Last year, Wootton Asset posted a record of two wins and a second from seven starts with earnings of $73,745.  He made his first four career starts in France where he won his career debut and followed with a victory.  In his next two outings, he finished fourth and fifth in a pair of stakes.  In his stateside debut, the H. Graham Motion trainee ran second beaten a neck in Laurel Futurity at Pimlico.  He followed with a pair of off-the-board efforts in the Awad at Belmont Park and Cecil B. DeMille at Del Mar to close his 2020 campaign.

“I thought he ran well last year,” said trainer H. Graham Motion.  “When we ran him in the Laurel Futurity, he basically ran off the plane.  Since he had been running in France before he shipped to the United States, we really were not sure how many more races he had him and maybe the California race may have been one too many.  He really came to the United States to run on firmer ground and the first time we ran him, in the Laurel Futurity, it was extremely soft, but he ran well extremely well.  He had the winter off and I think he has grown up a lot.  Victor (Carassco) gave him a good work going seven-eighths on the Tapeta at Fair Hill on Saturday, so we are hoping for a nice effort from him in the Kent.”

The Wesley Ward-trained Like the King, 12th in the Grade 1 Kentucky Derby two starts back, is the 8-5 morning line favorite in the Kent. He earlier had won the Grade 3 Jeff Ruby Steaks on the synthetic at Turfway Park.