Only once off the board in her career, the grey was last seen putting up a career-high Beyer of 99 en route to winning the GIII Caress S. over this course last month and had two victories over the lawn at Belmont and Pimlico since changing from the barn of Michelle Brafford to Christophe Clement for 2023.

Christened the heavy 1-5 favorite as the field shrank with the scratch of four rivals, she veered to her outside after the jump as her outer rival also went to the right, but was settled to comfortably follow the leading pair. Three wide under an ultra confident Irad Ortiz Jr. through the turn, Roses for Debra was called on for her kick as she shifted further out. In the five path but closing with a full head of steam, she was given a single, minor reminder and powered clear in the final furlong to win by 3 1/4 lengths.

“It was pretty nice. The tote board said it all really, everybody thought she'd run really well,” said winning co-owner John O'Meara. “It was nice having some scratches. You know it's always nicer to have a smaller field, but when they scratched out of there…I don't know whether they scratched because of the weather or because they were afraid of her. Going to have to keep going and see who will be afraid of her in the future. I bought her. A good friend of mine, Gerry Dilger, bought her as a weanling and he passed away. It was a dispersal and I bought her in the dispersal. She's been nothing but fun to have around since. Of course, when she got hurt in the 2-year-old sale that didn't help, but it is all for the better at this point.”

O'Meara added that the current plan is to go to Presque Isle for the $300,000 GII Presque Isle Downs Masters S., and from there either a trip to Keeneland or the Breeders' Cup.

A half-sister to an accomplished elder half-brother in Rose's Vision and to SP Rosie's Alibi (Justify), Roses for Debra also has a 2-year-old half-sister Modarosa (Palace Malice), a yearling American Pharoah half-sister and the 2023 half-sibling by Gun Runner was unfortunately stillborn. Essential Rose, herself out of a graded stakes-winning mare and a half-sister to a graded stakes-placed stakes producer, visited Curlin for 2024. This is the female family of MGSW Flameaway (Scat Daddy) through the European blue hen Flame of Tara (Ire). Click for the Equibase.com chart or VIDEO, sponsored by FanDuel TV.

SMART N FANCY S., $139,500, Saratoga, 8-25, 4yo/up, f/m, 5 1/2fT, 1:01.82, gd.
1–ROSES FOR DEBRA, 124, f, 4, Liam's Map–Essential Rose, by Bernardini. ($120,000 Ylg '20 KEEJAN; $25,000 Ylg '20 KEESEP). O-John O'Meara and Cheyenne Stable LLC; B-Blackstone Farm LLC (PA); T-Christophe Clement; J-Irad Ortiz, Jr.. $82,500. Lifetime Record: GSW, 9-7-1-0, $406,430. *1/2 to Rose's Vision (Artie Schiller), SW-USA, MSP-Can, $264,358.
2–Bubble Rock, 124, f, 4, More Than Ready–Reef Point, by Giant's Causeway. O/B-Shortleaf Stable (KY); T-Brad H. Cox. $30,000.
3–Train to Artemus, 124, m, 5, Tapizar–Pay Day Kitten, by Kitten's Joy. O-M and W Stables; B-Kenneth L. & Sarah K. Ramsey (KY); T-Kelly J. Breen. $18,000.
Margins: 3 1/4, 1, 9 1/4. Odds: 0.35, 2.85, 6.60.
Also Ran: Talkin Tipsy. Scratched: Bluefield, Can't Buy Love, Poppy Flower, Self Isolation.

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“Everything seemed to work perfectly this morning and you don't really see that a lot in horse racing,” trainer Joel Marr said. “We're taking every day in stride and enjoying being part of this year's Kentucky Derby.”

Should Wild On Ice make the Derby gate on May 6 it would mark both the first Churchill Downs appearance and first Derby starter for Marr and alsoTohill, who at age 60 would become the oldest jockey to ever ride in the Kentucky Derby and surpass Jon Court, who was 58 when he rode Long Range Toddy (Take Charge Indy) to a 16th-place finish in 2019.

“We know coming to Kentucky there are a lot more accomplished jockeys and trainers than us,” Tohill said. “It is the elite of the elite. But, we're coming to compete with them.”

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3rd-OP, $90K, Msw, 2yo, f, 1m, 2:26 p.m.

