Slated as the ninth race with a 5:15 p.m. post time, the Claiborne Breeders' Futurity is a “Win and You're In” race for the $2 million TVG Breeders' Cup Juvenile (G1) Presented by Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance to be run Nov. 5 at Del Mar.

Stellar Tap already has earned a spot in racing history. When he won at first asking Aug. 7 at Saratoga, he became the 9,446th winner for trainer Steve Asmussen to make him the all-time leading conditioner in North America surpassing the late Dale Baird.

In his most recent start, Stellar Tap finished fifth as the favorite in the Iroquois (G3) at Churchill going 1 1/16 miles. Ricardo Santana Jr. has the mount from post position three.

Kevin's Folly also won at first asking at Saratoga and followed that with a third-place finish in the Hopeful (G1) for trainer Tom Amoss. Kevin's Folly got a feel for the Keeneland surface Oct. 2 by working 5 furlongs in :59.40.

He will be ridden Saturday by Flavien Prat out of post position 12.

The field for the Claiborne Breeders' Futurity, with riders from the inside, is:

1. Double Thunder (Paco Lopez)
2. Mr. Bouma (Corey Lanerie)
3. Stellar Tap (Santana Jr.)
4. Seal Beach (Julien Leparoux)
5. Don't Wait Up (John Velazquez)
6. Rattle N Roll (Brian Hernandez Jr.)
7. American Sanctuary (Sophie Doyle)
8. King Curlin (Chris Emigh)
9. Great Escape (Tyler Gaffalione)
10. Mac's Time (Joe Talamo)
11. Costa Terra (Francisco Arrieta)
12. Kevin's Folly (Prat)
13. Classic Causeway (Jose Ortiz).

All starters carry 122 pounds.

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Also facing winners for the first time off a win at the Spa is WinStar and Siena Farm's Major General (Constitution). Sent off as a part of a favored entry for the connections Aug. 21, he was on the engine through most of the 6 1/2-furlong event, and despite a few bumps along the way, held on for a neck victory. Accompanied by Luis Saez in his debut, the dark bay joins up with Javier Castellano this time. The Todd Pletcher trainee, who worked a swift five furlongs in 1:00.6 over Saratoga's Oklahoma track Sept. 11 (3/10), was scheduled to arrive in Kentucky Friday.

Offering a two-pronged attack here, Asmussen also saddles last-out winner Winchell Thoroughbreds' Guntown (Gun Runner). A closing third after a problematic start in his debut going seven panels at Ellis July 11, the half-brother to champion 3-year-old Filly Untapable (Tapit) and GISW Paddy O'Prado (El Prado {Ire}) rebounded to score by 4 1/4 lengths while adding a furlong at that venue Aug. 13. Tyler Gaffalione gets the call.

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“We've been planning on that win for a long time,” Asmussen said. “It was better than anticipated. It was a wonderful moment with the entire family and we've relived it several times since.”

Owned by L and N Racing and Winchell Thoroughbreds, Stellar Tap broke his maiden by 5 ¼ lengths under jockey Ricardo Santana Jr. The Tapit colt is out of the Medaglia d'Oro mare Gioia Stella, who is the half-sister to graded stakes winners Nereid and Sea Queen.

Also entered in the Iroquois is Stellar Tap's stablemate Guntown. Owned by Winchell Thoroughbreds, Guntown broke his maiden in his second start at Ellis Park. He is by the first crop of 2-year-olds from the former Asmussen-trained superstar Gun Runner.

“I couldn't be a bigger fan of Gun Runner,” Asmussen said. “I am surprised how good they are so soon. They trained really well in spring and continue to develop. Our colt Gunite, who won the Hopeful, took a couple of times to break his maiden. I do think it's a good sign the further they go, the faster they get.”

Saturday's 1 1/16-mile Iroquois kicks off the “Road to the Kentucky Derby presented by Woodford Reserve” and awards the Top 4 finishers 10-4-2-1 points for the first Saturday in May. The winner of the Iroquois will also get an automatic berth into the $2 million Breeders' Cup Juvenile (G1) on Future Stars Friday at the Breeders' Cup. The Breeders' Cup World Championships are scheduled to be held on Nov. 5-6 at Del Mar.

