Despite the immediate response of on-site veterinarians, the horse was humanely euthanized due to the severity of the injury. The 3-year-old gelding owned by Ironhorse Racing Stable LLC was trained by Michelle Nevin and ridden by Ricardo Santana, Jr., who was uninjured.

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After working out in Kentucky for nearly two months, the Jorge Delgado trainee shipped to Canada and was well-regarded at the windows as the heavy 1-5 favorite. Utilizing his early speed, New York Thunder tore through the fractions with a half-mile at :45.18, and into the stretch extended his lead to win going away by 7 lengths over Ninetyfour Expos (Outwork).

The winner is his unraced dam's first to the starting gate and only recorded offspring. He is part of an extended female family that includes third dam Surf Club (Ocean Crest)'s half-sister GISW Awesome Humor (Distorted Humor). His third dam produced GISW Emcee (Unbridled's Song) and SP Baffled (Distorted Humor), who is responsible for MGISW Constitution (Tapit).

WOODSTOCK S., C$133,500, Woodbine, 4-30, 3yo, 6f (AWT),
1:08.45, ft.
1–NEW YORK THUNDER, 120, c, 3, by Nyquist
          1st Dam: Start Over, by Midshipman
          2nd Dam: Wipe Out, by Hard Spun
          3rd Dam: Surf Club, by Ocean Crest
($130,000 Ylg '21 KEESEP). 1ST BLACK TYPE WIN. O-AMO Racing USA; B-Gatewood Bell & Forgotten Land (KY); T-Jorge Delgado; J-Ricardo Santana, Jr.. C$75,000. Lifetime Record: 3-3-0-0, $122,323.
2–Ninetyfour Expos, 118, g, 3, Outwork–Simply Good, by Sky Classic. ($42,000 Ylg '21 KEEJAN; $80,000 Ylg '21 FTKJUL). 1ST BLACK TYPE. O-D. J. Stable LLC; B-Robert Marzilli (ON); T-Mark E. Casse. C$30,000.
3–Stayhonor Goodside, 118, g, 3, Honor Code–Nicki Knew, by Tethra. ($85,000 Ylg '21 KEESEP). O-D. J. Stable LLC; B-Stan Dodson (ON); T-Mark E. Casse. C$16,500.
Margins: 7HF, 1 3/4, 2HF. Odds: 0.35, 14.10, 9.65.
Also Ran: Ship the Goods, Opposites Attract, Gran Spirited.
Click for the Equibase.com chart or VIDEO, sponsored by TVG.

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“This is a dream,” Cabrera said. “This is a dream and I really thank my agent. He's a very, very good agent. To me, having him is something very good. He's my secret weapon.”

Cabrera, who has spent the last few weeks recovering at his home in Jones, Oklahoma and is targeting a return to the saddle in late May at Lone Star Park, sustained head, neck and upper back injuries in an Apr. 8 spill, which occurred when his mount, Mostly Awesome, clipped heels in upper stretch and fell. Cabrera was unseated and tumbled hard to the ground. He said he has no memory of the accident.

“Actually, it's the like the last five days that I've started to feel normal,” Cabrera said. “Before that, I was having trouble with my senses. I was still acting a little weird. Everything, I think, has come back to normal.”

Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen won 65 races to capture his 12th Oaklawn training title. Asmussen had shared the record for most career Oaklawn training titles with the late Hall of Famer Henry Forrest. Asmussen (820) is poised to surpass the late Bob Holthus (867) as the winningest trainer in Oaklawn history at the 2022-2023 meeting.

John Ed Anthony topped all owners at the meeting in victories (19), purse earnings ($2,083,402) and stakes victories (five). Anthony set a single-season Oaklawn record for purse earnings. M and M Racing of Mike and Mickala Sisk set the previous mark ($1,782,351) in 2019. Anthony also surpassed the late Sharon Hild at the meet to become Oaklawn's all-time winningest owner. Anthony has 279 career Oaklawn victories, the first coming Feb. 16, 1972.

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A victory Jan. 16 pulled eight-time local champion Ricardo Santana Jr. into a first-place tie with Francisco Arrieta. Each had 20 victories. Santana topped all riders in purse earnings at the meet ($1,207,239), won at a 21 percent clip, which equaled the best among jockeys in the top 10, and reached a career milestone when he surpassed $100 million in worldwide purse earnings earlier this month, according to the statistical service Equineline.

