Steve Asmussen | Horse Racing Free Tips

Curlin Reminds Asmussen Stable Preakness Much More Than A ‘Consolation Prize’

Winchell Thoroughbreds LLC's Midnight Bourbon, sixth in the Kentucky Derby (G1), had another routine gallop Saturday morning shortly after the Churchill Downs track opened for training in preparation for a scheduled start in next Saturday's Preakness Stakes (G1). The Steve Asmussen-trained colt is scheduled to have an easy half-mile work on Monday before shipping to Pimlico Tuesday. Irad Ortiz Jr. has the mount.

The Asmussen stable has a special fondness for the Preakness, the first Triple Crown race that the Hall of Fame trainer won when Derby third-place finisher Curlin wore down Derby winner Street Sense by a head in 2007. Two years later, the filly Rachel Alexandra led all the way to defeat the late-running Derby winner Mine That Bird by a length in the Preakness. Rachel Alexandra, who in her prior start won the Kentucky Oaks (G1) by 20 lengths, was the first filly to capture Preakness since 1924 and came mere days after going to Asmussen upon her sale to the late wine mogul Jess Jackson.

Curlin became the 2007-2008 Horse of the Year, followed by Rachel Alexandra in 2010.

Scott Blasi, Asmussen's chief lieutenant at Churchill Downs, said the Preakness is a tremendous race in its own right.

“It's by no means a consolation prize. It's a stallion-maker, a champion-maker,” said Blasi. “Classic example is Curlin. He drew the inside at the Derby, wasn't where we wanted him. He closed to be third and the Preakness was the stepping stone for who he became. That's when everybody started taking him seriously, and you see what kind of stallion he's turned into. It was a big deal for us. Rachel's Preakness was probably one of the most stressful races, just because we hadn't had her that long. There was so much pressure. I was actually happy when she drew the 13 hole (staying clear of traffic), and she was good enough to overcome it.”

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After Troubled Trip In Kentucky Derby, Midnight Bourbon To Wheel Back In Preakness

Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen confirmed Thursday morning that Winchell Thoroughbreds' Midnight Bourbon will run in the 146th Preakness Stakes (G1) at Pimlico Race Course May 15.

Asmussen, via text from Texas, also confirmed that Irad Ortiz Jr., the defending three-time Eclipse Award champion, will ride the son of Tiznow in the Middle Jewel of the Triple Crown.

Winchell Thoroughbreds is seeking its first victory in a Triple Crown race in the family's many decades in horse racing, while Asmussen won the Preakness in 2007 with two-time Horse of the Year Curlin and two years later with the filly and Horse of the Year Rachel Alexandra. Winchell Thoroughbreds did finish third with Tenfold, just three-quarters of a length behind eventual Triple Crown hero Justify in the foggy 2018 Preakness. Tenfold went on to win the 2019 Pimlico Special (G3).

Midnight Bourbon closed from well back to finish sixth in the Kentucky Derby (G1) after breaking slowly and taking him out of his up-close running style.

“We didn't think he got the opportunity that he deserved after he missed the break and his back end went out from underneath him,” said David Fiske, the longtime racing and bloodstock manager for the late Verne Winchell and subsequently for Verne's son Ron Winchell. “He got jostled around by the horses on either side of him, then lost some ground. He was pretty wide on the second turn; I think eventually he ran 52 or 56 feet farther than the winner. So that would have put him a little closer. And speed seemed to be lethal on Saturday. There weren't a whole lot of horses that were closing on the front-runners. Then the fact that it took two handlers to get him back to the barn to give him a bath, it didn't seem to take that much out of him. So we thought we'd give it a try.”

Midnight Bourbon visited Churchill Downs' starting gate for routine schooling Thursday, followed by a controlled gallop.

“The horse is doing great,” said Scott Blasi, the assistant trainer who oversees Asmussen's Churchill Downs operation. “I don't think he did a lot of running early (in the Derby), so he seems to have come out of the race pretty fresh.”

