trainer milestones | Horse Racing Free Tips

Digital Software Gives Chad Brown 2,000th Career Win

Trainer Chad Brown registered his 2,000th career win in Friday's 10th-race finale at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., when Digital Software netted a victory by a head under jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. for owner Klaravich Stables in a 1 1/16-mile maiden claiming contest over the inner turf course.

Brown has won four Eclipse Awards as Outstanding Trainer and has compiled 15 Breeders' Cup victories in addition to Cloud Computing winning the 2017 Preakness. Brown has also won the Saratoga training title three times [2016, 2018-19].

A 42-year-old native of Mechanicville, N.Y., Brown was a 2001 graduate of Cornell University who worked for two Hall of Fame trainers, Shug McGaughey and Robert Frankel, before starting his own public stable in November 2007.

He recorded his 1,000th career victory at Saratoga in 2016. His 2,000th win came with a horse owned by Seth Klarman's Klaravich Stables, one of his principal owners.

“We were rooting for the maiden 40 horse [Digital Software] like he was Bricks and Mortar at the Breeders' Cup just now,” Brown said. “I was actually saying that to Irad [Ortiz, Jr.] out on the track and he smiled and said, 'I rode him like he was him.'

“I'm very appreciative and reflecting on all the people that contributed to this, but most of them are still working and some are not on site. So many people go into this, and you heard a lot of that at the Hall of Fame today from the inductees. It's all the way down to milestones like this, there's a lot of people that play a role in it from family to mentors and when you reach these milestones, I take a moment to reflect and appreciate all the people that made this happen.

“I'm running the ship and calling the shots, but I can't do it without all my wonderful co-workers, all the great horses and all the people that taught you along the way. There are so many things that go into it. I play one role – it's an important role – but far from the only role. It's a great thing to experience and hopefully it will sink in and my team can really appreciate it and move forward to try and get the next goal.”

“It is so great that we can be part of Chad's achievement of 2,000 wins,” said Klarman. “It's obvious that he's extraordinarily talented. This is so great and I am happy for him. He's fantastic. He's a gifted horseman and he is also a great friend.”

“I ride a lot for Chad and I have had a lot of success with him,” said Ortiz. “He's one of those guys who is always there for me and he's helped me a lot. I wish him all the best success and that he can continue having success. I respect him a lot and I enjoy everything he's done so far.”

The post Digital Software Gives Chad Brown 2,000th Career Win appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

Asmussen Equals Baird’s All-Time Record With Win No. 9,445

Hall of Famer Steve Asmussen tied the late Dale Baird as North America's winningest thoroughbred trainer as long-time client Mike McCarty's 4-year-old colt Shanghai's Dream captured the sixth race Friday at Ellis Park in Henderson, Ky.

The victory was the 9,445th (out of 45,905 starts) for Asmussen in a career that officially began with a ninth-place finish by Track Ambassador in a $2,100 maiden race at Ruidoso Downs on June 5, 1986.

Earlier in the afternoon, Asmussen won Saratoga's fourth race as Jalen Journey romped by 8 1/2 lengths. Jalen Journey and Shanghai's Dream were the only two horses the barn ran Friday. They have three in at Ellis Park on Saturday, along with six at Saratoga, two at Louisiana Downs and three at Monmouth Park.

Asmussen watched the Ellis Park simulcast from Saratoga Race Course in upstate New York, surrounded by his family and a media gaggle, as Shanghai's Dream rallied from last of five under Rafael Bejarano for the landmark-matching triumph to beat 43-1 shot Orient Magic by three-quarters of a length.

Steve Asmussen watched the historic win from Saratoga

“That's how I feel about it, it was meant to be,” Asmussen, a four-time Ellis Park leading trainer, said by phone. “Unbelievably significant win to me and the family. To be able to share the lead-up, getting close, all of the unbelievable support I've had and the well wishes, to be able to get to 9,445 — which we've strived for quite some time — to be surrounded by family, what could be better?

“We had a winner in the fourth race at Saratoga to get one away. And then obviously the only other horse today ties the record, and we have several chances tomorrow to stand alone, so to speak.”

Including at Ellis Park.

Shanghai's Dream gets the job done under Rafael Bejarano, giving Steve Asmussen career win No. 9,445

Asmussen is running second-choice Archidust in Saturday's Ellis finale, the $100,000 Kentucky Downs TVG Preview Turf Sprint and Stillchargingmaria in the $100,000 Kentucky Downs TVG Preview Dueling Grounds Oaks as Kentucky Downs TVG Preview Weekend kicks off. He also has a horse running in a non-stakes race on the undercard.

“We have two good chances in the stakes, so we'll see what we can do,” Asmussen said.

On Sunday, the last of his five Ellis entrants is Henley's Joy in the $125,000 Kentucky Downs TVG Preview Turf Cup.

Darren Fleming, who is overseeing Asmussen's Ellis operation this summer, has worked for the trainer since 1994. He says his long-time boss and friend — Asmussen named one of his sons Darren for Fleming — is just making good on a vow made even before then.