Interpreting Santana's numbers during the 2021-2022 Oaklawn meeting that began Dec. 3 is more complex since he is no longer the go-to rider for Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen after losing that coveted spot last fall.

Santana's 20 victories had come for 10 trainers – Asmussen (6), John Ortiz (2), Ron Moquett (2), Brad Cox (2), Rene Amescua (2), Mike Maker (2), Tom Amoss (1), Hall of Famer Jerry Hollendorfer (1), Melton Wilson (1) and Bret Calhoun (1). Santana's numbers were straightforward to open the 2021 Oaklawn meeting, with 19 of his first 20 winners for Asmussen. Santana's other victory came for Moquett.

An early conclusion? Different landscape, same ruler.

“I thank all the trainers for the opportunity,” Santana said Jan. 14. “Thank you to Moquett. He was the one that brought me here to Arkansas when I was 17 years old. Thank you to Mr. Steve, that's the main barn. He's given me a lot of great moments. He's given me a lot of great opportunities. I'm really blessed to be a part of the Oaklawn team. Everywhere I go, everybody knows me because of Oaklawn. I'm really blessed with all the success I've had at 29 years old. I pray to God to keep me safe, and we're going to keep fighting to make our dreams come true.”

Santana was barreling toward a career year in 2021 after breaking his single-season Oaklawn record for purse earnings ($5,642,523) en route to an eighth local riding title (all since uniting with Asmussen in 2013). Santana then had a breakout Saratoga meeting last summer, setting personal bests for victories (35), purse earnings ($4,122,471) and stakes victories (5). All five stakes victories were in Grade 1 events. Four were for Asmussen, including Echo Zulu in the $300,000 Spinaway for 2-year-old fillies Sept. 5. Santana was also aboard for Stellar Tap's Aug. 7 victory at Saratoga, which made Asmussen the all-time winningest North America trainer (United States and Canada), according to Equibase, racing's official data gathering organization.

But momentum stopped, literally, after Santana rode Echo Zulu to victory in the $400,000 Frizette Stakes (G1) Oct. 3 at Belmont Park. The jockey went into a mystifying slump and didn't win a race for more than a month. Santana was 0 for 81 at Keeneland's fall meeting (Asmussen was 1 for 57) and lost the mount on Echo Zulu for the $2 million Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies (G1) Nov. 5 at Del Mar.

Coupled with another personal body blow, the Oct. 31 death of his close friend, jockey Miguel Mena, Santana had only 42 mounts at the Churchill Downs fall meeting. He won two races as Asmussen went in other directions and finished with a meet-high 20 victories.

Joel Rosario picked up the mount on Echo Zulu for the Breeders' Cup and guided the unbeaten filly to victory, securing an Eclipse Award. Rosario, the favorite to land an Eclipse Award as the country's outstanding jockey of 2021, rode for Asmussen at the Churchill Downs fall meeting and joined Oaklawn's riding colony Jan. 14. He has already ridden extensively for Asmussen in Hot Springs, booting home two winners for the 11-time Oaklawn training champion.

“I thought that his confidence would be shaken a little bit,” Moquett said, referring to Santana. “I think at first, for sure, it was. I think the thing that got him was the Breeders' Cup a little bit. But that's how it goes. That's how this business is. I've seen since he got back here, I've seen the old Ricardo start to emerge again.”

Santana's 2021-2022 Oaklawn highlights include guiding Hollis to a 5 ½-furlong track record (1:02.17) in a $102,000 allowance race Dec. 10 for Ortiz; winning two races aboard the Cox-trained Coach, including the $150,000 Pippin Stakes for older fillies and mares Jan. 8; and surpassing $100 million in career purse earnings the following day, according to Equineline.

The Equineline figure is based on worldwide mounts, including purse money Santana generated in Canada, his native Panama, Puerto Rico and Turkey.

Santana reached $100 million in career North American purse earnings last weekend at Oaklawn, according to Equibase, racing's official data gathering organization. Equibase's total ($100,129,502) is based on mounts in the United States and Canada and ranked 64th in North American history entering Saturday. Santana had 1,661 career North American victories entering Saturday, according to Equibase.

