Steve Asmussen | Horse Racing Free Tips

Wednesday’s Insights: $460K Munnings Colt Makes Spa Debut

1st-SAR, $100K, Msw, 2yo, 5.5mT, 1:05 p.m.

Lady Sheila Stable's MUNNY BOLT (Munnings) launches his career for trainer Steve Asmussen, who recently became the leading North American trainer in number of races won. The Pennsylvania-bred colt was secured for $460,000 at this spring's Fasig-Tipton Midlantic sale, making him the second highest priced juvenile overall–and top priced 2-year-old colt–by the stallion this year. Out of the Medaglia d'Oro mare Tweet, the dark bay breezed a half-mile in a bullet :48.10 over Saratoga's Oklahoma track Aug. 2. GMP Stables LLC's and Bellavia LLC's Java Buzz (Mshawish) kicks off his career for trainer Linda Rice. The Florida-bred–the most expensive juvenile by the sire in 2021–realized a $210,000 final bid at the OBS April sale following a :20 4/5 quarter breeze. From his sire's second crop, the colt is out of Agasaya, an unraced daughter of Animal Kingdom who is a half-sister to multiple Grade II winner Great Hot (Brz). This is also the family of Grade I winners Hennessy and Pearl City. Always dangerous with his firsters, Wesley Ward brings to the table Rockingham Ranch's Admiral Halsey (War Front). Out of the Galileo (Ire) mare Aloof, the colt will be accompanied by Irad Ortiz Jr.

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Capuano Considering Next Start For Alwaysinahurry

Mopo Racing's Alwaysinahurry is set to return to action later this month for the first time since his impressive upset victory over Grade 3-winning favorite Mighty Mischief in the July 4 Concern Stakes at historic Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Md.

Trainer Dale Capuano said the Great Notion gelding is being considered for both the $75,000 Star de Naskra Aug. 21 at Pimlico as well as the $150,000 Robert Hilton Memorial Aug. 27 at Charles Town in Charles Town, W. Va., contested at six and seven furlongs, respectively. Both races are restricted to 3-year-olds.

The Star de Naskra is among four $75,000 stakes for Maryland-bred/sired horses on Pimlico's Maryland Pride Day program, along with the Miss Disco for 3-year-old fillies sprinting six furlongs on the main track, 1 1/16-mile Find for 3-year-olds and up, and 1 1/16-mile All Brandy for fillies and mares 3 years old and older, each on the turf.

“He's doing well. We're looking at the race at Charles Town, possibly the Star de Naskra. We're just going to play it by ear,” Capuano said. “We'll take a look at things and see how it shakes out.”

Bred in Maryland by Dr. and Mrs. Thomas Bowman, Quin Bowman, and Rebecca Davis, Alwaysinahurry burst from beneath the shadow of his multiple stakes-winning stablemate Kenny Had a Notion with a 4 ½-length triumph in the Concern at odds of 9-1. Mighty Mischief, trained by Hall of Famer Steve Asmussen, had won three straight races including the May 15 Grade 3 Chick Lang at Pimlico.

The six-furlong Concern was only the second race this year for Alwaysinahurry, who needed five tries to break his maiden and raced eight times at 2 with two wins and a second to Kenny Had a Notion in the Maryland Million Nursery, one of his three runner-up finishes. Alwaysinahurry came back six months later to run fourth in a Delaware Park starter allowance as a tune-up for the Concern.

“It was impressive, wasn't it? He did it the right way,” Capuano said. “I always felt this horse could run. It took a little while for him to come around, so, hopefully, he's gotten it together now. We'll see what happens.”

Alwaysinahurry has worked three times at Pimlico since the Concern, with bullets going four and five-eighths and, most recently, an easy five-furlong move in 1:02.80 Aug. 6.

“Hopefully, he'll just improve a little bit more and get a little bit better as we go on,” Capuano said. “Time will tell.”

Louis Ulman and Neil Glasser's Kenny Had a Notion won stakes on turf and dirt as a 2-year-old and opened his 3-year-old season with a neck triumph over favored Maythehorsebwithu in the seven-furlong Spectacular Bid Jan. 16 at Laurel Park in Laurel, Md. He got a break after running third in the one-mile Miracle Wood Feb. 20 and was sixth to Wondrwherecraigis in his July 18 return at Pimlico.

Capuano put Kenny Had a Notion back on the grass for his most recent start, a five-furlong dash July 30 at Pimlico, where he raced between horses early before tiring to be seventh behind Mamba On Three.

“He ran OK the other day on the turf,” Capuano said. “He just hasn't come back to himself. It's a bit disappointing.”

Capuano said he plans to run Taking Risks Stable's Cannon's Roar in the Find. The 7-year-old gelding, second in the 2020 Maryland Million Turf and third in the July 8 Sussex at Delaware Park, was third to Logical Myth and Monarchs Glen in the West Virginia House of Delegates Speaker's Cup Aug. 7 at Mountaineer Park in New Cumberland, W.Va.

“He ran a big race, so my plan is to back in the Find,” Capuano said. “He ran his race and ran terrific. The two favorites beat him. He got beat a length and a half. They just outran him. He did everything right, he just wasn't quite good enough. The Maryland-bred race hopefully will be a little bit easier, and we won't have to ship six hours to get there.”

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Wicked Halo Much The Best In Adirondack For Asmussen, Winchell

Just like her dam Just Wicked, Wicked Halo crossed the wire first in the Grade 2 Adirondack Stakes, giving trainer Steve Asmussen another graded stakes winner a day after he passed Dale Baird as North America's all-time winningest trainer. The gray 2-year-old filly dueled with Microbiome early and made her rail-hugging trip a winning one at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, N.Y.

At the break, Tom Amoss-trained Microbiome was quickest out of the gate taking a short lead, with Wicked Halo just off her shoulder on the rail. Down the backstretch, the two dueled, Jose Ortiz moving the Asmussen filly to the lead before the first quarter-mile. Approaching the turn, Microbiome stayed with her into the stretch, but the daughter of Gun Runner and Just Wicked was too good for the Amoss horse. In the stretch, Wicked Halo drew away to win by 3 1/2 lengths. Interstatedaydream came on late to grab second, with Saucy Lady T third. The final time for the 6 1/2 furlongs was 1:17.99.

Mainstay, Microbiome, Ontheonesandtwos, J.L's Rockette, Shesawildjoker, and Boss Lady Kim rounded out the order of finish.

Wicked Halo paid $11.40, $6.00, and $4.80. Interstatedaydream paid $14.80 and $9.50. Saucy Lady T paid $12.80 to show. Find this race's chart here.

“Ron [Winchell, owner-breeder] giving us horses like this makes all the accolades possible. This filly, her mother won the Adirondack [Just Wicked, 2015], and what a great sire Gun Runner is proving to be. To duplicate what her mother did is very special,” Asmussen said after the race.

“In these 2-year-old stakes races there's going to be pace because a lot of them break their maiden wire-to-wire or are just sitting off it. A lot of times, the pace is going to be hot in races like this, and it was hot this time. Tyler [Gaffalione, aboard Microbiome, No. 9] broke better than me. I put her up there and she responded well,” jockey Jose Ortiz said after the Adirondack. “They were going fast, but she was ready. Steve had her ready to run.”

With the Grade 2 Adirondack in the books, Wicked Halo has two wins in three lifetime starts for career earnings of $144,650 for breeder/owner Winchell Thoroughbreds.

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Gun Runner’s Wicked Halo Gives Asmussen Full-Circle Win in Adirondack

One day after breaking the all-time North American wins record, Steve Asmussen got right back to business in a big way Sunday at Saratoga, as his Wicked Halo (Gun Runner) shook off intense pace pressure and kicked clear in the lane to capture the GII Adirondack S. Adding to the significance of the moment, Wicked Halo is both by and out of Asmussen trainees, and her dam won the same race at the Spa in 2015.

Unveiled going five furlongs in the mud at Lone Star June 5, the homebred broke on top from the rail, won a pace fight and kept going for a two-length success, with the second and third finishers coming back to win next out. Tried in the Debutante S. three weeks later at Churchill, the gray was not off as well and dictated sizzling fractions before just fading late to be third.