A daughter of prolific broodmare Tamboz (Tapit), MADLY DANCING (Curlin) is a half-sister to eight winners from as many to race including GI Preakness S. third Creative Minister (Creative Cause), MGSP Battalion Runner (Unbridled's Song), MGSP Oceanwave (Harlan's Holiday), GISP Dolder Grand (Candy Ride {Arg}), and MSP Late Nite Mischief (Into Mischief). Tamboz herself is a full-sister to GI Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile victor and sire Tapizar. Madly Dancing, a $525,000 Keeneland September yearling purchase, races for owners WSS Racing LLC and trainer John Ortiz. TJCIS PPS

8th-FG, $50K, Msw, 2yo, f, 1 1/16m, 5:45 p.m.

Another well-bred daughter of Curlin, CUSHEE debuts Friday after bringing $775,000 at Keeneland September from Lael Stables for trainer Michael Stidham. A half-sister to GI Maker's 46 Mile S. winner American Patriot (War Front) and MGSP Muqtaser (Distorted Humor), Cushee is out of a full-sister to G1 Emirates Airline Dubai World Cup winner Well Armed. This is also the family of GSW Witty (Distorted Humor), responsible for both GSW Bombard (War Front) and MGSP Amuse (Medaglia d'Oro).  TJCIS PPS

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In an economy where connections are forced to steadily tighten their belts, it's not an unreasonable nor unforeseen response to current trends to ask for more before opening a wallet. Many owners/syndicates with stallions outside of Kentucky usually find themselves among their stallion's chief supporters until the first crop runners make their first impressions.

An example of this would be the case of Ocala Stud's Battalion Runner (Unbridled's Song) and his son, Rudder's Men. Unveiled last Saturday, Oct. 22 at the Belmont The Big A meet for breeder–and sire owner–St. Elias Stable, the dark bay was hard to miss as he sailed through a brisk :22.53 opening quarter while under wraps, and sprinting home to an easy 4 1/4-length score. With the effort, he became Battalion Runner's third winner after Lady Runner and Lightnin Runner. The latter carried her sire's banner into the winner's enclosure Sept. 17 in Charles Town's Rachel's Turn S., his first black-type horse. Not a bad feat for any sire to have his first winner also turn out his first stakes victory, no matter the track.

Battalion Runner's first crop tally? A grand total of nine foals.

“We foaled, raised, and trained Rudder's Men,” said Ocala Stud's general manager David O'Farrell. “He's a runner. When we shipped him up to Todd Pletcher, we all felt that [Rudder's Men] would have to be the one to help carry the load and really give Battalion Runner a chance to come on the scene. We thought he would be better suited running in Florida as a state-bred by a Florida sire, but Todd realized when he got him up there that the horse could run in open company in New York and that's what he did.”

A part of a still-growing legacy from Tamboz (Tapit), Battalion Runner claims a host of accomplished siblings. One of which being a more recent, and easily recognizable name, in GI Preakness-placed Creative Minister (Creative Cause); starting his career at Gulfstream Park before finding himself on the national stage in just his fourth career start.

And it's not just his immediate family, either. Battalion Runner's dam is a full-sister to Tapizar, whose determination en route to victory in the GI Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile–by some genetic magic–was passed on to his offspring. None were more famous than the fabulous Monomoy Girl, who accumulated quite a career crowned by victories in the GI Longines Kentucky Oaks and dual GI Longines Breeders' Cup Distaffs. Tapizar tragically passed away in a stall accident a few weeks before he was scheduled to travel to Japan to begin his 2021 season at Yushun Stallion Station.

However, misfortune has a counter-balance as successes in the pedigree hail notably in the form of Olympio (Naskra), Fun House (Prized), and Cuvee (Carson City), who make appearances deep in Battalion Runner's female line; genetics which still enjoy a long-arching impact on the breed today.

Battalion Runner earns 'TDN Rising Star'-dom in 2016 | Lauren King

On the back of a workman's female family–even before the most recent additions–and as a son of the great Unbridled's Song, the stallion's eye-catching conformation helped him command a princely sum as a Keeneland September yearling in his day; bringing $700,000 from Crupi's New Castle. Racing for the partnership of Teresa Viola Racing Stables and St. Elias Stable, the striking grey overcame such an eventful second career start (winning by over eight lengths after playing bridesmaid on debut) that the effort attracted even the TDN to his side, awarding him the title of 'Rising Star'.