Santana said he continues to ride for Mena, who was killed after reportedly being struck by a vehicle while walking across Interstate Highway 64 in Louisville, Ky. He was 34. Santana uses Mena's helmet covers (“MM” is stitched across the back below a peace symbol) as a tribute to the popular Churchill Downs-based jockey, who won more than 2,000 races in his career.

“A lot of people don't know, but that affected me a lot when one of my best friends, Miguel, passed away,” Santana said. “I even talked to my agent (Ruben Munoz) and said I didn't want to ride many at Churchill. I was with him 24/7. I even ate dinner with him every time we came from Keeneland. I always loved him like my brother. That hit me really hard. Like he was my company, 24/7. When I did something wrong, he was the first one to call me. I was pretty heartbroken. (Jockey) Florent Geroux, that's my other best friend. He's always on my side. That's the people that motivate me to keep going. Thank God, now I feel I'm back. I feel my confidence is back.”

Santana recorded one winner opening day at Oaklawn. The following day, Santana won the $150,000 Clasico Confraternidad Stakes (G1) in Puerto Rico. His late-season bounce back produced a career-high $16,976,612 in purse earnings, according to Equibase. Santana's previous high was $16,713,988 in 2019.

Santana rode his first career winner in the United States Sept. 21, 2009, at Delaware Park. Santana began riding at Oaklawn in 2011 and was its leading jockey in 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2020 and 2021.

Santana is Oaklawn's career leader in purse earnings ($33,321,365) and ranks No. 8 all time in victories (633). Coach represented his 45th career Oaklawn stakes victory.

Among Santana's earliest supporters was Moquett, who rode the jockey as an apprentice and helped steer him to Oaklawn.

“I thought that he needed somebody to look after him and stuff,” Moquett said. “I thought when he got to Oaklawn, the whole community would take him in. And he's got all kinds of natural ability. If he could get focused, he could be anything. Luckily, he came here one year and showed up the next year (2013), he was here with Asmussen, and the rest is history.”

Through last Sunday, Santana and Asmussen had teamed for 313 victories at Oaklawn, according to Equineline, with purse earnings of $20,657,057.

Racing resumed Saturday at Oaklawn after Friday's card was cancelled because of freezing temperatures.

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Cox also won last year's edition of the Pippin with Getridofwhatailesu, and was just a few inches shy of sweeping Oaklawn's two-turn stakes series for older fillies and mares in 2021. He sent out Monomoy Girl to win last year's $250,000 Bayakoa Stakes (G3) and Shedaresthedevil to win the $350,000 Azeri Stakes (G2). Monomoy Girl, in what would be her final career start, was beaten a nose by Letruska in the $1 million Apple Blossom Handicap (G1) to deny Cox a four-race sweep.

When Coach broke sharply, Santana sent the filly out to take the lead but kept her off the deeper inside rail, about three-wide down the backstretch. They marked the first quarter in :23.44 and the half in :47.60. Miss Bigly tracked the pace along the inside, and moved up around the half-mile pole to draw even with the frontrunner.

Head-and-head around the far turn, the two riders were waiting to cue their mounts for the stretch run. When the question was asked, it was Coach and Santana who managed to find another gear on the outside. Coach pulled away from Miss Bigly with ease, racing to the wire a three-length winner. Miss Bigly had to settle for second, while W W Fitzy checked in third and Breeze Rider was fourth.

Bred in Kentucky by Three Lyons Racing, Coach is out of the Exchange Rate mare And Stay Out. She was a $65,000 yearling at the Fasig-Tipton Kentucky Fall sale, and won her first three races including the Rags to Riches Overnight Stakes at Churchill Downs. On the Kentucky Oaks trail, Coach managed a third in the G3 Fantasy Stakes at Oaklawn before finishing ninth in the Run for the Lillies. She did not race again until December, when she won her comeback race at Oaklawn.

Overall, Coach's record stands at five wins from 10 starts for earnings of $387,840.

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But we will always have the horse.

These beautiful, athletic, noble, graceful animals, they always find a way to make you feel good about the sport. Which is why so many people were smiling and cheering Saturday at Woodbine as Pink Lloyd (Old Forester)'s fairytale story had a fairytale ending.

Over the six years that he raced, Pink Lloyd, now nine, was never the fastest horse or the best horse out there. Since he never raced outside of Woodbine, it's fair to question his accomplishments. But there are other ways to measure how exceptional a horse truly is. Was there any horse more likeable or easier to root for? A horse that made you appreciate all that is good with this sport? No. It's not even close.

