Tag: Steve Asmussen

Asmussen Gobbles Up Five Thanksgiving Day Wins At Churchill Downs

Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen found another way into the record books.

Asmussen, the 56-year-old who collected win No. 9,446 on Aug. 7 at Saratoga to become North America's all-time win-leader among trainers, saddled what is believed to be a record five winners on a single card at Churchill Downs on Thanksgiving Day.in Louisville, Ky.

Records prior to 1991 are incomplete and no trainer had ever won more than four races in a day at the Louisville track since then. There have been eight four-win days since 1991 including five by Asmussen: Asmussen (July 4, 2004), Todd Pletcher (May 5, 2006), Asmussen (June 16, 2007), Asmussen (July 7, 2007), Kenny McPeek (Oct. 26. 2008), Mike Maker (June 2, 2013), Asmussen (May 4, 2019) and Asmussen (June 27, 2020).

On Thursday, Asmussen won with Generator ($5.60), Front Street ($2.80), Regal Retort ($6.60), Treaty of Paris ($21) and All in Sync ($5.80). He had a chance to add to his record in Race 10 but Dr. Jack finished sixth as the 2-1 favorite.

Asmussen, who is atop the Fall Meet trainer standings with 18 wins, is Churchill Downs' all-time win-leader with 819 victories and he is poised to collect his record-extending 25th Churchill Downs training title when the 21-day meet concludes Sunday.

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Super Stock Leads Trio Of Stakes Winners For Asmussen, Irad Ortiz Jr. On Zia Park Derby Card

Trainer Steve Asmussen and jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. made successful excursions to Hobbs, N.M., on Tuesday, teaming up to win three of seven stakes on Zia Park's biggest day of racing including the $250,000 Zia Park Derby with prohibitive favorite Super Stock. They also won the $200,000 Zia Park Oaks with Pauline's Pearl and $50,000 Zia Park Princess Stakes with Optionality.

Second-place finishes by Casual in the $75,000 Zia Park Distaff Stakes and by Tenfold in the Zia Park Championship Handicap kept Asmussen and Ortiz from going a perfect five-for-five on a 10-race card that offered $775,000 in added-money purses.

Only three horses lined up against Super Stock, the Grade 1 Arkansas Derby winner owned by Asmussen's father, Keith Asmussen, and Erv Woolsey. The Dialed In colt sat just off the lead as Pirate Junction set the pace early, then took command on the far turn and went on to win by 1 1/4 lengths, covering 1 1/16 miles on a fast track in 1:44.73. Tesoro was up for second with Pirate Junction third and Convention fourth.

The win, worth $150,000 to Super Stock's connections, was the colt's fourth in 14 career starts. He paid $2.10 to win as the 1-20 favorite.

Stonestreet Stables LLC's homebred Pauline's Pearl was the second betting choice at 6-5 in the Oaks, but the gray Tapit filly raced past 9-10 favorite Lady Mystify in the final furlong to win by 1 1/2 lengths under Ortiz. Lady Mystify, from the barn of California-based Peter Eurton and ridden by Flavien Prat, finished second, with Gemstone Gal third in the field of six 3-year-old fillies.

Pauline's Pearl, out of the Dixie Union mare Hot Dixie Chick, was winning for the third time in 10 starts, her most recent victory coming in the G3 Fantasy Stakes at Oaklawn in April. She was clocked in 1:42.71 for 1 1/16 miles, earned $120,000 and paid $4.40 on a $2 win mutuel.

Pauline's Pearl and Irad Ortiz Jr. winning the Zia Park Oaks

Optionality, carrying the maroon and white colors of Winchell Thoroughbreds LLC, aired by 6 1/2 lengths under Ortiz as the 11-10 favorite in the Princess, running six furlongs in 1:09.16 and giving leading freshman sire Gun Runner – who had campaigned for Winchell and was trained by Asmussen – his sixth stakes winner of 2021. It was the second win from five starts for Optionality, who broke her maiden last out by 6 3/4 lengths at Indiana Grand on Oct. 26.

B4 Farms LLC's Canoodling was 5 3/4 lengths best over 7-10 favorite Casual in the Distaff for trainer Todd Fincher and jockey Roimes Chirinos. The 3-year-old filly by Pioneerof the Nile ran six furlongs in 1:08.44, winning for the sixth time in 12 career starts.

B4 Farms and Fincher clicked earlier on the card with Bye Bye Bobby winning the Juvenile Stakes by 1 1/2 lengths under Chirinos, defeating 13-10 favorite Aquitania Arrival, a California-based gelding trained by Peter Miller and ridden by Prat. Bye Bye Bobby, a 2-year-old colt by Quality Road out of Revel in the Win, by Red Bullet, was bred in Kentucky by Stonestreet Thoroughbred Holdings LLC and was purchased from the Summerfield consignment for $870,000 as a yearling. Bye Bye Bobby paid $9.80 to win.

Zestful won the Zia Park Championship by a head over the 6-year-old Winchell Thoroughbreds homebred millionaire Tenfold, the even-money favorite. Zestful, trained by Bart Hone and ridden by Prat, races for Stable HMA, which claimed the 6-year-old gelding for $80,000 at Del Mar on Aug. 22. The son of Ghostzapper, coming off a victory in the Bull Dog Stakes at the Fresno fair in California, was winning for the 12th time in 38 starts. He ran 1 1/8 miles in 1.49.35.