“We were talking at lunch and he said he wanted to be the best,” said Fleming, who was working in the Louisiana Downs racing office at the time, before he began working for Asmussen. “He was going to be the best and win the most ever.”

And Fleming thought?

“Hmm. Me, too,” he said with a laugh. “We were kids back then. But he had that goal, and he usually got done what he said he was going to get done… I don't think he's changed much. He was exactly the same when he was young. Like everything mattered, was regimented, wanted it done this way. He had the same ideas back then. I think he honed them a lot and improved a lot.”

Asmussen remembers that conversation in the early 1990s, saying, “Darren told his wife, 'He'll do it or he'll die trying.' I didn't know if that was a compliment or not.”

Fleming reflects that it was probably around 5,000 wins that he started thinking Asmussen could surpass Baird. “When the numbers got up there, and you thought it was attainable,” he said. “Then every year it got closer.”

After the race, Fleming said: “It's nice that it happened in Kentucky. I mean, he's done a lot of good here and it's been good to him.”

What did Asmussen say when they spoke by phone immediately after the race? “He said, 'Now I can go to Disneyland,'” Fleming reported.

Longtime assistant Darren Fleming holds the sign commemorating Steve Asmussen's record-tying win

Asmussen said it was fitting that his long-time assistant saddled the horse that matched the mark, given how much he relies on key assistants such as Fleming and Scott Blasi.

“The significance of it is that we do this collectively, and we do it as hard as we can at every level,” said Asmussen, the all-time winningest trainer at Churchill Downs. “I think that is extremely important. For anybody to think it's easy to win races at lesser places ought to try it – jump right in. Growing up running horses in south Texas, starting out in New Mexico at mixed meets, I honestly believe that being tied with Dale Baird and reaching 9,445 is so significant to me because I realize how hard it is to win any horse race.

“We'll celebrate this as a family for quite some time. It's a wonderful feeling to achieve this, and to be surrounded by people that love you.”

Turf writer Jennie Rees interviewed Asmussen when he was 11 wins shy of Dale Baird. Watch below:

The post Asmussen Equals Baird’s All-Time Record With Win No. 9,445 appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

Countdown To 9,446: Could Today Be The Day For Asmussen?

With 10 entries on Sunday and needing only five wins to tie all-time win leader Dale Baird, trainer Steve Asmussen's relentless quest for win No. 9,446 could – mathematically at least – come become a reality by day's end.

Asmussen sits at 9,440 wins after Madame Ready won a maiden special weight race for the Hall of Fame horsemen in the eighth race at Ellis Park on Saturday. His seven other entries on the day at Ellis Park, Louisiana Downs, Monmouth Park and Saratoga failed to find the winner's circle.

On Sunday, the Gettysburg, S.D., native has three entered at Saratoga (including Jackie's Warrior in the Grade 2 Amsterdam Stakes); five at Ellis Park (including two in one race) and two at Monmouth Park (including Tizplenty in the Colleen Stakes).

On Monday, Asmussen has three runners, one each at Louisiana Downs, Colonial Downs and Indiana Grand.

Asmussen began training in 1986 after a brief stint as a jockey. The two-time Eclipse Award winner been the national leader by yearly wins on numerous occasions and holds the all-time record for most victories in a single season, with 650 in 2009.

Baird recorded 9,445 victories before his death in an automobile accident in 2007, winning mostly at West Virginia tracks. Asmussen operates multiple stables throughout the country.

The post Countdown To 9,446: Could Today Be The Day For Asmussen? appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

Countdown to 9,446: Asmussen 12 Wins Shy Of Baird’s All-Time Record

One week ago, Steve Asmussen was 20 wins shy of the late Dale Baird's all-time record of 9,445 North American victories.

On Wednesday, the Hall of Fame trainer is 12 behind Baird after winning eight races from 33 starters in the past week. Those winners ranged from a $5,000 maiden claiming victory by Moon Lovin at Louisiana Downs to a quartet of $100,000-plus maiden or allowance race triumphs at Saratoga in upstate New York. The Asmussen stable also had runners at Monmouth Park in New Jersey, Ellis Park in Kentucky, Indiana Grand in Indiana and Woodbine in Toronto, Ontario.

With no July 21 entries, Asmussen's relentless march toward a record 9,336 training wins resumes on July 22 at Saratoga (one runner) and Indiana Grand (two runners). Things pick up further on July 23, with two entered at Saratoga and three at Ellis Park. On July 24, Asmussen has two entered at Louisiana Downs and four at Ellis Park, with additional entries expected at tracks that have yet to take entries for that day.

[Story Continues Below]

According to Equibase, going into July 22 racing, Asmussen has 9,433 career victories from 45,836 starts, with 7,646 seconds and 6,520 thirds for total purse earnings of $360,660,791. For the year, the South Dakota native has 304 wins from 1,500 starts.

The post Countdown to 9,446: Asmussen 12 Wins Shy Of Baird’s All-Time Record appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post