Pink Lloyd, who was retired after his win Saturday in the GII Kennedy Road S., is by a sire who stands for $4,000 and was bought as a yearling for $30,000 Canadian. He didn't even make it to the races until he was four. He appeared destined to be just another horse.

But what no one could have known back when he made his career debut on Aug. 28, 2016 was that this horse had something that few other horses have.

“I'll tell you what makes him so great–heart and desire and liking what he's doing and wanting to win,” said his trainer Robert Tiller.

Once Pink Lloyd got going, there was no stopping him. He made 38 career starts, won 29 times overall and won 26 stakes races, including three editions of the GII Kennedy Road S. These are the sort of numbers we are unlikely to see again.

He was named Canadian Horse of the Year in 2017 and will be named, for the fifth straight year, the 2021 Canadian Sprint Champion. But this has been his most extraordinary year, the year where he showed what he is made of.

Pink Lloyd finished third in the Kennedy Road in 2020 in his final start of the year and began his 9-year-old campaign with a loss to the 5-year-old Souper Stonehenge (Speightstown) in the GIII Jacques Cartier S. He lost his third straight when Super Stonehenge beat him again in the GIII Vigil S.

He looked done, at least when it comes to his being a top horse, and Tiller admitted that the gelding had lost a step. Behind the scenes, he was planning for his retirement.

But Pink Lloyd wasn't ready for retirement. The desire was still there.

He got untracked in time to win the GIII Bold Venture S. and then the Ontario Jockey Club S. But the Kennedy Road was supposed to be a different story. For the first time since August, he had to face Souper Stonehenge again, along with seven others, many of whom were half his age. Pink Lloyd was sent off at 7-2, the highest odds he had gone off at since April 15, 2017.

Never underestimate this horse. He won by a half-length and returned to winner's circle amid a standing ovation from those in the crowd.

“It was a tremendous way to go out,” Tiller said. “He's Woodbine's horse. He's Canada's horse.”

Making the story even better is the classy way Tiller and primary owner Frank Di Giulio, Jr. handled the end of his career. With Pink Lloyd finishing out as strongly as he did, it's not unreasonable to expect that he could once again make a lot of money on the track as 10-year-old in 2022. (He made $289,742 this year). But the owner and trainer understood what the right thing to do was. They let him go out healthy and still on top. Within a few days, his new home will be the LongRun Thoroughbred Retirement Society.

He'll be pampered at LongRun, which is just what he deserves after all he has accomplished. Pink Lloyd embodied everything that is good about this sport.

Asmussen-Santana Divorce

Ricardo Santana, Jr. rode his first horse for Steve Asmussen in 2012, the start of a jockey-trainer partnership that has been one of the most successful in the sport. According to Equineline, Santana has ridden 812 winners for Asmussen from 4,069 mounts. The two have teamed up to win 65 graded stakes. The list includes six Grade I's this year alone, the GI Jockey Club Gold Cup, the GI Frizette S., the GI Cotillion S., the GI Hopeful S., the GI Spinaway S. and the GI Forego S.

But Asmussen is no longer putting Santana on any of his horses. He won five races Thursday at Churchill Downs, with Tyler Gaffalione riding three of the horses and Joel Rosario picking up the other two wins. This comes after Santana went 0-for-81 at Keeneland, with the majority of his losses coming aboard Asmussen-trained horses. Santana is 2-for-38 at the current Churchill meet.

Staying Away in Droves at Zia Park

Zia Park in New Mexico put together a terrific card last Tuesday. They had six stakes races, topped by the $250,000 Zia Park Derby. Flavien Prat rode the card and so did Irad Ortiz, Jr., who teamed up with Asmussen to win three stakes. The hope would be that a card of that type would generate some enthusiasm and bring out some fans. It didn't quite work out that way, which shows just how hard it has become to get people to turn out and go to the racetrack.

According to Tuesday's Equibase charts, the crowd at Zia Park was 650 and the on-track handle was a paltry $44,598. Actually, that was an improvement over the day before when the attendance was 300 with an on-track handle of $21,238.