The Iroquois was carded as Race 9 with a post time of 10:11 p.m. The first of 11 races will begin at 6 p.m. The other stakes events on the evening's program are the $300,000 Pocahontas (G3), $400,000 Locust Grove (G3), $300,000 Open Mind and $275,000 Louisville Thoroughbred Society.

The complete field for the Iroquois from the rail out (with jockey, trainer and morning line odds): Tough to Tame (Sophie Doyle, Chris Davis, 20-1); Lucky Boss (Brian Hernandez Jr., Kenny McPeek, 10-1); Roger McQueen (Adam Beschizza, Larry Rivelli, 10-1); Strike Hard (Leonel Reyes, Matthew Williams, 10-1); Magnolia Midnight (Corey Lanerie, Dallas Stewart, 12-1); Stellar Tap (Santana, Asmussen, 3-1); Red Knobs (James Graham, Dale Romans, 20-1); Major General (Javier Castellano, Todd Pletcher, 4-1); Guntown (Tyler Gaffalione, Asmussen, 9-2); Husband Material (Florent Geroux, Jimmy Toner, 15-1); and Bourbon Heist (Joe Talamo, Ian Wilkes, 9-2).

Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher's Iroquois Stakes entrant Major General and Pocahontas runner Goddess of Fire arrived to Churchill Downs from New York around 4:30 a.m. Friday. Jockey Javier Castellano is scheduled to be in Louisville on Saturday for the riding assignments.

The Pocahontas is a Breeders' Cup “Win and You're In” for the $2 million Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies (G1). The 1 1/16-mile race is carded as Race 8 at 9:39 p.m.

The complete Pocahontas field from the rail out (with jockey, trainer, morning line odds): Code for Success (Rafael Bejarano, Vicki Oliver, 20-1); Goddess of Fire (Castellano, Pletcher, 6-1); Mama Rina (Brian Hernandez Jr., Kenny McPeek, 12-1); Ontheonesandtwos (Ricardo Santana Jr., Norm Casse, 5-2); Majestic d'Oro (Martin Garcia, Brendan Walsh, 8-1); Kneesnhips (James Graham, Tom Amoss, 8-1); Miss Chamita (Gregory Romero, Michel Doualhy, 30-1); Hidden Connection (Reylu Gutierrez, Bret Calhoun, 9-2); Lemieux (Tyler Gaffalione, Mark Cassse, 10-1); and Joyrunner (Joe Ramos, Laura Wohlers, 10-1).

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The 1 1/16-mile Iroquois is one of five stakes events on the first Saturday of the 12-day September Meet. The Top 4 finishers of the race will receive 10-4-2-1 points as part of the 21-race “Prep Season” that showcases foundation-building races in advance of the “Championship Series,” which begins in mid-February.

The Iroquois and the $300,000 Pocahontas (G3) for 2-year-old fillies are both part of the Breeders' Cup “Win and You're In” series and will offer an automatic entry-fees paid berth to the season-ending championships held on Nov. 5 at Del Mar.

The Iroquois was carded as Race 9 with a post time of 10:11 p.m. The first of 11 races will begin at 6 p.m. The other stakes events on the evening's program are the Pocahontas, $400,000 Locust Grove (G3), $300,000 Open Mind and $275,000 Louisville Thoroughbred Society.

In the Iroquois, Carolyn Wilson's $125,000 Ellis Park Juvenile winner Roger McQueen will attempt his first victory around two turns for trainer Larry Rivelli. The Unified colt, who was purchased for $530,000 at the 2021 OBS March Sale, was the half-length winner of the seven-furlong Ellis Park Juvenile under jockey Adam Beschizza, Roger McQueen drew post No. 3 with Beschizza back in the saddle again.

Among Roger McQueen's main rivals in the Iroquois is WinStar Farm and Siena Farm's Saratoga debut winner Major General for newly-elected Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher. The Constitution colt broke his maiden in a 6 ½-furlong maiden special weight contest as the 5-2 post time favorite. New York-based Javier Castellano will be in town to ride from post 8.

Also entered in the field is L and N Racing and Winchell Thoroughbreds' 5 ¼-length debut winner Stellar Tap. The son of Tapit arrived to Churchill Downs on Tuesday from Saratoga where he gave Hall of Fame conditioner Steve Asmussen his North American record-breaking 9,446th career win. Ricardo Santana Jr. will have the return mount from post 6.

The complete field for the Iroquois from the rail out (with jockey and trainer):

1. Tough to Tame (Sophie Doyle, Chris Davis)
2. Lucky Boss (Brian Hernandez Jr., Kenny McPeek)
3. Roger McQueen (Beschizza, Rivelli)
4. Strike Hard (Leonel Reyes, Matthew Williams)
5. Magnolia Midnight (Corey Lanerie, Dallas Stewart)
6. Stellar Tap (Santana, Asmussen)
7. Red Knobs (James Graham, Dale Romans)
8. Major General (Castellano, Pletcher)
9. Guntown (Tyler Gaffalione, Asmussen)
10. Husband Material (Florent Geroux, Jimmy Toner)
11. Bourbon Heist (Joe Talamo, Ian Wilkes)

Thoroughbred Racing will meet Louisville Cardinals Basketball Saturday night when Louisville Live, the University of Louisville's annual preseason basketball event, comes to Churchill Downs for Downs After Dark. To celebrate the theme of “Horses & Hoops,” fans are encouraged to wear Cardinals gear to this one-of-a-kind experience. Gates will open at 5 p.m. and the first race is 6 p.m. The spacious 30,000-square-foot Plaza adjacent to the saddling paddock will showcase pulsating live entertainment featuring the Cardinals' men's and women's basketball teams on a portable court. The entertainment line-up will include official DJ for the Louisville Cardinals, DJ K-Dogg, who will spin game-time favorites from the Plaza stage.

UofL's 1986 NCAA Championship men's basketball team, guided by then future Hall of Fame Coach Denny Crum, will participate in the festivities and will be available to sign autographs prior to the Louisville Live main feature at 7:15 p.m.

Two specialty cocktails will be sold at the Old Forester Paddock Bar and the Spend a Buck Bar on the second floor of the Clubhouse in the Food Court: “The Cardinal Crush” and “The Slam Dunk.”

General admission to Downs After Dark is $12 and includes an official program. Guests under the age of 18 will only be admitted to the track if accompanied by a parent or adult guardian. Limited premium dining packages are available starting at $76 per person. Outdoor-third floor box seats are on sale for $27 per person. Reserved seating can be purchased online at www.ChurchillDowns.com/Tickets.

Fans can bet and watch all of Churchill Downs races on www.TwinSpires.com – the official advance-deposit wagering service for Churchill Downs Incorporated and its family of racetracks.

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Coming off one of the greatest week-and-a-half stretches in racing history, during which he won five Grade I races in Saratoga over nine days, Asmussen was this week's Green Group Guest of the Week on the TDN Writer's Room, presented by Keeneland. If that wasn't enough, two of his wins, Gunite in the GI Hopeful S. and Echo Zulu in the GI Spinaway S., came from the first crop of Gun Runner (Candy Ride {Arg}). Gun Runner, the 2017 Horse of the Year who was trained by Asmussen, is off to a sensational start at stud.

“Five Grade Is in nine calendar days, unbelievable,” said a jubilant Asmussen “We're blessed with the best horses in the world, but they just showed up when it mattered most. I was driving out of Saratoga yesterday, headed to Kentucky Downs for the races, and I could have got out and run around the car a couple of times. I was so excited. ”

While the horses have made Asmussen, sometimes Asmussen makes the horses. There's no better example of that than Max Player (Honor Code). An also-ran in May in the GIII Pimlico Special, he has since come back to win the GII Suburban S. and Saturday's GI Jockey Club Gold Cup. He is an example of a case when Asmussen went back to the drawing board, and it worked.  He said there were two keys to the process, not letting Max Player fall behind early in his races and not shipping him to a track on top of a race.

“We felt he eliminated himself by not giving himself a chance getting away from the gate,” he said. “We took him back to the gate and pretty much started over.”

On the success of the Gun Runners, Asmussen said his offspring have the same mental attributes that the sire has, which goes a long way toward accounting for their success.

“It's the state of their minds, the acceptance of what their job is,” Asmussen said. “Gunite is the greatest example of what we want in a racehorse. Good level of talent, learns from his lessons and improves. [Assistant trainer] Scott [Blasi] and I were talking about him Tuesday morning. He ate up, and just stood there like he was saying 'when are we putting on the tack? When do we go to the track?' Unbelievable.”

When asked who he believed were his best prospects for next year's GI Kentucky Derby, Asmussen mentioned two horses, Saratoga maiden winner Stellar Tap (Tapit) and Gun Town (Gun Runner). Both are being pointed for the GIII Iroquois S. Sept. 18 at Churchill Downs. Stellar Tap is the horse who gave Asmussen his 9,446h career win, which pushed him past Dale Baird for No. 1 of all-time.

“Long term, we're very excited about both,” he said.

Elsewhere on the show, which is also sponsored by West Point Thoroughbreds, Woodford Thoroughbreds, Spendthrift Farm and Legacy Bloodstock, the writers reviewed the GI Jockey Club Gold Cup day card at Saratoga and the sensational performances from a pair of allowance horses who both earned 114 Beyer numbers over the weekend, Flightline (Tapit) and this year's greatest rags-to-riches story, Baby Yoda (Prospective).

The latest on the Jorge Navarro-Jason Servis case was a hot topic among the writers. The government released more wiretaps this week that caught the two miscreants discussing performance-enhancing drugs, oftentimes drugs they didn't know the name of and didn't know what they were for, yet still gave them indiscriminately to their horses.

Click here for the audio and here for the video link.

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The 11-2 chance, wearing the silks of longtime Asmussen client Winchell Thoroughbreds and campaigned in partnership with another loyal owner, L & N Racing, jumped straight into the bridle and argued the pace outside of 6-5 chalk Brigadier General (Street Sense). Traveling the better of the two as they neared the stretch, the $250,000 Keeneland September acquisition, who previously RNAd for $385,000 at Keeneland November, responded when set down by Asmussen's go-to jockey Ricardo Santana, Jr. and rocketed clear to take it by 5 1/4 impressive lengths. Keepcalmcarryon (Union Rags), a debut runner-up to 'Rising Star' and next-out GIII Sanford S. hero Wit (Practical Joke) closed off well to complete the exacta.

Stellar Tap is out of a half-sister to SW & GISP Sea Queen (Lemon Drop Kid) and to GISW Nereid (Rock Hard Ten), the dam of SW & GSP Figarella's Queen (Medaglia d'Oro). Gioia Stella is also the dam of a yearling filly by Speightstown, a filly foal by Curlin and most recently visited Speightstown once again. Stellar Tap is bred on the same cross over El Prado (Ire) that is responsible for GISW Laragh and GSW White Rose.

5th-Saratoga, $100,000, Msw, 8-7, 2yo, 7f, 1:23.82, ft, 5 1/4 lengths.
STELLAR TAP, c, 2, by Tapit
1st Dam: Gioia Stella, by Medaglia d'Oro
2nd Dam: Dowry, by Belong to Me
3rd Dam: Sea Jamie Win, by Dixieland Band
Sales history: $385,000 RNA Wlg '19 KEENOV; $250,000 Ylg '20 KEESEP. Lifetime Record: 1-1-0-0, $55,000. Click for the Equibase.com chart or VIDEO, sponsored by TVG. Click for the free Equineline.com catalog-style pedigree.
O-L & N Racing LLC & Winchell Thoroughbreds LLC; B-Moyglare Stud Farm Ltd (KY); T-Steven M Asmussen.