Winner's circle presentation for the Zia Park Derby, won by Super Stock

 

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Thanksgiving Classic Highlights Thursday’s Opening Day Card At Fair Grounds

Like turkey and cranberries, Hartman and Murrill, Amoss and Graham, Derby Day and hats, Mardi Gras and masks–some things traditionally just go best together. This couldn't be more true than at Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots, where for many of the 150 years, opening day has combined horse racing with Thanksgiving. In true New Orleans fashion, it is an assemblage of all the best combinations. And also some new ones. After a year of no spectators, the season kicks off with a lot of buzz around full barns, new jockeys, returning champion connections, and the addition of seven new stakes races.

Ron Faucheux, who earned his first local crown last season, and three-time champion jockey James Graham return to defend their titles over the 80 days of racing, scheduled between Nov. 25, 2021 and March 27, 2022. They will have targets on their backs as the usual suspects and some newcomers show up to vie for the crown.

At the helm of one of the country's premier barns, four-time Fair Grounds champion Brad Cox will have something to say about who wins this year's title. Steve Asmussen, North America's all-time leading trainer by wins, returns as well as perennial contender, Thomas Amoss. Cox, Asmussen, and Amoss will surely be peppering in 2-year-olds to watch and 3-year-olds to compete in the Road to Derby Races — the newly coined Gun Runner (Dec. 26), Grade 3 Lecomte (Jan. 22), Grade 2 Risen Star (Feb. 19), and the Grade 2 Louisiana Derby (March 26).

Some exciting barns with larger-than-normal presences include Michael Maker, Brendan Walsh, and Mark Casse. Joe Sharp's and Michael Stidham's stalls will be flush as well.

Jockey newcomers include Jareth Loveberry who had a 30% percent win rate during the 2021 Arlington meet. He has won multiple riding titles at Arlington and Canterbury, and looking at his mounts for opening day, top trainers are excited to employ his services. Also, Reylu Gutierrez, in the midst of a career-year by purses earned, descends upon New Orleans ready to show the world why he is ready to take his game to the next level.

The opening card is drawn and the fields are big. The card averages over nine horses in each of the nine races. Beginning with a pair of Louisiana-bred races filled with horses who have taken a recent break, there will definitely be value on the board. From there the competitive fields are filled out with many horses who spent the fall at Keeneland and Churchill Downs. One 2-year-old to watch is Godolphin-owned and Stidham-trained Walhalla. Ridden by Murrill last out, Walhalla showed his early speed and will to win, fighting back after being passed to lose by ½ length in a nine-furlong maiden special weight race at Keeneland.

The 97th running of the Thanksgiving Classic is slotted 7th on the card with a post time of 3:12 CT. Pay attention to the class differences between the three main contenders: Just Might, Necker Island, and Greely and Ben. Just Might has spent a lot of his career facing graded-company, the pinnacle of that being his start in the 2020 Breeders Cup Sprint. Necker Island has had a solid 4-year-old campaign after his 3-year-old highlight of racing in the 146th running of the Kentucky Derby. But class-climber Greely and Ben comes in as hot as you will find a horse. Winner of nine races in a row, 11 out of 14 this year, Reylu Gutierrez will take his first mount on this Karl Broberg trained gelding, and his speed figures say he will be in the photo at the end.

Thanksgiving this year also heralds the first running of the Joseph R. Peluso Memorial Stakes, named for the longtime racing official who passed away last year. Firing on the turf course after the Thanksgiving Classic, this $75,000 purse will be hotly contested by as evenly-matched field of 11 horses as you will find.

The 80-day, 2021-2022 Fair Grounds racing season runs through Sunday, March 27. Regular post time will be 1:05 p.m. CT, but there will be an earlier noon CT first post on Thanksgiving Day (Nov. 25), Louisiana Champions Day (Dec. 11), Road to the Derby Kickoff Day (Dec. 26), Road to the Derby Day (Jan. 22) Louisiana Derby Preview Day (Feb. 19) and Louisiana Derby Day (March 26). There will be over $7 million in stakes races, highlighted by the March 26, $1 million Twinspires.com Louisiana Derby. A complete list of the stakes schedule can be found here: http://www.fairgroundsracecourse.com/

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Well-bred Medaglia d’Oro Filly Sharp on Debut

7th-Churchill Downs, $119,047, Msw, 11-20, 2yo, f, 1 1/16m, 1:45.44, ft, 2 1/4 lengths.
LA CRETE (f, 2, Medaglia d'Oro–Cavorting {MGISW, $2,063,000}, by Bernardini), a half-sister to Clairiere (Curlin), GISW, $1,290,992, took care of business impressively on debut going a tough, two-turn distance of 1 1/16 miles here. Facing only seven rivals, the 8-5 favorite caught a flyer beneath Joel Rosario and shot out to the front. The Stonestreet homebred showed the way while uncontested through fractions of :23.53 and :47.84. She let it out a notch rounding the far turn, kicked for home with a five-length advantage and was geared-down late en route to a 2 1/4-length victory over Opening Night (Flatter). Cavorting, a three-time GISW carrying the yellow-and- burgundy Stonestreet silks and a $360,000 KEENOV weanling purchase, had a colt by Curlin in 2020. She was bred to Into Mischief for 2022. The aforementioned Clairiere, a very good fourth after a wide trip in the GI Breeders' Cup Distaff earlier this month, also won her debut over this same course and distance last fall. Lifetime Record: 1-1-0-0, $69,460. Click for the Equibase.com chart or VIDEO, sponsored by TVG.
O-Stonestreet Stables LLC; B-Stonestreet Thoroughbred Holdings LLC (KY); T-Steven M. Asmussen.

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