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First Winner for Keen Ice at Indiana Grand

4th-Indiana Grand, $31,000, Msw, 5-3, 2yo, 5f, 1:00.81, gd, neck.
ICY STORM (c, 2, Keen Ice–Downton My Lady, by Pioneerof the Nile) was sent off at 7-2 to become the first winner for his 2015 GI Travers S.-winning freshman sire (by Curlin). Part of a five-way skirmish for the early lead, the dark bay colt sat second as Gormleys Got Game (Gormley) broke away from the pack after a quarter in :22.71. He surged by that foe inside the final furlong and just held off the late rush of Atta Boy Anthony (Karun {Ven}) to graduate by a neck. Gormleys Got Game was fourth. Downton My Lady produced a filly by Ransom the Moon last year. Again in foal to that stallion, she sold for $6,000 at last year's Keeneland November sale. Her then-weanling filly sold for $1,700 at that same auction. Click for the Equibase.com chart. Lifetime Record: 1-1-0-0, $18,600.
O-Team Hanley and Parkland Thoroughbreds; B-Calumet Farm (KY); T-Steven M. Asmussen.

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‘So Far, So Good’ For King Fury Try In Preakness; Midnight Bourbon Could Return In Second Jewel

Trainer Kenny McPeek, who saddled filly Swiss Skydiver for a gutsy victory over Kentucky Derby victor Authentic in the 2020 Preakness (G1) last October, is hoping to be back at Pimlico for this year's Middle Jewel of the Triple Crown with stretch-running King Fury. The Lexington Stakes (G3) winner was scratched Friday from the Kentucky Derby after spiking a temperature.

With the Churchill Downs track sloppy following an overnight rain, King Fury had a walk day Monday with his temperature back to normal. “So far so good,” said assistant trainer Greg Geier.

McPeek called the temperature spike 'a one-off deal' Sunday, reporting that the son of Curlin had responded quickly to treatment and had good energy on Derby Day.

“It will be one of those call-an-audible-at-the-line-of-scrimmage [things]. We'll take it into Friday, and see what kind of week he has. If he has a good week, we'll contemplate working him Saturday or Sunday,” McPeek said. “Everything will have to fall into line. He'll have to show there are no ill after-effects on him. He'll have to have good blood work and a good scope (endoscopic exam).”

After watching Medina Spirit's front-running victory in the Derby, McPeek thinks that the race scenario may well have stacked the odds against King Fury, who closed from far back to win the Lexington going away.

“And I don't know if that Derby would have set up for him, either. Might have been fortuitous. It didn't look like anybody could really close any ground,” he said. “The way the racetrack played, they even went fast early and kept going.”

When it was suggested that McPeek didn't see anything in the Derby to scare him away from the Preakness, he said with a laugh: “If I wasn't scared last year, I wouldn't be scared this year. If I've got a horse doing good, I'm going to go. If he's doing really well, we'll go. If he backs out of the tub or his bloodwork isn't right, any notion that he isn't at a full energy level, then we won't go. If he is, we'll go.”

Winchell Thoroughbreds' Midnight Bourbon, who rallied to finish sixth in the Kentucky Derby following an awkward start took him out of his usual up-close style, is under Preakness consideration. The Louisiana Derby (G2) runner-up had another scheduled walk day Monday at Churchill Downs and will walk again Tuesday before resuming training Wednesday, said trainer Steve Asmussen.

Asmussen won the 2007 Preakness with two-time Horse of the Year Curlin and again in 2009 with Kentucky Oaks (G1) winner and Horse of the Year Rachel Alexandra.

“We're considering running in the Preakness, but we will obviously defer to his training,” the trainer said. “We'll keep discussions open.”

Asmussen said jockey Mike Smith told him that Midnight Bourbon's 'hind end slipped out,' and that's that. It wasn't where we were hoping to be. He ran reasonable after a poor beginning, covered plenty of ground and didn't look like he was horribly overmatched – or overmatched at all.”

Trainer Brad Cox said Monday morning that Kentucky Derby runner-up Mandaloun and fourth-place finisher Essential Quality continue to bounce out of the race well with a Preakness decision yet to be made for either horse.

Cox said he has to talk to owner John Ed Anthony about possibly running Caddo River in the Preakness. Anthony, who now races in the name of Shortleaf Stable, won the 1992 Preakness with Pine Bluff and in 1993 with Prairie Bayou while racing with ex-wife Mary Lynn Dudley under the Loblolly Stable banner.

Caddo River, who finished second in the Arkansas Derby, was knocked out of the Kentucky Derby after spiking a temperature.

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