SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY – Two standouts. Two high-profile graded stakes. Two different scenarios Saturday for Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen.
In the Grade I portion of his afternoon at Saratoga Race Course, Asmussen will saddle champion Jackie's Warrior (Maclean's Music), who just might go off as the shortest-priced favorite in the history of the $350,000 GI Alfred G. Vanderbilt H., which has been run since 1985.
One race later, in the $600,000 GII Jim Dandy S., Asmussen will send out Epicenter (Not This Time), runner-up as the favorite in the GI Kentucky Derby and GI Preakness S. The Jim Dandy is the local stepping stone to the meet's signature race, the GI Runhappy Travers S. Aug. 27. It is entirely possible that he will be the favorite in a field that includes Preakness winner Early Voting (Gun Runner) and GI Toyota Blue Grass S. winner Zandon (Upstart), both trained by Chad Brown.
Asmussen picked up his first victory of the meet on Sunday when Clairiere (Curlin) solidified her hold on the top spot in the older female dirt division with an impressive score in the GII Shuvee S. over champion Malathaat (Curlin). This weekend at the Spa, the focus shifts to a pair of male horses, who could also end the season with Eclipse Awards.
A tribute to Jackie's Warrior's dominance in the sprint division is that just nine other horses were nominated for the six-furlong Vanderbilt and only five of those will face him Saturday. Further, the 4-year-old will carry a career-high 127 pounds, six more than Ny Traffic (Cross Traffic). The weight assignment is hardly a surprise since the speedy colt is perfect at Saratoga, unbeaten this year and has won six of his last seven starts.
“I don't think that you can talk about Jackie's Warrior running without pointing out how fortunate we are to have a champion colt back in training,” Asmussen said. “Kirk and Judy Robison allowing us to run or enjoy him another year is very special.”
The Robisons purchased the colt as a yearling for $95,000 and he has won 11 of 15 career starts and earned over $2.4 million. Joel Rosario will be up for the 15th-consecutive start.
“His three races this year have been very exciting, very dominating performances,” Asmussen said. “And the Vanderbilt just being another opportunity to run him at Saratoga, where I think his best races have been. Both of his runs as a 2-year-old, the Saratoga Special and the Hopeful were brilliant.
“And last year, a great win in the Amsterdam with a rain delay. You're stuck in the paddock an extra 20-30 minutes and then the performance he put in that day. I cannot say enough about his duel with Life is Good in the Allen Jerkens. So when you talk about getting to continue to run that horse and even better yet an opportunity to run him at Saratoga it's very special and unique.”
Jackie's Warrior was prepared for the races by Asmussen's parents, Keith and Marilyn, at their Texas training center. The Robison's colt promptly built his reputation during morning training and in the afternoon with four-straight victories. In the first three, he was not the favorite.
“When he came from Laredo, he was a very attractive, fast horse,” Asmussen said. “Ran excellent first time out, but I do think the ascension happened at Saratoga. We had a very good 2-year-old that had won the Bashford Manor in Cazadero (Street Sense). We breezed him and Jackie's Warrior together. It was a far more experienced or accomplished Cazadero and Jackie off one race and it was like 'wow, you're better than good. You're special.' I think that every day since then that's who he's been.”
Asmussen nodded in agreement at the comment that there can't be many horses that are four-for-four in graded stakes at the Spa.
“Winning one graded stake at Saratoga is a tall task,” he said.
Epicenter did not make his 2-year-old debut until September at Churchill Downs, a few weeks after the end of the 2021 Saratoga season. He broke his maiden second time out in November and has never been worse than second in his six races since. With victories in the GII Risen Star and GII Louisiana Derby on his resume, he went off as the 4-1 favorite in the Kentucky Derby. The Winchell Thoroughbreds colt looked like a winner in the stretch after a duel with Zandon when long shot Rich Strike (Keen Ice) rolled on by to score a huge upset.
Asmussen took him to the Preakness, but he encountered some trouble early, was far back and ended up 1 1/4 lengths behind Early Voting.
“Two hard races 14 days apart. He got a little freshening since then,” Asmussen said. “We love what we've seen since we've been here at Saratoga, but it is his first run at Saratoga ever. It will be his first try up here against a very accomplished field, but with the eye on the prize, that is the Travers this summer.”
Epicenter has breezed three times at Saratoga on the Oklahoma training track and Asmussen chose the Jim Dandy over the GI Haskell Invitational S. last weekend in order to give his colt a race over the main track.
Asmussen said that Epicenter is a popular runner, whose best performances may be ahead of him.
“Epicenter has a tremendously large rooting section, from people that I come in contact with, and in passing even, Epicenter has a large fan group,” he said. “What I am hoping, and on the way to proving, is that he's the next Gun Runner. And it feels very similar, because he does have a groundswell of support as a 3-year-old, even though he has not been victorious in the major races yet.”
Gun Runner had a very solid though not spectacular 3-year-old season, but became a superstar with $15,998,500 in earnings by winning seven of his last eight starts. That run started with the GI Clark H. in late November 2017 and ended with a win in his finale, the 2019 GI Pegasus World Cup.
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