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With his first starter on the day, Asmussen moved into sole possession of first place with a win from first-time-starter Stellar Tap (Tapit) in the fifth race at Saratoga, a maiden special weight race for 2-year-olds. It was the 9,446th win in a career that began quietly in 1986 at Ruidoso Downs in a race worth $2,600.

The win came for Winchell Thoroughbreds, who owns the colt along with L and N Racing LLC. Perhaps no owners have had a greater impact on Asmussen's career than the Winchells, who break their babies at the Texas training center owned by Asmussen's parents, Keith and Marilyn, and have supplied Asmussen with a number of top horses, including Gun Runner (Candy Ride {Arg}). Ricardo Santana, Jr. was the winning rider.

“I know how much this means to me and everyone in the family as well as the barn,” Asmussen said. “And it unfolded and happened on Whitney Day at Saratoga with a 2-year-old who came through Mom and Dad's program in Laredo that is owned by the Winchells. God is great and continues to bless us.”

“Congratulations to Steve on a well deserved accomplishment,” Ron Winchell said. “He has earned every bit of it. His attention to detail is remarkable and reflective in the results. The attention to detail, coupled with a near photographic memory, makes him a lethal competitor.”

Asmussen is the younger brother of Cash Asmussen, who enjoyed a standout career as a jockey, primarily in Europe, and grew up alongside his brother learning the business from their parents.

“To say congratulations does not sound like enough,” he said. “So I will live showing you my love and respect, as a brother, as a man, as a horseman. That is a start to saying how proud I am for you.”

Minutes after the race, Asmussen was still emotional, thanking not just his family but a sport that has given him so much.

“We are so blessed to be in horse racing,” he said. “Thanks to the amazing horses we have had and thanks for everything we have learned from every single one of them. They've made the Asmussen family possible. What an amazing sport to be in. I've said this before, it's amazing what a horse can do to make you feel good about yourself. What a blessing.”

Asmussen was born in Gettysburg, South Dakota, but grew up in Texas. His parents did a little bit of everything in racing but are best known for running a training center in Laredo, where they have prepared numerous top horses for the races. Growing up in a racing family and learning from top horsepeople in his parents, he was born to be a horse trainer. From an early age, he worked for his parents, who, Asmussen says, had a work ethic that is unmatched. Asmussen has always credited them with giving him the foundation he needed to be successful.

“They did things with a passion,” he said. “They always supported me and Cash and that made all of this possible. I've said it before and it's the truth, we are simply an extension of my mom and dad. I plan on continuing on doing things the way they taught us and with the same amount of passion and effort.

“Anybody who has ever been around my father knows he is the greatest horsemen there is. I was blessed to be in a position where I was able to witness this on a daily basis. They demanded work from me. You show up and you take care of what you are supposed to take care of. Don't do anything you can't sign your name to and always pay attention to every detail. None of it was easy but everyone was passionate and you did everything you did as hard as you could all the time and not some of the time. That's the way it ought to be.”

Asmussen started out as a jockey and rode 63 winners. In 1986, he went out on his own as a trainer and did not get off to a good start. He won just one race in 1986 and his stable earned all of $2,324. Asmussen didn't hit his stride until the late 90s. He won 120 races in 1999 and never looked back. His exploits include a single-season record 650 wins in 2009.

His operation, which has included Grade I winners, Horses of the Year and innumerable $5,000 claimers running at C-level tracks, became so potent over the years that it became apparent that Baird's record was well within his reach. Baird, who won the vast majority of his races at Waterford Park, now known as Mountaineer Park, died in 2007, the result of a car accident.

When asked what the Steve Asmussen of 1986 would say to the Asmussen of 2021, he replied: “I can't believe it took you so long. You can't imagine how much you want to do this and how much it is in you. Let's keep it up. We better not be done winning today. It's Whitney Day. We need to win.”

Considering that Asmussen is just 55 and that there are far fewer races available around the country now as there were only 10 years ago, he figures to put together a career win total that will never be matched. An upcoming goal might be 10,000 winners. He can also begin the chase to catch trainer Juan Suarez. Based in Peru, Suarez, as of Aug. 5, had 9,897 winners.

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