Battalion Runner would duel his way to a second, gutsy victory in his 3-year-old bow in 2017 before traveling north to the Big A for a start in the GII Wood Memorial. The defeated favorite that day by Irish War Cry (Curlin), and finishing ahead of names like Cloud Computing (Maclean's Music) and Mo Town (Uncle Mo), he'd run third three months later in the GIII Dwyer after his connections opted to bypass the GI Kentucky Derby. The winner that day was Practical Joke (Into Mischief).

Unknowingly, the GIII Smarty Jones S. at Parx, where he steadied to fifth, would end up being a career finale; the connections valiant, but ultimately unsuccessful, in their efforts to bring him back from injury.

Then came a curious initial phone call to O'Farrell.

“[St. Elias Stables'] Vinny [Viola] reached out to me at a time when breeding season was just about under way and said that they'd had Battalion Runner at Crupi's New Castle Farm. They were trying to bring him back, and he just wasn't able to do it.”

He admits that the timing was less than ideal: the stallion register had already been printed, many breeders had already committed their mares, they'd be behind the eight-ball on getting him advertised, and that was only the start.

“I told Vinny that I just didn't feel that we could do the job he'd expect. He was an awfully nice horse but as a non-stakes winner getting a late start, it would be very tough to get mares to the horse. With all the expenses of registering, advertising, and so on, I told him I didn't think [Battalion Runner] would generate enough to pay his way.”

O'Farrell says Viola understood the concerns and the uphill battle his stallion prospect was facing. Such was racing luck; it could be kind but it could also be cruel, and it seemed like Battalion Runner had just missed the favorable side. But like all good sportsmen in the industry, Viola refused to ignore his gut feeling and sometime later, the second call came in to O'Farrell with a counteroffer.

“He said 'You're going to think I'm crazy, but we still have this horse. I know it makes absolutely zero business sense, but would you stand the horse if I breed a few mares to him? I'll pay the registration fees; I just want to have a little fun with it. I believe in him, I just have a feeling.'…And I was all for it.”

Battalion Runner arrived to his new Florida home and the owner was good to his word, but in a way O'Farrell admitted he wasn't entirely expecting. There would be fillies, yes, but 12 claimed straight from the track as opposed to experienced broodmares. The second challenge to overcome would be the impending end to the season, and getting all covered by a stallion who had never jumped a mare before. It was a tall order, but remarkably, one Battalion Runner rose to. Of his first initial group, 11 caught and nine foals hit the ground; all late, but they were here.

“It was a very unconventional way to start, and market a stallion, but they're having fun with it. And they're being rewarded.”

For everything to navigate through, it might well end up an understatement. The sire currently sits at a 33% win and 11% stakes rate coupled with the fact that, of their eight combined starts, the offspring have won half of them. The chance to become the sire of a multiple stakes winner will come Saturday, Oct. 29 when Lightnin Runner goes to post in the Eleanor Casey Memorial S. at Charles Town. In many aspects, the grey stallion has thrown his hat into a familiar ring; one where Florida breeders carefully and patiently prove their 'eye' for horses is as good as any in the big markets.

Firenze Fire Savages Yaupon in GI Forego | Susie Raisher

As for Rudder's Men, it appears the cliché 'the sky is the limit' runs true. Much like his sire, the colt hails from an active female family. His young dam Unblemished (Speightstown) is a half-sister to the second-busiest stallion in North America; Spendthrift's Yaupon (Uncle Mo). That sibling-turned-sire won the infamous rendition of the GI Forego at Saratoga where rival Firenze Fire (Poseidon's Warrior) chose violence and took to savaging him over gracefully accepting defeat.

A $140,000 Keeneland September graduate–purchased by Crupi's New Castle–the mare is also a half to GII Del Mar Derby and GII Twilight Derby-placed Sawyer's Hill (Spring At Last), who enjoyed a fruitful career as a multiple winner in California. As one of the 12 claims by St. Elias Stable in 2019, she was picked up for $40,000 in a maiden claimer over the Belmont turf, a race in which she finished eighth after breaking through the gate and dumping her rider. For all the chaotic circumstances leading to his arrival, Unblemished's first foal is already showing a lot of promise and so to is the gut feeling Viola would not ignore.

