King’s Ovation responded to a big challenge in his 3-year-old debut by rallying to finish second in the Grade 3 Swale Stakes. On Saturday, the chestnut colt will proceed to the Kentucky Derby trail with a heady assignment in the $300,000 Fountain of Youth Stakes at Gulfstream Park.

West Point races the son of Not This Time in partnership with the Peacock Stable that includes a number of NBC Sports broadcasters and is headed up by Tom Hammond.

King’s Ovation had to hit pause in traffic in the stretch of the seven-furlong Swale before getting through and finishing up strongly at long odds. He will stretch out around two turns for the first time in the 8 1/2-furlong Fountain of Youth, which offers 50-20-10-5 in qualifying points for the Kentucky Derby. The colt earned the bullet designation in a tuneup last weekend, covering five furlongs in 59.80 (1/42) at Gulfstream.

Watch King’s Ovation’s Maiden Win at Churchill Downs: