Chip Honcho had enough points to run in the Kentucky Derby, but trainer Steve Asmussen decided to bypass the first leg of the Triple Crown to target the Preakness Stakes. The Derby was eventually won by a horse, Golden Tempo, whom Chip Honcho had beaten earlier this year. Now, after eight weeks’ rest, Chip Honcho is fresh and ready to leave his own mark on the Triple Crown trail. Bet Chip Honcho and the entire Preakness Stakes at DraftKings Racing, where new users who click through our links can win a share of $150,000 with DK Horse’s King of the Track promo here:
6 Chip Honcho (5-1)
- Trainer: Steve Asmussen
- Jockey: Jose Ortiz
- Last race: Fifth in the Louisiana Derby by 11 ½ lengths
- Career record: 6 starts: 2 wins, 2 seconds
- Career earnings: $280,475
- Best career Beyer Speed Figure: 92 (Risen Star Stakes)
- Sire: Connect
Below, we’ll dig further into Chip Honcho as part of our series profiling all the horses competing in the 151st Preakness Stakes on Saturday, May 16. We’ll look back into his past performances, what questions need to be answered Saturday and analyze how the post draw affects his chances.
1 Taj Mahal | 2 Ocelli | 3 Crupper | 4 Robusta | 5 Talkin | 6 Chip Honcho | 7 The Hell We Did | 8 Bull by the Horns | 9 Iron Honor | 10 Napoleon Solo | 11 Corona de Oro | 12 Incredibolt | 13 Great White | 14 Pretty Boy Miah
Now that you know who’s in the field, you’ll want to know how to bet the Preakness Stakes on the top horse racing betting apps. Win a share of $150,000 at DK Horse with our promo code. Claim it here:
What to know about Chip Honcho
Steve Asmussen is North America’s winningest trainer, having won more than 11,200 races in his career. But he has never won the Kentucky Derby. It is the only thing missing from his Hall of Fame résumé.
He is not in a position to bypass the Derby with a horse with a remote chance to win the race. So him choosing to skip the Derby with Chip Honcho when the horse had enough points to be in the starting gate should tell you all you need to know about what he thinks of the horse.
To be fair: Chip Honcho is no bum. He has two wins in six starts and even beat eventual Kentucky Derby winner Golden Tempo in the Risen Star Stakes two starts ago. That victory earned his career best Beyer Speed Figure of 92.
But in his last race, Chip Honcho faded down the stretch in the Louisiana Derby, finishing 11 ½ lengths behind winner Emerging Market. And soon after that race, Asmussen unveiled that Chip Honcho would not be running in Louisville.
The Preakness certainly sets up better for the horse. This son of modest sire Connect has done his best running at shorter distances, and the Derby’s 12 furlongs would’ve been his longest test ever.
Also, Kentucky Derby-winning jockey Jose Ortiz gets back Chip Honcho, and the last time he was aboard, the horse won the Gun Runner Stakes in December, his most recent victory.
Chip Honcho is listed at 5-1 on the morning line, and there’s a chance his price could go up at DK Horse and 1/ST BET when the starting gate opens. Claim our jumbo-sized 1/ST BET offer here to get a $500 sign-up bonus with the promo code 500BET:
Post draw analysis
Chip Honcho has done his best running on or near the lead. (He has never been more than 2 ½ lengths off the lead at the second call.) But he is one of several horses with that running style so he’s unlikely to get a perfect spot pressing soft fractions like he did in his last win, the Gun Runner Stakes. Drawn in the No. 6 hole with speed on both his inside and outside, he is more likely to get caught up in a pace collapse.
