When you're Thoroughbred racing's all-time leader in wins, it's logical that a host of the sport's major races will be attached to your name. Yet for trainer Steve Asmussen, who reached the Mount Everest of wins last year and now has 9,637 victories in his Hall of Fame career, there's one notable omission on his lengthy list of grade 1 triumphs: the Grade 1 Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve.
Month: February 2022
Not This Time Colt Front and Center in Risen Star
Winchell Thoroughbreds' Epicenter (Not This Time) made up for his close call in the GIII Lecomte S. with a front-running score in the GII Risen Star S. at the Fair Grounds, moving him up in the GI Kentucky Derby points rankings. Winchell Thoroughbreds and winning trainer Steve Asmussen also teamed up to take this event in 2016 with future Horse of the Year Gun Runner.
Away a breath slower than the rest, Epicenter quickly got his hooves beneath him and tugged his way up to the front under Joel Rosario. Bodock (Street Boss), a 63-1 shot, kept the pacesetter honest through early splits of :23.79 and :47.97 with Pappacap (Gun Runner) saving ground to Bodock's inside in third. Meanwhile favored 'TDN Rising Star' Smile Happy (Runhappy) bided his time back off the pace in sixth with GII Remsen S. runner-up Zandon (Upstart) sitting off his heels. Epicenter continued to lope along comfortably at the head of affairs, putting up three-quarters in 1:12.25. Rosario sat chilly in the saddle as Epicenter cruised clear with ease in the lane for a decisive victory. Smile Happy rallied for second with Zandon closing right behind him for third.
Fading to sixth in his seven-panel Churchill Downs unveiling in September, Epicenter returned with a good-looking graduation going a mile at that venue Nov. 13. Running away to a 6 1/2-length triumph in this venue's Gun Runner S. Dec. 26, he did most of the heavy lifting in the Lecomte S. last time Jan. 22, only to be headed by Call Me Midnight (Midnight Lute) late.
“He did run a really big race today,” Rosario said. “That was really nice. He looked like he was enjoying what he was doing and put in a really nice race today. We'll see going forward how far he can go.”
“A little different than his last race in that every quarter was perfect,” owner Ron Winchell said. He looked nice and comfortable we were just hoping he would finish off the race and he did. He looked great.”
Pedigree Notes:
Epicenter is the fifth graded winner and one of 17 black-type scorers for his young sire Not This Time. He is also the 14th graded scorer and one of 30 black-type winners out of a daughter of Candy Ride (Arg), who was also the broodmare sire of GIII Fair Grounds H. winner Cavalry Charge (Honor Code). Westwind Farms purchased the winner's dam Silent Candy for $130,000 at the 2014 KEENOV sale carrying a foal by Scat Daddy. Her recent produce includes a juvenile colt by Always Dreaming and a yearling filly by Tapiture. She was bred back to Outwork.
Saturday, Fair Grounds
RISEN STAR S. PRESENTED BY LAMARQUE FORD-GII, $400,000, Fair Grounds, 2-19, 3yo, 1 1/8m, 1:49.03, ft.
1–EPICENTER, 122, c, 3, by Not This Time
1st Dam: Silent Candy (SW & GSP, $182,208), by Candy Ride (Arg)
2nd Dam: Silent Queen, by King of Kings (Ire)
3rd Dam: Soundproof (Ire), by Ela-Mana-Mou (Ire)
1ST GRADED STAKES WIN. ($260,000 Ylg '20 KEESEP).
O-Winchell Thoroughbreds LLC; B-Westwind Farms (KY);
T-Steven M. Asmussen; J-Joel Rosario. $240,000. Lifetime
Record: 5-3-1-0, $410,639. Werk Nick Rating: A++. Click for
the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Smile Happy, 122, c, 3, Runhappy–Pleasant Smile, by
Pleasant Tap. ($175,000 Wlg '19 KEENOV; $185,000 Ylg '20
FTKSEL). O-Lucky Seven Stable (Mackin); B-Moreau
Bloodstock Int'l Inc. & White Bloodstock LLC (KY); T-Kenneth
McPeek. $80,000. 'TDN Rising Star'
3–Zandon, 122, c, 3, Upstart–Memories Prevail, by Creative
Cause. ($170,000 Ylg '20 KEESEP). O-Jeff Drown; B-Brereton
Jones (KY); T-Chad C. Brown. $40,000.
Margins: 2 3/4, HF, HD. Odds: 3.50, 2.20, 3.80.
