Not This Time’s 3-year-old colt Magnitude vaulted himself to the upper echelon of the Kentucky Derby (G1) picture with a powerhouse performance in Saturday’s $500,000 Risen Star S. (G2), rolling to a 9 ¾-length victory and earning 50 qualifying points in the Road to the Kentucky Derby Championship Series.

Not This Time had a banner day Saturday, with Dazzling Move capturing the Royal Delta S. (G3) at Gulfstream Park and Way to Be Marie placing in Fair Grounds’ Albert M. Stall Memorial S. as well. Not This Time now has three graded winners this year, tops among all North American sires.

Magnitude was certainly the star on Saturday. Breaking from the outside post in the field of 12, the Steve Asmussen trainee rocketed to the lead and had a clear advantage while setting solid fractions of :23.42 and :46.92. Odds-on favorite gave up the chase after six furlongs, while Magnitude was still full of run down the stretch, drawing away at will to finish the 1 1/8-miles in 1:48.85 on a fast track.

The bay colt earned a Beyer Speed Figure of 108, the highest for any 3-year-old in North America this year.

“It was fantastic,” jockey Ben Curtis said. “It is a pleasure to ride horses like that. The instructions were limited but they were let the horse do what he does and try to get forward. I had all the confidence going out there in the world. He pulled away very well in the stretch and he hit the line strong. Couldn’t be happier with the horse, couldn’t be happier with the trip.”

Magnitude, who was second in the Gun Runner S. at this same track in December, is now 3-1-0 in seven starts and has earned $446,165 for his owner Winchell Thoroughbreds.

Bred in Kentucky by Ron Stolich, Magnitude hails from the immediate family of multiple Grade 1 winner Octave and four-time graded winner Belle Cherie.