Open Plains

Open Plains was foaled in Edmond, Oklahoma — a suburb of Oklahoma City, not a place you expect to trace a Kentucky Derby contender back to. There are no famous breeding farms in Edmond. There is no Keeneland, no Claiborne, no WinStar. There is just a horse farm on the Oklahoma plains, and a colt born there who won his way to Churchill Downs.

His sire is Good Magic — himself a Kentucky Derby runner-up in 2018, beaten only by Justify in one of the great Triple Crown campaigns in history. Good Magic is by Curlin, the multiple Horse of the Year whose blood is deeply embedded in the modern American thoroughbred. Curlin horses tend to be late-developing, strong-bodied animals who thrive at classic distances. Good Magic carries those qualities.

Prairie Wind, the dam, is by Indian Charlie — a son of In Reality who sired Uncle Mo and produced multiple stakes winners. The combination gives Open Plains the classic American pedigree architecture: a sire who demonstrated elite ability at Derby-level distances, and a dam line with proven influence on quality.

He came through the Fair Grounds circuit — New Orleans, the deep South route to the Derby that has produced multiple classic winners. The Risen Star Stakes, named for a 1988 Preakness and Belmont winner who raced out of Louisiana, is one of the most respected preps outside the major hubs. Open Plains won it clearly. The Fair Grounds to Churchill Downs path suits Asmussen perfectly — he trains horses all over the country but has deep roots in the Louisiana circuit.

Steve Asmussen was born in Laredo, Texas, a border city on the Rio Grande where horse racing has deep cultural roots. His family was in the horse business — his father Keith Asmussen was a trainer, and Steve grew up knowing barns and tracks before he knew much else. He rode as a jockey briefly before realizing his gift was in the barn rather than the saddle.

He became the winningest trainer by total victories in American racing history — surpassing 10,000 career wins and counting. That number is almost incomprehensible. It represents decades of mornings in the barn, hundreds of shedrows, thousands of horses groomed and trained and pointed toward races.

The Kentucky Derby has been the one race that has largely eluded him. He has had Derby horses — good ones, favored ones — and yet the roses have gone elsewhere. Today he sends out two horses: Renegade, the favorite, with Irad Ortiz Jr., and Open Plains, the longshot, with Jose Ortiz. One of Asmussen's horses has a better chance of winning than any other trainer's single entry. It's just a matter of which one.

Asmussen approaches the Derby with the equanimity of someone who has been here many times. He does not show nerves. He prepares his horses and then he watches the race. The result is up to the horses now.

Jose Ortiz was born in Barceloneta, Puerto Rico, the same town that produced his older brother Irad. Growing up, they rode together — on horses, on ponies, in the imagination of two kids who knew they wanted to do this forever. They came to New York together in the early 2010s, breaking into one of the most competitive jockey colonies in the world.

Irad got the big headlines, the Eclipse Awards, the covers. Jose got something different: the reputation of being the most dangerous rider in a race when no one is paying attention to him. He is patient, tactically brilliant, and possesses an innate feel for pace that allows him to find running room in the thickest traffic.

He won the 2019 Preakness Stakes on War of Will, threading through a packed stretch run to win by a length and a quarter. He has won major races at Saratoga, at Belmont, at Churchill Downs. He is not a newcomer to big stages.

Today, riding Open Plains from Post 17, he faces a 20-horse field that includes his brother on the favorite. In the paddock, they will look at each other with the understanding that comes from a lifetime shared. In the race, they will be two riders trying to win the Kentucky Derby. Neither circumstance cancels the other.

Harry Winchell of Dallas, Texas has been running horses with Steve Asmussen for over twenty years — one of the most durable and successful trainer-owner partnerships in American racing. Winchell is not flashy about his involvement in the sport; he is the kind of owner who shows up quietly, follows his trainer's guidance, and trusts the process.

The Winchell operation has had good horses over the years, and the relationship with Asmussen means they consistently have horses pointed at major races. Open Plains is their 2026 Kentucky Derby entry — a horse from Oklahoma who took the New Orleans route and earned his way to Churchill Downs.

For Winchell, the Kentucky Derby is the culmination of what he has been chasing through two decades of partnership with Asmussen. They have been close before. Today they send out a 40-1 longshot with one of the most skilled jockeys in the sport. In horse racing, that is what hope looks like.