“It's really a passion project of Vinny's. He raced and campaigned Battalion Runner…the horse is absolutely gorgeous. He's putting a lot of bone on his babies, and I wouldn't be surprised when he has more than one runner. If he gets the chances, he's one who could really make it,” said O'Farrell. “From what we've seen, the St. Elias weanling crop this year is exceptional. He's passing on his good looks, and if they run like anything close to what Rudder's Men is capable of, they're going to be in business for a long time.”

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A 'TDN Rising Star', the speedy Bob Hess, Jr. trainee won three of his first five starts before finishing second in the 2017 GIII Gallant Bob S. He was fourth next out in the GI Breeders' Cup Sprint.

“His best attribute is his speed, but his personality is unparalleled to any horse I've ever owned,” said owner Mike Mowrey. “He's a very smart horse–he's calm, cool and collected, but when he got on the track, he meant business. If he passes on his speed and his personality, I think his foals will be pretty precocious.”

Swifty General Manager Jerri Harmon added, “We think the addition of American Pastime to our roster will expand the offerings Swifty Farms has, as well as bring a new set of bloodlines to the state. He's settled in quite well and we're looking forward to seeing what his breeding season brings us.”

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“She's simply a remarkable mare and has meant the world to my career,” Cox said. “She's given her owners a lot of joy throughout her career. We knew as a barn we weren't going to do anything with her if she wasn't 100 percent. It took us awhile to get her back last year. She's rewarded us in such a big way. She owes us nothing and will always be special to us. She was our first (Kentucky) Oaks winner and Breeders' Cup winner and a multiple champion. She matured a lot throughout her career. Going into the Breeders' Cup (in 2020) she trained with such a purpose each day. It was hard to imagine her works being better than when she was a 3-year-old but she was more aggressive in her training and really blossomed on the racetrack.”

Owned in partnership by My Racehorse Stable, Spendthrift Farm and Madaket Stables, Monomoy Girl – a sure-fire future Hall of Famer – retired Wednesday with $4,776,818 in career purse earnings with an outstanding record of 17-14-3-0.

The speedy daughter of Tapizar grew to stardom after starting her career a perfect 3-for-3. Following a neck defeat in the 2017 Golden Rod (G2), Monomoy Girl stormed to victory in five straight races including the 2018 Longines Kentucky Oaks (G1). She ended her 3-year-old campaign with one-length win in the Breeders' Cup Distaff (G1). At the end of the season, she was awarded the Eclipse Award for outstanding 3-year-old filly.

Monomoy Girl spent the next 18 months on the sidelines due to injury but returned for her 5-year-old campaign which included victories in the La Troienne (G1) and Breeders' Cup Distaff (G1). She was awarded the Eclipse Award for Older Dirt Female in 2020.

There were only two races Monomoy Girl didn't go off as the favorite: the 2017 Rags to Riches (3-1) and Kentucky Oaks (5-2).

Monomoy Girl raced at eight different racetracks and recorded victories on the dirt and turf. Jockey Florent Geroux was partnered with Monomoy Girl for 16 starts. Marcelino Pedroza rode her to victory in her debut at Indiana Grand.

Monomoy Girl was purchased at the 2016 Keeneland September Yearling Sale by BSW Bloodstock and agent Liz Crow for $100,000. Crow reflected Wednesday on social media about the career of Monomoy Girl.

“(She) was the mare of a lifetime,” Crow said. “There is truly no way to thank her for what she's done for everyone involved. Monomoy Girl brought people together and changed lives.”

Cox stated Monomoy Girl will be retired to Spendthrift Farm.

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“Monomoy Girl went out for a routine gallop Tuesday morning and came back a little off in her right front leg. We had it x-rayed and found a non-displaced fracture of the sesamoid. Obviously, we're very disappointed,” said trainer Brad Cox. “She's walking sound today and it's not anything that will require surgery. It's just unfortunate that it will end her racing career.”

Purchased by Liz Crow for just $100,000 at Keeneland September, Monomoy Girl captured her first three races as a juvenile in 2017, including the Rags to Riches S., for an ownership group that included Michael Dubb, Sol Kumin's Monomoy Stables, Stuart Grant's The Elkstone Group and Bethlehem Stables. Runner-up in the GII Golden Rod S. that season, she returned to winning ways in 2018, capturing the GII Rachel Alexandra S. and GI Central Bank Ashland S. A facile winner of the GI Kentucky Oaks, the chestnut took both the GI Acorn S. and GI CCA Oaks and crossed the line first in the GI Cotillion S., but was disqualified for interference and placed second. She got the best of her older rivals in the GI Breeders' Cup Distaff that season, clinching her first Eclipse Award in the process.

Monomoy Girl missed the 2019 season due to colic and a hamstring injury, but returned victorious in 2020, capturing a Churchill optional claimer that May. Following suit with wins in Belmont's GII Ruffian S. and Churchill's GI La Troienne S., she ran to the money in the Distaff, defeating Valiance (Tapit) by 1 3/4 lengths, and earned her second Eclipse award.

Sent through the ring at Fasig-Tipton's Night of the Stars in November, Monomoy Girl summoned a whopping $9.5 million from Spendthrift Farm. My Racehorse joined in as a partner as did one of her original owners Sol Kumin, this time under his Madaket Stables banner. She was returned to Cox for her 6-year-old season, winning the GIII Bayakoa S. Feb. 28 and finished second to divisional leader Letruska (Super Saver) in the GI Apple Blossom H. when last seen Apr. 17. She was given a brief break from training following that event and had recently returned to Cox's barn. Monomoy Girl retires with a record of 17-14-3-0 and earnings of $4,776,818.

“I'm going to miss having her around and not being able to put a saddle on her again, but Monomoy Girl owes us nothing,” said Cox. “She's an unbelievable mare and will always hold a special place in my heart as our first Oaks winner, Breeders' Cup winner and champion. She will go to Spendthrift to start her breeding career and I'm sure she'll be an awesome mom.”

Spendthrift's Ned Toffey said that Monomoy Girl is expected to come to the Lexington-based farm this week to settle into her new career as a broodmare. Breeding plans have not yet been determined.

“Certainly, we are disappointed, especially for all of our partners,” said Toffey. “While we were hopeful to get her back to the races this year, we won't lose focus on what is most important and that is a healthy Monomoy Girl. She's an all-time great and we look forward to the next chapter of her career and giving her a great life on the farm at Spendthrift.”

Monomoy Girl's dam Drumette summoned $1.85 million from Bridlewood Farm in foal to Mastery at the 2018 FTKNOV sale. Her half-brother Mr. Monomoy (Palace Malice) captured a split division of the GII Risen Star S. last term and has since retired to stud in New York.

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“I feel that my training career is an extension of my parents and their horsemanship and work ethic,” Asmussen said. “It was the perfect storm to be the youngest son of Keith and Marilyn Asmussen. With the way they implemented their tools, they were an inspiration to me. To be able to do it is one thing. To be willing to work so hard for it is another. From an unbelievably young age for both me and my brother Cash, they taught us to respect the horse and the opportunity each one gave you. With them, that never wavered.”

He learned well.

As of July 18, Asmussen, 55, had 9,431 career wins, putting him just 14 behind the all-time leader, Waterford/Mountaineer Park kingpin Dale Baird. The record should fall some time later this month or in early August. He has trained champions, won Eclipse Awards, won Triple Crown and Breeders' Cup races and has been inducted into the Hall of Fame, but there is something incomparable about winning more races than anyone else in history. It takes more than skill or horsemanship. You cannot just be better than your competition, you must be more motivated and have an insatiable thirst for success.

“It's a big deal to me,” Asmussen said of his impending record. “It's huge. It really is.”

He wasn't thinking that way in the beginning. Having left the Asmussen nest in Texas and just 20 at the time, he won his first race in 1986 at Ruidoso Downs. His main goal then was to simply win another race. He went 1-for-15 that year with earnings of $2,324. He did not win another race until the following year.

“I was struggling,” he said.

A year later, he got his first break. Owner Ron Lance was a Birmingham, Alabama, native and a close friend of the Asmussen family and wanted to begin a stable at the newly opened Birmingham Turf Club. Knowing that Keith and Marilyn Asmussen had too much on their plate to set up a division at Birmingham, Lance decided to hire their son. Asmussen won 30 races that year, including a pair of $15,000 stakes at Birmingham and a $25,000 stakes at Charles Town.