Desormeaux Heats Up

Kent Desormeaux's off-track problems have been well documented and they threatened to end his career. In 2020, the Hall of Famer had just 29 wins, easily the lowest in his career, after missing much of the second half of the year as he was undergoing three months of substance-abuse rehabilitation. That came after he was suspended by the Del Mar stewards for 15 days after an altercation with a TVG cameraman in which the jockey is alleged to have used racial slurs.

It took a while, but he is back on track and again showing the sort of ability that once made him one of the sport's biggest stars. Desormeaux won two races at Del Mar Wednesday and another Thursday. He then won the GII Hollywood Turf Cup S. Friday and the GI Hollywood Derby Saturday.

After winning the first and fifth races Sunday at Del Mar, Desormeaux had won with seven of his last 12 mounts.

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But his most talented Breeders' Cup starter may not be a turf horse. Jack Christopher (Munnings), pre-entered in the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile, has looked sensational in his two career starts, including a romp in the GI Champagne S. in which he earned a 102 Beyer figure.

“He was a horse that identified himself as early on as his first work,” Brown said after the Champagne. “I was on the phone with the connections saying, 'This is potentially a really good horse. I can't believe what I just saw.' He's just been brilliant in every work. There was some buzz around him before he ran, and he lived up to it.”

An awful lot can go wrong between now and the first week of May, but should he win Friday he will be a solid early favorite for the 2022 GI Kentucky Derby. This one looks to have the potential to go places where only special horses go, which, for Brown, could mean filling in what is maybe the only hole on his resume.

It's not that Brown can't train a dirt horse. He has 756 career dirt wins and his winning rate of 25% on the main track is identical to his percentage on the turf. He has won the GI Champagne S. three times and the GI Cigar Mile twice. He has also won, among others, the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile, the GI Haskell S.,  the GI Cigar Mile H., the GI Acorn S., the GI Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Sprint. In 2017, he snuck into Pimlico with the lightly regarded Cloud Computing (Maclean's Music) and won the GI Preakness S. at 13-1 for his lone win in a Triple Crown race. He had a nice run in 2016 with Connect (Curlin), who won the GII Pennsylvania Derby, the GI Cigar Mile H. and the GIII Westchester S.

But he's been quiet over the years in the Triple Crown preps and the Triple Crown races themselves. He's 0-for-6 in the Derby, 1-for-2 in the Preakness and 0-for-3 in the GI Belmont S.

Brown's best dirt horse to date has been Good Magic. After finishing second in the 2017 Champagne, he won the Breeders' Cup Juvenile and later the GII Blue Grass S. He ran a winning race when second in the Derby, but just happened to run into a buzz saw in eventual Triple Crown winner Justify (Scat Daddy). After running fourth in the Preakness, he won the Haskell and was retired after a ninth-place finish in the GI Runhappy Travers S. Though unable to win a Triple Crown race, he proved that Brown could successfully navigate a good horse through the preps and the Triple Crown races.

He didn't fare quiet as well with his two other top prospects, 2018 Champagne winner Complexity (Maclean's Music) and 2016 winner Practical Joke (Into Mischief). Complexity finished 10th in his Breeders' Cup Juvenile and his biggest win thereafter came in the GII Kelso H. Practical Joke, now a well-regarded stallion standing at Coolmore, finished third in the Juvenile and fifth in the Derby. He later won the GI H. Allen Jerkens S. Brown has had five starters in the Juvenile overall.

Brown doesn't have anything to prove when it comes to dirt horses, but not everyone sees it that way. The Juvenile, next year's preps and the Derby itself will be seen as a test for him. He's just 42 and is arguably one of the best there's ever been. He's going to win the Kentucky Derby. Maybe as soon as next year.

What's Going On With Asmussen, Santana?

Steve Asmussen is not only the top trainer all time in wins, he is remarkably consistent. Since 1997, he's never had a year in which his stable won with less than 18% of its starters. All of which makes what went on at Keeneland so remarkable. Asmussen finished the meet Saturday with a record of 1-for-57. And it wasn't a matter of a lot of near misses. He had just seven seconds and seven thirds. Asmussen did win 14 races at other tracks during the Keeneland meet.

It was an even worse story for his go-to rider, Ricardo Santana, Jr. He was 0-for-81 with seven seconds and eight thirds. Including four races he lost at Belmont earlier in October, Santana entered Sunday's card at Churchill Downs having ridden 85 straight losers. On the year, he's won with 17% of his starters.

