Welcome to Kentucky Derby Prospect Profiles, where we take a look each week at a recent winner on the Road to the Derby schedule of preps that offer qualifying points for the 1 ¼-mile classic race May 3, 2025, at Churchill Downs.

This week, we take a closer look at Owen Almighty, the 3 ½-length winner of the $350,000 Lambholm South Tampa Bay Derby March 8 at Tampa Bay Downs. The bay colt earned 50 points toward qualifying for the 2025 Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve and ranks second on the Road to the Kentucky Derby leaderboard with 65 points in total.

Before the Tampa Bay Derby, trainer Brian Lynch said he intended to cut back in distance to shorter races with Owen Almighty this spring, but after his dominant win all options are on the table. “The race didn’t take a ton out of him. Now, we’ll train on him this week and see what kind of energy he has and take time to digest everything before we put a schedule together that enables us to do the best thing by the horse,” Lynch said Sunday morning. “And if that means going to the Kentucky Derby, that’s what we’ll do.”

Racing Résumé: Owen Almighty has crossed the finish line either first or second in each of his six starts, although he was disqualified from first to fifth for interference in the Pasco Stakes at Tampa Bay Downs in his season debut.

He won his first two starts by open lengths, including a stakes win at Ellis Park; finished second to Jonathan’s Way in the Iroquois Stakes in his first try on the road to the Kentucky Derby; and ran second to John Hancock in the Sam F. Davis Stakes Feb. 8 at Tampa.

Trainer Brian Lynch expressed some distance concerns prior to the Tampa Bay Derby given Owen Almighty’s front-running style, but the Speightstown colt looked capable of stretching out to longer races in a powerhouse performance. He set a measured pace in the 1 1/16-mile race under Irad Ortiz Jr. and finished with exceptional closing fractions of :36.06 for the final three-eighth of a mile, :23.51 for the final quarter-mile, and a final eighth of a mile in :11.67. You will rarely see faster finishing splits in a two-turn dirt race, especially from a pacesetter.

Speed Figures: Owen Almighty earned a new career-best Equibase and Beyer Speed Figure for the Tampa Bay Derby. The 98 Equibase number was a point better than his previous best and two points better than the 96 he earned for the Sam F. Davis. In his first five starts, Owen Almighty posted Beyer Speed Figures ranging from 83 to 87, so the 92 he earned for the Tampa bay Derby was a five-point jump.

Running Style: Owen Almighty has set or pressed the pace in each of his three starts this year. He pressed John Hancock in the Sam F. Davis but could not get past him late. Lynch is correct that it is tough to set the pace in a 20-horse Kentucky Derby field and lead from start to finish, but tactical speed can eliminate traffic trouble and give a 3-year-old a chance to win at the top of the Kentucky Derby stretch.

Pedigree Notes:  Owen Almighty is from the 17^th crop of 2004 champion sprinter Speightstown, a versatile sire with standouts on turf and dirt; sprinting and stretching out to two-turn distances; and with 2-year-olds and later developers. Speightstown, by Gone West, is a well-rounded stallion despite being known as a sprinter. Speightstown’s Grade 1 winners navigating two turns on dirt include Charlatan, Olympiad, Haynesfield, Tamarkuz, and Golden Ticket.

Owen Almighty’s dam (mother) is multiple stakes-placed winner Tempers Rising, by 2014 Breeders’ Cup Classic winner Bayern. Tempers Rising was a winner at 1 1/16 miles and ran second in the Grade 2 Fair Grounds Oaks at that distance in 2020.

Derby Potential: Owen Almighty finished so powerfully in the Tampa Bay Derby that he caught my attention in a big way. Entering the race, trainer Brian Lynch seemed confident returning to one-turn races would be his ideal long-term path, but now I’m not so sure and neither, it seems, is Lynch. Can he stretch out his speed to 1 ¼ miles? That remains the question, but it seems Owen Almighty has earned the chance to try. This was a big race from a talented colt.