Steve Asmussen has five horses entered in Thursday's opening day program at Saratoga racetrack in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., as the Hall of Fame trainer closes in on the all-time win record of 9,445 held by the late Dale Baird.
Going into Thursday's action, Asmussen has won 9,425 North American races from 45,803 starts, 20 wins shy of Baird, who competed primarily at Mountaineer Park in West Virginia, a track previously known as Waterford Park. Baird died in a multi-vehicle accident in 2007 at the age of 72. Unlike Asmussen, who has saddled six North American champions and earned two Eclipse Awards as outstanding trainer, Baird went through his career without winning a graded stakes.
A 55-year-old South Dakota native from a horse racing family, Asmussen started out as a jockey but quickly outgrew that occupation, moving to training in 1986, winning once from 15 starts. His stable grew over the years, with several divisions throughout the country, and Asmussen became the first trainer in history to win more than 500 races in a single year, scoring 555 times in 2004. He owns the single-season win record of 650 victories, set in 2009.
In addition to the five entered Thursday at Saratoga (including Jaxon Traveler in the Grade 3 Quick Calls Stakes and Eagle Express and Velvet Sister in the G3 Schuylerville), Asmussen has one entry at Indiana Grand in Shelbyville, Ind.
Wednesday, July 14: No entries
Thursday, July 15: Five entries
Friday, July 16: Eight entries
Career stats: 45,803 starts – 9,425 wins, 7,641 second, 6,514 third. Career earnings: $360,236,834
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