Also Ran: Pioneer of Medina, Tawny Port, Slow Down Andy, Trafalgar, Pappacap, Bodock, Russian Tank.
Click for the Equibase.com chart, the TJCIS.com PPs, or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. VIDEO, sponsored by TVG.
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Vazquez Remains Eligible to Race at NYRA Tracks…For Now
Trainer Juan Vazquez has been granted a stay of a recent suspension handed down by the Pennsylvania Horse Racing Commission, which will allow him to continue to race at the NYRA tracks for the time being. He has three horses entered on Thursday's card at Aqueduct.
However, NYRA issued a statement Saturday in which it said it will consider filing charges against Vazquez, which could lead to his being banned.
Vazquez received two consecutive 15-day suspensions after two of his horses tested positive for the dewormer levamisole in races at Parx. One, Hollywood Talent (Talent Search), tested positive after winning the GIII Turf Monster S. at odds of 108-1.
Because NYRA is affiliated with the state of New York, a court ruled in the Bob Baffert matter that it cannot ban trainers without adequate due process. Since the court decision, it has gone ahead with a hearing for Baffert and another, for Marcus Vitali, is scheduled for next month.
“Since Juan Vazquez was granted a stay of the Pennsylvania suspension, he retains his license to participate in New York,” the statement read. “In the July decision, and in subsequent rulings, the court was clear that NYRA is required to provide adequate due process prior to revoking privileges to participate at NYRA tracks. To refuse entries or prohibit Mr. Vazquez from accessing the property, for example, are actions that NYRA could take against a licensed trainer only after he is provided satisfactory due process. That process is deliberative and not immediate, which is why Juan Vazquez is permitted to participate at NYRA while he appeals his suspension in Pennsylvania. Any suspension handed down in Pennsylvania will be reciprocally implemented in New York and Vazquez will be suspended from participating in all racing activities at NYRA tracks for the duration of the suspension. NYRA is gathering information that could inform a statement of charges and subsequent hearing, should that be required.”
Vazquez has numerous suspensions and violations on his record. In one ruling, issued in 2017 in Pennsylvania, it was noted that Vazquez had eight drug positives during a 23-month period.
Vazquez has maintained a stable at Parx and in New York this year. He is just 2-for-22 (9%) at Parx while going 7-for-30 (23%) at the Big A.
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Miles Ahead Upsets Drain The Clock In Gulfstream Park Sprint
Miles Ahead only beat heavily favored Drain the Clock by little more than a head in Saturday's $150,000 Gulfstream Park Sprint, but trainer Eddie Plesa Jr. had complete confidence that the vastly improved 4-year-old would be up to the task at the Hallandale Beach, Fla., track.
“He's just gotten better and better. Each race, he just seems to go forward,” said Plesa, who trains the son of Competitive Edge for his wife Laure, David Melin and Leon Elman. “I felt real confident going into this race that it was going to take an exceptional effort by somebody to beat him.”
Miles Ahead, the 3-1 second betting choice who captured the Smile Sprint (G3) at Gulfstream in July, ran six furlongs in 1:08.88 to capture his third straight race of the 2021-2022 Championship Meet.
Drain the Clock, a Grade 1 winner coming off a sharp victory in a Dec. 20 optional claiming allowance at Gulfstream, was sent to post as the 3-5 favorite in a field of five. The Saffie Joseph Jr.-trained 4-year-old broke sharply but was eased off the pace by Irad Ortiz Jr. as Francatelli and Gatsby dueled to his inside along the backstretch and Miles Ahead bided his time in fourth. Drain the Clock moved three-wide around the pacesetters to take a lead into the stretch with Miles Ahead in hot pursuit. The favorite kicked in through the stretch while drifting out late, but Miles Ahead would not be denied under Paco Lopez.
Drain the Clock, who won the Woody Stephens (G1) at Belmont last season, finished 4 ¼ lengths clear of multiple graded-stakes winner Diamond Oops, who finished third after lagging off the early pace.
Drain the Clock had won four of five previous starts at Gulfstream, his only loss coming in a second-place finish in last year's 1 1/16-mile Fountain of Youth (G1). The Kentucky-bred colt, who won the six-furlong Limehouse and seven-furlong Swale (G3) prior to the Fountain of Youth, went on to win the Bay Shore (G3) at Aqueduct and Woody Stephens (G1) at Belmont Park.
Plesa said he had no firm next-out plans for Miles Ahead, who won for the 11th time during a 21-race career,
“He's found his niche and we're taking advantage of it. Who knows what the future holds, but it makes you think about a lot of things,” Plesa said.
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