievement might come in the May 2 Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve, but an ankle chip was discovered just a few days after the Risen Star, necessitating arthroscopic surgery and sidelining him along the Derby trail.
Healthy and recovered, the 3-year-old Not This Time colt eventually made his way to Churchill Downs, and Nov. 28 at the Louisville, Ky., track, he had his moment beneath the Twin Spires. Grittily surging past a stubborn front-runner in Chunk of Gold, he withstood a late bid from Dubai World Sponsored by Emirates Airline winner Hit Show to prevail by a half-length in the $595,000, Grade 2 Clark Stakes Presented by Norton Healthcare.
Magnitude clocked 1 1/8 miles on a fast track in 1:48.69 under jockey Jose Ortiz, who rode the winner for Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen and owner Ron Winchell’s Winchell Thoroughbreds.
Magnitude became the first 3-year-old to win the Clark since the Asmussen-trained and Winchell-owned Gun Runner won it in 2016 prior to his 2017 Horse of the Year campaign.
Ortiz said his mount was “traveling great” the entire race, including when the colt tracked Chunk of Gold through the backstretch. Sent after that foe midway on the second turn, Magnitude took charge, though without being able to open up much distance on that rival. Maintaining a narrow advantage through the stretch, he outlasted Hit Show, who rallied to catch Chunk of Gold by a head for runner-up honors.
The winner, who swapped his leads in the final sixteenth, returned $6.36 for a $2 win wager as the 2.18-1 favorite.
“He had to dig in late to get by but he was very game,” Ortiz said. “He has a ton of talent and I think will get better into next year.”
Hit Show, fifth in the 2024 Clark, fared better in the 2025 renewal.
“At the eighth pole I didn’t think he was going to get into contention,” his trainer Brad Cox said. “Then, he really dug in to make it close.”
“We’ve been waiting for him to put in a performance like that all year long,” David Fiske, racing manager for Winchell Thoroughbreds, said of a graded stakes wait. “The Risen Star was kind of a tipoff.”
Asmussen called Magnitude’s Clark the colt’s best effort in 11 starts – even superior to the Risen Star. This was Magnitude’s third stakes win but first without controlling the pace.
A post-victory fist bump for Jose Ortiz. (Coady Media)
“You know, obviously being handicappers, he won (the Risen Star) that day with a bias. He ran some good horses off their feet,” he noted. “I think today he beat a talented group of horses on the square.”
Asmussen, North America’s all-time leading trainer but yet to win the Derby, was content to savor Friday’s victory rather than ponder what might have been in the Run for the Roses.
“If the Derby doesn’t go your way, who knows?” he said. “We may have left it all there, but I’m very proud of him today.”
Neither Asmussen nor Fiske was ready to commit to a next race for Magnitude, though winning a Grade 1 would make the well-bred colt a valuable stud prospect. The $3 million Pegasus World Cup Invitational Stakes Jan. 24 at Gulfstream Park would appear an option, along with the $20 million Saudi Cup Feb. 14 or $12 million Dubai World Cup March 28 in the Middle East. Both the Pegasus World Cup and Saudi Cup are at 1 1/8 miles, while the Dubai World Cup is at 1 ¼ miles, a distance over which Magnitude weakened in the Travers.
Regardless of his next race, Magnitude soon heads to Fair Grounds in New Orleans, where Asmussen stables his best horses during the winter. The $500,000 New Orleans Classic Stakes at 1 1/8 miles March 21 is the richest race for older horses there in the first quarter of 2026.
2025 Clark S. presented by Norton Healthcare November 28th, 2025
