Obliteration powers to Chick Lang Stakes win at Laurel Park

Obliteration did not just win the Chick Lang Stakes at Laurel Park. He looked like a horse taking the next step in full view of the Preakness Day crowd, and that is exactly why Steve Asmussen kept talking about him with such confidence.

The Violence colt handled the 51st running of the Chick Lang on Saturday, May 16, 2026, the Preakness Day program at Laurel Park, where first post was 10:30 a.m. The race carried a $150,000 guaranteed purse and was run at 6 furlongs on a fast dirt track. Under Jose Ortiz, Obliteration settled just behind Shane’s Wonder, angled into contention around the far turn and hit the front at the sixteenth pole before drawing away to win by 3 1/2 lengths in 1:09.77. Equibase listed the fractions as :22.54, :45.76 and :57.72, a pace that set the race up for a colt with the kind of acceleration Obliteration showed when it mattered.

That was the part Asmussen was waiting to see. Obliteration had already flashed quality as a 2-year-old, and his résumé had not been built on empty numbers. He was fourth in the 2025 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint, a $1 million, 5-furlong championship race for juveniles, and returned to the United States after a runner-up finish in the Saudi Derby on February 14, 2026. Saturday was only his fourth start of the year, but it looked like the kind that can reset a campaign. Asmussen had praised the colt’s talent, versatility and the way he handled the Saudi travel and quarantine, and the Chick Lang was a clean validation of that view.

The performance also suggested a ceiling beyond a mid-level sprint stake. Asmussen has pointed to shorter dirt races as the right fit, with the GI Allen Jerkens at Saratoga mentioned as a logical next target. That matters because Obliteration was not grinding out a win against soft company. He was the 6-5 favorite, carried 124 pounds and still delivered the kind of visually authoritative finish that usually separates a promising colt from one ready to move into better company.

Owned by Leland Ackerley Racing, James Sherwood, Jode Shupe and John Cilia, Obliteration is a colt by Violence out of I’mclassyandsassy. The Chick Lang is named for Chick Lang, who died in 2010 at age 83 after 20 years as Pimlico’s general manager and a long run as WBAL’s racing analyst. On a day built around Preakness tradition, Obliteration looked like a horse with a bigger race in front of him.