Steve Asmussen

J Kirk and Judy Robison's Jackie's Warrior (Maclean's Music) puts his perfect three-for-three Saratoga record on the line when he faces five rivals in the GI H. Allen Jerkens Memorial S. at Saratoga Saturday. The bay colt won last year's GII Saratoga Special S. and GI Hopeful S. and returned to the upstate oval to annex the Aug. 1 GII Amsterdam S. last time out. "He's done really well," trainer Steve Asmussen said of Jackie's Warrior. "All three of his races at Saratoga were obviously very good. We're anxious to...

Red Oak Stable and Madaket Stables' Mind Control (Stay Thirsty) will attempt to win his third Grade I victory at Saratoga when he goes postward in the GI Forego S. Saturday. The 5-year-old pulled the 10-1 upset when going wire-to-wire in the 2018 GI Hopeful S. and returned to win the 2019 GI H. Allen Jerkens Memorial S., again at double-digit odds. His Spa streak was interrupted last year when he was third in the GI Alfred G. Vanderbilt H. and eighth in the Forego, but he returned to the...

Winchell Thoroughbreds' Midnight Bourbon (Tiznow), who most recently clipped heels and nearly fell to the track in the stretch run of the July 17 GI Betfair.com Haskell S. at Monmouth Park, tuned up for an expected start in next Saturday's GI Runhappy Travers S. with a four-furlong work in :49.77 (17/68) over the Oklahoma training track at Saratoga Sunday. "He's a very impressive horse," trainer Steve Asmussen said. "I think we're obviously very fortunate that he came out of the mishap in the Haskell in good shape and he's training...

6th-Ellis, $51,000, Msw, 8-13, 2yo, 1m, 1:35.96, ft, 4 1/4 lengths. GUNTOWN (c, 2, Gun Runner--Fun House {Broodmare Of The Year, GSW, $432,922}, by Prized) added to his freshman sire (by Candy Ride {Arg})'s red-hot run, becoming Gun Runner's 10th winner right on the heels of a pair of graded stakes wins for the Three Chimneys inmate last weekend and a strong showing at the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Sale earlier in the week. A $750,000 buyback last September, Guntown rallied for third after a rough start going seven furlongs here July...

Michael Dubb and Michael Caruso's Doctor Jeff (Street Boss), a first-out winner in a six-furlong off-turf maiden special weight at Belmont Park July 10, will step right up to graded company as the 2-1 morning-line favorite in Saturday's GII Saratoga Special S. The chestnut colt earned a Special field-high 78 Beyer Speed Figure for his 2 1/4-length debut win and he has recorded three breezes over the main track at Saratoga, including a bullet five-furlong work in :59.61 Sunday, for trainer Rudy Rodriguez. "I'm just very happy with the way...

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...

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...

The Week in Review by Bill Finley Steve Asmussen moved past Dale Baird Saturday to become North America's all-time leading trainer in wins with 9,446. But for such a goal-oriented individual, it's no time to rest. To be number one in the world, Asmussen still has to catch Peruvian trainer Juan Suarez. And it won't be easy. Suarez, as of Saturday, had 9,886 wins--or 440 more than Asmussen. On the same day that Asmussen won one race from 13 starters spread across four racetracks, Suarez had three wins on the...

In an effort befitting the record-setting 9,446th training victory in the Hall of Fame career of Steve Asmussen, L & N Racing & Winchell Thoroughbreds LLC's Stellar Tap (Tapit) cruised through the Saratoga stretch to earn the 'TDN Rising Star' distinction on the GI Whitney S. undercard at Saratoga. The 11-2 chance, wearing the silks of longtime Asmussen client Winchell Thoroughbreds and campaigned in partnership with another loyal owner, L & N Racing, jumped straight into the bridle and argued the pace outside of 6-5 chalk Brigadier General (Street Sense)....

Steve Asmussen entered Saturday with 13 chances to pass Dale Baird to become the winningest North American trainer of all time. He needed just one. With his first starter on the day, Asmussen moved into sole possession of first place with a win from first-time-starter Stellar Tap (Tapit) in the fifth race at Saratoga, a maiden special weight race for 2-year-olds. It was the 9,446th win in a career that began quietly in 1986 at Ruidoso Downs in a race worth $2,600. The win came for Winchell Thoroughbreds, who owns...

With a perfect two-for-two day Friday, Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen picked up career wins 9,444 and 9,445. That moved him into a tie with Dale Baird, the King of Waterford Park, for the most wins of all-time by a North American-based trainer. Asmussen began his day with a win at Saratoga, taking home the honors in the fourth race with Jalen Journey (With Distinction), who was sent off at 3-1 in the allowance/optional claimer. About 1 hour and 45 minutes later and about 940 miles southwest of Saratoga,...

Could happen, you know. Within the random weavings of the Thoroughbred, after all, it's always tempting to discern some pattern suggestive of a coherent, governing narrative. And if Silver State (Hard Spun) were to win the GI Whitney S., and in the process happened to become the 9,446th winner saddled by his trainer, it might well feel as though 35 years of skill and endeavor, processed daily through random fluctuations of good or bad luck, have all led logically and inexorably to this pinnacle. The trouble is that whoever came...