Drifting up a bit to be the biggest price among four rivals who took the bulk of the play here, Wicked Halo was beaten out of the gate by Microbiome, but Jose Ortiz stayed aggressive and sent the Winchell colorbearer through inside of that one to eventually make the front through a scorching :21.55 quarter. Those two continued to spar past a :44.80 half as Mainstay looked to launch a three wide bid approaching the stretch, but that filly soon flattened out and Wicked Halo remained the last pace player standing going by the eighth pole. She slammed the door soon after and hit the line clearly in charge while understandably getting a little leg-weary. Deep-closing longshots Interstatedaydream and Saucy Lady T rallied mildly to get into second and third, respectively. Mainstay was fourth, while race favorite Onetheonesandtwos (Jimmy Creed) never factored, checking in sixth.

The win was Asmussen's second consecutive and fourth overall conquest of the Adirondack.

“Ron [Winchell, owner-breeder] giving us horses like this makes all the accolades possible,” he said. “This filly, her mother won the Adirondack, and what a great sire Gun Runner is proving to be. To duplicate what her mother did is very special.”

Asked about Wicked Halo surviving pace pressure and still emerging victorious, Asmussen said, “That's Saratoga tough. The filly on the outside [Microbiome] outbroke her a little bit. They ride aggressively here and horses either respond or get beat and she responded. For a 2-year-old filly, and the way she acted in the paddock off hard races, it's a level of class that is hard to come by.”

“In these 2-year-old stakes races there's going to be pace because a lot of them break their maiden wire-to-wire or are just sitting off it,” said winning rider Jose Ortiz. “A lot of times, the pace is going to be hot in races like this, and it was hot this time. Tyler [Gaffalione, aboard Microbiome] broke better than me. I put her up there and she responded well. They were going fast, but she was ready. Steve had her ready to run.”

Asmussen added that he's unlikely to run Wicked Halo back in the Sept. 5 GI Spinaway S., saying, “I think we may give her a break. I got overly aggressive with the mother and being fortunate to have the family continuously, you need to learn from it.”

Pedigree Notes:

Wicked Halo's victory gives Three Chimneys Farm's freshman sire Gun Runner two graded stakes winners in as many days, following Pappacap's score in the GII Best Pal S. Saturday at Del Mar. She is the first foal to race out of Just Wicked, a full-sister to Grade II winner My Miss Lilly out of SW Wicked Deed. Just Wicked is responsible for a yearling full-brother to the winner and produced another Gun Runner filly this season before returning to the dual champion once more.

Sunday, Saratoga
ADIRONDACK S.-GII, $200,000, Saratoga, 8-8, 2yo, f, 6 1/2f, 1:17.99, ft.
1–WICKED HALO, 120, f, 2, by Gun Runner
1st Dam: Just Wicked (GSW, $208,460), by Tapit
2nd Dam: Wicked Deed, by Harlan's Holiday
3rd Dam: Marfa's Squall, by Marfa
1ST BLACK-TYPE WIN, 1ST GRADED STAKES WIN.
O/B-Winchell Thoroughbreds LLC (KY); T-Steven M.
Asmussen; J-Jose L. Ortiz. $110,000. Lifetime Record:
3-2-0-1, $144,650. Werk Nick Rating: A+++. Click for the
eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree. *Second SW for freshman
sire (by Candy Ride {Arg).
2–Interstatedaydream, 120, f, 2, Classic Empire–Babcock, by
Uncle Mo. ($105,000 Ylg '20 KEEJAN; $130,000 Ylg '20
KEESEP; $175,000 2yo '21 OBSAPR). O-Flurry Racing Stables
LLC; B-William D. Graham (ON); T-Brad H. Cox. $40,000.
3–Saucy Lady T, 120, f, 2, Tonalist–Fila Primera, by War
Front. ($5,000 Ylg '20 KEESEP). O-James K. Chapman &
Stuart Tsujimoto; B-R. S. Evans (KY); T-James K. Chapman.
$24,000.
Margins: 3HF, HF, HF. Odds: 4.70, 16.70, 36.75.
Also Ran: Mainstay, Microbiome, Ontheonesandtwos, J L's Rockette, Shesawildjoker, Boss Lady Kim.
Click for the Equibase.com chart, the TJCIS.com PPs, or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. VIDEO, sponsored by TVG.

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