“When Birmingham Race Course was opening up, (Lance) wanted horses there and he got dad to send me there with his horses,” Asmussen said. “The Ruidoso Steve Asmussen was someone who was galloping horses on a free-lance basis, had a couple of horses on the side and was enjoying being 20. The real start to this was when Ron Lance talked dad into sending me to Birmingham for the opening of that race meet. It was a completely different responsibility compared to what I had been doing. A sense of commitment had come over me.”

Between 1987 and 1993, not much changed. He never had a year where he won more than 48 races, most of them at second-tier tracks. He showed little sign of being a future Hall of Famer. But he remained confident. He was inspired by Richard Hazelton, a top trainer on the Illinois circuit who, between 1980 and 1985, cranked out 846 winners.

“He was King Richard,” Asmussen said. “I loved his personality and his horsemanship. He was on his way to winning 4,000 races. I just thought 4,000 races, that's 100 races a year for 40 years. I just thought wow. He was revered. Being around him made me want to do what he did. I thought, I can do this too.”

But he had problems breaking through. What he needed was a good horse.

At the 1995 OBS February sale, Keith and Cash Asmussen were hunting for horses for owners Bob and Lee Ackerley, who ran under the name of Ackerley Brothers Farm. It was there that they found Valid Expectations, a $225,000 purchase who was turned over to Steve.

“We won the Sugar Bowl H. on Dec. 31 at the Fair Grounds and it was my first stakes win at the Fair Grounds,” Asmussen recalled. “That was the first year when our barn went over $1 million in earnings. Next year he won the Derby Trial, which was our first graded stakes win ever and our first stakes win at Churchill Downs. He gave me my first stakes win in New York as well [in the 1996 GIII Sport Page H.]. Valid Expectations was the horse that propelled us.”

He had proven that he could win at the top levels, which opened doors. In 1995, he broke the 100-win barrier for the first time, winning 130 races. With momentum now in his favor, he proved unstoppable. In 2000, he won 233 races. In 2001, he won 294, including 31 stakes. For most everyone else, that would have been good enough, but not for Asmussen. His brand now well established, he kept getting bigger and better. In 2004, he set a single season record with 555 winners and topped it in 2008 with 621 winners. In 2013, he won his 6,418th race to pass Jack Van Berg to become the second leading trainer of all time.

His barn had as many top horses as anyone else's and he was winning the biggest races out there with horses like Curlin, Rachel Alexandra, Untapable, Summerly, Tapizar and, more recently Gun Runner.

Yet, he never forgot his roots and those early days around his parents. While Asmussen's parents were breaking yearlings for such high-profile owners as the Winchell Family, they were also kicking around tracks in Texas and New Mexico with their stable of quarter horses. Today, Steve Asmussen can just as easily be found in the entries for a beaten $10,000 claimer at Remington Park as he can for a Grade I race at Saratoga. There is no other trainer like him when it comes to the diversity of his stable. That he still races at places like Remington, Lone Star, Delta Downs and Sam Houston is a major reason he has been able to compile the numbers he has.

“Why have those races always been important to me?” he asked. “When you think of my mom and dad's stable, you think of them running in south Texas with Quarter horses and at the mixed meet at Ruidoso in the summer. During that time, my parents were still starting young horses off for the Winchells. When I was in junior high, with them, I was around Tight Spot, Silver Ending, Olympio, Sea Cadet. So I was so blessed to be around champions and Grade I-caliber horses while we were making a living with lower-level horses. It goes back to my mom and dad showing me that every horse in front of you is important. To them, every single one of them was important, every horse just as important as the next one.”

To make it work, to have so many horses at so many tracks, Asmussen has to have a deep and talented team working behind him. He is always quick to praise assistants like Scott Blasi, Mitch Dennison, Toby Sheets and Pablo O'Campo. He also credits his family, his wife Julie and his three sons. Not only are they understanding of his hectic schedule, but they stay involved and pitch in any way they can. Asmussen was understandably overjoyed last year when his son, Keith, spent his summer vacation from college riding horses and winning races as an apprentice jockey for his father.

“We have all done this together,” he said of his team.

