Hold Me Back, a 10 to 1 longshot in his first start as a 3-year-old, won the $500,000 G2 Land’s End Stakes in a driving finish on Saturday, at Turfway Park.

“He just powered for the wire, full of energy,” said winning jockey Kent Desormeaux, who won the 2008 Kentucky Derby aboard Big Brown.

It was the third win in four career starts for the Giant’s Causeway colt, who registered a time of 1:49.63 in 1 1/8-miles.  It was also the third win on polytrack for the Bill Mott-trained colt, whose only defeat came on dirt in the G2 Remsen Stakes at Aqueduct, where he was beaten 14 lengths by Old Fashioned, an early favorite for the Kentucky Derby.

With $282,000 winnings from the Land’s End win, Hold Me Back is now a viable contender for the Kentucky Derby, where entrants are determined by graded stakes earnings. Hold Me Back, a $400,000 purchase at the 2007 Keeneland Yearling Sale, is owned by WinStar Farm, established by Texans Bill Casner and Kenny Trout.