Curlin stormed down the stretch to another runaway victory today, winning the Arkansas Derby by a record 10 1/2 lengths. The chestnut colt has been overlooked on the Kentucky Derby trail because of his inexperience, but trainer Steve Asmussen expects that to change after this performance in Oaklawn Park's final Derby prep.

"I'd be very surprised if he wasn't the favorite going in," Asmussen said. "He's beating them easy, and everybody loves that."

Curlin has only three career starts, but all were impressive wins. He took the Rebel at Oaklawn last month by 5 1/4 lengths and cruised to a 12?-length victory in his seven-furlong debut at Gulfstream Park in February.

Asmussen acknowledged this week that his horse had a lot to prove, but Curlin answered plenty of questions while pulling away down the stretch.

"Running straight to the wire, not drifting out," Asmussen said. "All of those things were what we had hoped for and it happened."

The Arkansas Derby has had some notable winners in recent years, including Smarty Jones in 2004 and Afleet Alex the following year. Both those horses went on to win two legs of the Triple Crown.

Afleet Alex won the Arkansas Derby by eight lengths in 2005, a record that was broken by Curlin.

Deadly Dealer started quickly from the outside, but Curlin settled behind him in the first turn. Curlin dropped back briefly, but he was second, just 1 1/2 lengths behind, at the ?-mile mark.

Then Curlin made his move.

"He went around the leader with his ears up and still doing it easily," said Robby Albarado, Curlin's jockey. "I did hit once underhanded just to make sure he was staying focused. I was impressed with how much he had improved between this start and his last one."

Deadly Dealer had won two straight starts, but this was his first try at two turns and he had to race from the outside post in the nine-horse race. He dropped back and finished third.

"He ran as fast and as far as he could today," said John Velazquez, Deadly Dealer's jockey. "Never been around two turns and breaking from the outside I thought he gave a good effort."

Storm in May took second in the $1 million race. Officer Rocket was a disappointing seventh after finishing second in Oaklawn's other two big preps — the Southwest and the Rebel.

"He was standing a little awkwardly in the gate and then got hit bad when the gates opened and I was at the back of the pack," said Luis Quinonez, Officer Rocket's jockey.

Delightful Kiss was fourth, followed by Going Ballistic and Flying First Class. Slew by Slew was second at the half-mile mark but ended up eighth. First-time starter Olympic Chief finished last.

Curlin covered the 1 1/8 miles in 1 minute, 50.09 seconds. He paid $3.60 for a $2 win ticket.

Before this race, it had been a tough year for favorites in Oaklawn's big 3-year-old races. Hard Spun finished fourth as a 1-2 shot in the Southwest on Feb. 19 for what is his only loss. Flying First Class was the choice in the Rebel on March 17, but he finished eighth.

Curlin ended that trend in dominating fashion.