After passing Baird, Asmussen will have to set his sights on new goals. He admits that he very much wants to win his first GI Kentucky Derby. There's also a trainer in Peru named Juan Suarez, who has more winners than Asmussen has. He wants to pass him. Beyond that, he simply wants to keep winning. There will be no slowing down.

“This has never been better,” he said.  “It is so fun to train for the Winchells, the Heiligbrodts, the Ackerleys, because you ran their mothers and now we ran their sires. You had their half-sisters. When they come, in I like to notice the similarities and the differences. That is the fabulous part of it right now. We'll have Gun Runner babies this summer. We've had the Curlin babies. You look at the pedigrees of some of these horses and I broke their third dam when I was in high school working for my dad.

“Then there is my wife and my kids. It consumes all of us and it is so much fun that they are a part of it. It's been really fun to pursue this with my family, just realizing how much joy horse racing has brought to us as a family.”

In his mid-fifties, Asmussen has many good years left. If he keeps up his current pace, and there's no reason to suggest that he won't, he could have as many as 15,000 wins by his 70th birthday. With fewer and fewer races being run each year, he is sure to set records that will never be broken.

In some ways he can't help himself. Winning is in his blood.

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Named champion 3-year-old filly off a sparkling 2018 campaign, Monomoy Girl returned from a year and a half on the sidelines to win all four starts in 2020, including Churchill's GI La Troienne S. followed by a successful title defense in the Nov. 7 GI Breeders' Cup Distaff at Keeneland. After realizing $9.5 million from Spendthrift Farm at Fasig-Tipton in November, the 6-year-old mare marked her debut sporting the MyRacehorse silks when taking Oaklawn's GIII Bayakoa S. Feb. 28. The Brad Cox trainee has shown signs of readiness for her step back up to Grade I company with a swift four-furlong breeze in :47.60 at Oaklawn Apr. 11.

Looking to stand in the two-time champion's way is Swiss Skydiver, who enters Saturday's test off a confident victory in the GI Beholder Mile at Santa Anita Mar. 13. Trained by Ken McPeek, the chestnut bagged five graded stakes victories in 2020, highlighted by the GI Alabama S. and the GI Preakness S., when she was seen defeating subsequent sophomore champion colt and Horse of the Year Authentic (Into Mischief). Despite finishing seventh behind Monomoy Girl on Breeders' Cup day, she earned a divisional title for a season that saw her win five of 10 starts while earning over $1.6 million for owner Peter Callaghan. Robbie Albarado, aboard for her three latest starts, returns to the irons Saturday.

Swiss Skydiver arrived at Oaklawn Wednesday afternoon and galloped over a muddy surface after the second renovation break Thursday morning. She has registered three workouts since the Beholder, including a five-furlong move in 1:00.40 at Churchill Downs Apr. 10.

“It's scary,” Albarado said. “She might be better than last year. She's doing so good right now.”

Swiss Skydiver can collect a $60,000 bonus for winning the Apple Blossom for racing Lasix-free.

“She doesn't need it,” McPeek said. “She's never really needed it. We took her off Lasix for her last start because she's going to be running the rest of the year without it, anyway.”

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Trained by Brad Cox for Spendthrift Farm, My Racehorse and Madaket Stables, the 6-year-old mare by Tapizar out of Drumette, by Henny Hughes, took the overland route most of the 1 1/16 miles, stopping the teletimer in 1:45.92.

Our Super Freak edged Finite by 1 1/4 lengths for second place, with Chance to Shine fourth, Istan Council fifth and Another Broad trailing the field. Sent off the heavy favorite, Monomoy Girl paid $2.40 as a heavy favorite.

Steve Asmussen-trained Finite jumped out to an early lead under Ricardo Santana Jr., setting fractions of :24.60 for the opening quarter mile and :49.41 for the half. Our Super Freak applied pressure to Finite approaching the far turn after six furlongs in 1:14.13, with Monomoy Girl biding her time just behind the top pair and well off the rail.

Our Super Freak and David Cohen passed Finite, who fought back gamely to her inside, but Geroux and Monomoy Girl had them both measured, and the champion moved to the lead at the top of the stretch, sailing past the mile marker in 1:39.04 en route to her victory.

The post Monomoy Girl Splashes Home First In Bayakoa, Winning For 14th Time In 16 Starts appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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