The last race Santana won was on Oct. 3 aboard Echo Zulu (Gun Runner) in the GI Frizette S. at Belmont.

Asmussen and Santana figure to bust out of their slumps any day now, but what if they don't? Both will be heavily involved in the Breeders' Cup races, including with Echo Zulu, who will be the solid favorite in the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies. Should handicappers look elsewhere? It's something to consider.

Watch Out For Americanrevolution

Though he was competing in restricted company, in the Empire Classic H. for New York-breds, Americanrevolution (Constitution) served notice Saturday at Belmont that he is going to be a force going forward.

A bit of a late-developer, he ran a creditable race when third against open company in the GI Pennsylvania Derby, earning a career best 101 Beyer figure.

The odds-on favorite Saturday in his next start, he took command on the turn and took off from there to win by 11 3/4 lengths. He got a 108 Beyer for the race, which puts him among the upper echelon of 3-year-old colts. Numbers-wise, he has improved in each of his six career starts.

He'll be back in 2022, and it could be a big year for him.

It was also a big day for his sire, Constitution. Twenty six minutes after the completion of the Empire Classic, Independence Hall (Constitution) won the GII Hagyard Fayette S. at Keeneland in a romp, winning by 7 1/4 lengths. A horse who has had an up-and-down career, it was his first win of 2021 and, perhaps, a sign that he, too, will take his place among the top older dirt horses next year.

The Trend Continues: Record Handle at Keeneland

Total all-sources handle for the Keeneland fall meet was $181,009,626, an all-time record for the Lexington track. Last year's fall meet handled $160,207,916.

The “boutique” meets in racing continue to show no signs of slowing down. This year, Saratoga, Del Mar and Kentucky Downs also set new records for total handle.

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Santana travelled to Parx on Saturday for Pennsylvania Derby Day. It's been quite a while since Santana had ridden a 108-1 shot in a graded stakes and while the win on Hollywood Talent in the Grade 3 Turf Monster shocked the betting public, it wasn't a surprise to Santana. Before riding on a regular basis for Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen, Santana rode on a regular basis at Delaware Park for trainer Juan Vazquez.

“I was riding everything for him,” said Santana. “Everything I ride for him I have a shot.”

The 10-year-old Hollywood Talent and Santana were seventh early in the field of nine. They were three wide down the backstretch and moved into third around the turn passing Admiral Abe in deep stretch to a 1-1/4 length win in 59.51.

“He was traveling beautiful and I was really happy with him, when we turned for home and when I asked him the horse really responded well,” said Santana.

Trainer Steve Asmussen gave a leg up to Santana on the race favorite Clairiere in the Grade 1 Cotillion at Parx for three-year-old fillies at one mile and one-sixteenth on the main track. Santana settled Clairiere in sixth in the field of eight. He asked her on the turn and the duo swung out into the stretch. With five lined up across the track, Clairiere circled the field and cruised to a 2-1/2-length score in 1:44.31.

“I broke her maiden last year at Churchill Downs and she's such a sweetheart and I was really comfortable with her and she kicked on really well,” said Santana. “I had too much horse and I was just waiting turning for home.”

Santana then travelled to Remington Park for Oklahoma Derby Day on Sunday. Riding for Steve Asmussen, Santana won the Kip Deville Stakes for two-year-olds at six furlongs on the dirt aboard Concept. Going straight to the lead out of the gate, Santana and Concept were never headed fending off a late run by Tejano Twist for a 1-1/2-length win in 1:10.12.

Santana's weekly statistics were 17-3-5-3 for $1,184,535 in total purses to lead all jockeys.

The other nominees for Jockey of the Week were Abel Cedillo with a stakes win at Los Alamitos, Irad Ortiz, Jr. with two graded stakes, Joel Rosario with two graded stakes and Edgard Zayas with a stakes win at Gulfstream Park.

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On Saturday, trainer Steve Asmussen called on Santana, Jr. to pilot Max Player in the Grade 1 Jockey Club Gold Cup. Max Player broke from post position two and settled back and to the outside of Forza Di Oro. Advancing down the backstretch and reaching the top of the stretch, Max Player took command and drew off to win by four lengths in 2:02.49 for the 1 1/4-mile prestigious test for 3-year-olds and up.

