Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen became North America's all-time winningest trainer on Aug. 7, 2021, passing the late Dale Baird's record of 9,445 with a win at Aqueduct. Just over 18 months later, Asmussen became the first trainer to achieve 10,000 North American victories.
The latest milestone was achieved on Monday at Oaklawn Park in Hot Springs, Ark., when Bet He's Ready and jockey Ricardo Santana, Jr. scored a 3 3/4-length victory in the day's fifth race.
Asmussen, 57, entered Monday with 832 career victories at Oaklawn (No. 2 all time). The late Bob Holthus (867) is Oaklawn's all-time winningest trainer. Asmussen has collected a record 12 Oaklawn training titles (2007, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021 and 2021-2022).
The son of trainers Keith and Marilyn Asmussen, the Hall of Famer started his career as a jockey at age 16, switching to training after growing too large for riding professionally. As a trainer, he won his first race with Victory's Halo at Ruidoso Downs in New Mexico in 1986, getting his first stakes race victory with Scout Command in the Bessemer Stakes at the Birmingham Race Course in Birmingham, Ala., the following year. Asmussen's first Grade 1 win came in 1999 with Dreams Gallore in the Mother Goose at Belmont Park in Elmont, N.Y.
The trainer steadily grew his stable over the first decade of his career, logging his first 100-win season in 1995. In 2009, Asmussen posted the single-season win record of 650, also winning the Eclipse Award for Outstanding Trainer that year. With a stable that spans multiple racetracks, the Texas native has won races at all levels, from Saratoga to Lone Star Park to Ellis Park and beyond.
In addition to the record as North America's all-time winningest trainer, Asmussen has won the Eclipse Award for Outstanding Trainer twice (2008, 2009); two of the three Triple Crown classics, the Preakness Stakes (Curlin, 2007, and Rachel Alexandra, 2009) and the Belmont Stakes (Creator, 2016); and eight Breeders' Cup races, including two wins in the Breeders' Cup Classic (Curlin, 2007, and Gun Runner, 2017). He was inducted into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame in 2016.
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