Heavily favored MITOLE was in control from the start Saturday when dominating the ninth running of the $200,000 Chick Lang Stakes on the Preakness undercard at Pimlico.

Ridden by Ricardo Santana Jr. for owners Bill and Corinne Heiligbrodt and trainer Steve Asmussen, Mitole returned $2.80 after finishing six furlongs in 1:09.29 over a sloppy track.

STILL HAVING FUN was along to be second, 6 1/4 lengths behind the winner, with CLOUDED JUDGEMENT finishing third and PURE SHOT fourth in a field of nine 3-year-olds.

The win was the second in a stakes here today for Asmussen, following Tap Daddy in the off-the-turf James W. Murphy.

The $2 exacta (5-1) paid $14.60, the $1 trifecta (5-1-2) returned $90, and the 10-cent superfecta (5-1-2-3) was worth $48.48.

The Lang honors the memory of the longtime Pimlico general manager who died in March 2010. Some of his surviving family members were on hand for the winner’s trophy presentation.

Jay Privman will have the full Lang recap up before long on www.drf.com.