“I was happy with him,” said Santana, Jr. “Today, he broke good so I was really happy with it. The trainer is doing all the work.”

In the Grade 1 Spinaway on Sunday, Asmussen again gave a leg up to Santana, Jr. on Echo Zulu. Off a step slow from post position three, race favorite Echo Zulu went straight to the front, leading the nine-horse field gate to wire to power home in a final time of 1:22.51 for the seven furlong test for 2-year-old fillies.

“I had so much confidence that I only wore two goggles for seven furlongs,” Santana, Jr, said. “She was working real nice and today she improved a lot. I had plenty in the tank.”

The Asmussen/Santana, Jr. combination struck again with Gunite in the Grade 1 Hopeful, the traditional Closing Day feature on Monday. Breaking from post position three in the field of 11, Gunite bumped with Kitodan but was rushed into contention. He opened up a ½-length advantage at the stretch and continued to find more, drawing off to win impressively by 5-3/4 lengths in 1:23.08 for seven furlongs. Santana, Jr. rode Gunite for his fifth Grade 1 of the meet – four for Asmussen and the Grade 1 Coaching Club American Oaks earlier in the meet for trainer Rob Atras.

“I love Saratoga, it's one of the best tracks in North America,” said Santana, Jr., who won a personal-best 35 races at Saratoga. “To win five Grade 1s at one meet is unreal.”

Santana, Jr.'s weekly statistics were 49-8-5-8 for an in-the-money percentage of 42.8% and total purse earnings of $1,329,686.

Santana, Jr. out-polled fellow riders Julien Leparoux who won the Grade 1 Flower Bowl, Flavien Prat who won the Grade 1 TVG Del Mar Debutante and his third straight leading jockey title at Del Mar, Joel Rosario who put on a riding clinic at Kentucky Downs with 10 wins over two days and John Velazquez who won the Grade 2 Bernard Baruch.

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For trainer Steve Asmussen, the key was riding Super Stock like Ricardo Santana did in the Arkansas Derby: getting into the race as part of the pace. That happened, and Super Stock hounded the early pace before taking command and drawing off to a 3 3/4-length victory over There Goes Harvard.

Asmussen got be North America's all-time winningest trainer by caring about every race. But Super Stock also holds a special attachment to the trainer. His parents, Keith and Marilyn, own the son of Florida Derby winner Dialed In in partnership with Nashville talent mogul Erv Woolsey, a long-time client.

“He ran a very good race, and it's great to see him back in the winner's circle,” Asmussen said by phone following Super Stock's first victory since the Arkansas Derby, after which he finished 16th in the Kentucky Derby. “Obviously he's a very special horse for the whole family. He makes a lot of people happy when he wins.

“The Lone Star race, the racetrack was absolute sea of water, drawn 13, just was never in the right spot,” he said of the Texas Derby. “And I did not like his trip in Iowa at all, and that was the change in tactics.”

Which was: “To ride him like he did in the Arkansas Derby.”

Ellis Park allowance winner Colonel Bowman broke for the early lead, setting legitimate fractions into the stretch. Super Stock stalked in second place throughout before taking over the lead and pulling away for the clear win over runner-up There Goes Harvard. The final time over the mile and a sixteenth was 1:48.89.

“He broke good, and I was happy when he was in the place I wanted him to be,” said Santana, in from Saratoga to ride Sunday at Ellis Park for Asmussen. “When I was sitting second to that other horse, I knew he would be running hard at the end.”

Jockey Joe Talamo was pleased with runner-up There Goes Harvard's effort.

“We had a really good trip,” he said. “I really thought I had the winner turning for home. Hats off to them (Super Stock and Ricardo Santana). They kept running. But my horse ran a really good race.”

It was another two lengths back to Indiana Derby runner-up Sermononthemount and jockey James Graham. Colonel Bowman tired to fourth in the field of six 3-year-olds.

“He ran good, I thought,” said Graham. “They were just quicker than him early. I was trying to be aggressive. I just wasn't quick enough to hold my spot. He tried to run them down. They went fast the first quarter, backed it up and then went again. I just couldn't get back on terms.”

Super Stock went off as the even-money favorite and paid $4 to win. The colt now has three wins in 12 starts, with two seconds and two thirds, while increasing his career earnings to $957,677.

“He's trying, he's trying,” Asmussen said of Super Stock nearing millionaire status.

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