Steve Asmussen

For a race that offers just a five-horse field, Saturday's GI Whitney S. at Saratoga will nevertheless feature plenty of intrigue, as two of the handicap division's top stars will meet the one-two finishers from the GI Metropolitan H. and a certain champion filly whose trainer called an audible to enter her in the meet centerpiece for older horses, a "Win and You're In" qualifier for the GI Longines Breeders' Cup Classic. Given the morning-line at 6-5 is the Korea Racing Authority's enigmatic star speedball Knicks Go (Paynter). A shocking...

Mike Maker, with 42 training titles at Kentucky's five racetracks, is very much a contender this summer for the coveted prize at Saratoga Race Course. A remarkable stretch of nine wins from 25 starters last week pushed Maker to the top of the table with 14 wins in the first 14 days of the 40-day season. He had at least one winner in each of the five racing days of the week and his stable hit the board at a 72% rate. That run of success enabled Maker to finish...

Sunday, Saratoga AMSTERDAM S.-GII, $200,000, Saratoga, 8-1, 3yo, 6 1/2f, 1:15.46, sy. 1--JACKIE'S WARRIOR, 124, c, 3, by Maclean's Music 1st Dam: Unicorn Girl, by A. P. Five Hundred 2nd Dam: Horah for Bailey, by Doneraile Court 3rd Dam: Horah for the Lady, by Rahy ($95,000 Ylg '19 KEESEP). O-J. Kirk & Judy Robison; B-J & J Stables (KY); T-Steven M. Asmussen; J-Joel Rosario. $110,000. Lifetime Record: MGISW, 9-6-1-1, $1,058,964. Werk Nick Rating: A+++. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree 2--Drain the Clock, 124, c, 3, Maclean's Music--Manki,...

Drain the Clock (Maclean's Music) and Jackie's Warrior (Maclean's Music) hooked up in a memorable duel in the June 5 GI Woody Stephens S., with Drain the Clock grinding out a narrow victory in the seven-furlong event. The two sophomores match up again in the 6 1/2-furlong GII Amsterdam S. at Saratoga Sunday. Slam Dunk Racing and Madaket Stables' Drain the Clock, 2-1 on the morning line, captured the seven-furlong GIII Swale S. at Gulfstream in January and was second in the 1 1/16-mile GII Fountain of Youth S. Shipped...

Best Time (Tapit), a 3-year-old maiden colt out of champion 2-year-old filly Take Charge Brandi (Giant's Causeway), topped Keeneland's July Digital Sale Tuesday on a winning bid of $29,500. The regally bred gray was consigned by Hill 'n' Dale Sales Agency as hip 6, and was purchased by trainer Steve Asmussen's KDE Equine. The Hall of Fame conditioner has been training Best Time for Phoenix Thoroughbred III and co-breeder Hill 'n' Dale. Third in maiden special weight sprints at Indiana and Ellis to begin his career, the colt was most...

It was back in the late seventies and early eighties, well before Steve Asmussen had his trainer's license, that the foundation was being set for what was to become a historic career. He was studying under his parents, Keith and Marilyn Asmussen, the multi-talented Texas-based team that did a little bit of everything, including breaking dozens of babies that would go on to stardom on the racetrack. Their youngest son, just a teenager then, saw what it took to be successful, the can't-miss combination of hard work, skill, devotion to...

The 25th season of Thoroughbred racing at Lone Star Park at Grand Prairie just outside of Dallas concluded July 11 with handle figures their largest since 2006. The figures do not include last year's pandemic season. Daily merged (i.e. live, on-track plus export) handle totaled $1,693,866 for the 48-day meet, while a daily average of $1,459,096 in export handle. On-track fans wagered $234,770 daily, the most since 2018. Average daily attendance on weekends and holidays for the meet was just over 4,000 per day, just a 4% decline from 2019....

Sponsored by Alex Nichols Agency 5th-SAR, $100k, Msw, 2yo, 5 1/2f, 3:23 p.m. ET Annette Allen and Helen Alexander's Montauk Point (Violence) makes his first start for the Shug McGaughey barn here. The $550,000 Fasig-Tipton Select Yearling Showcase grad--the priciest yearling by his Hill 'n' Dale sire to sell last season--is half to none other than 2019 GI Test S. and GI Breeders' Cup F/M Sprint heroine Covfefe (Into Mischief), who garnered both champion 3-year-old filly and champion female sprinter honors for that campaign. The chestnut hails from the uber...

Echo Zulu (f, 2, Gun Runner--Letgomyecho by Menifee), a half-sister to young Coolmore sire Echo Town (Speightstown), GISW, 'TDN Rising Star' and earner of $410,020, followed in her older brother's footsteps with a 'Rising Star' debut effort for Hall of Famer Steve Asmussen at the Spa Thursday. The 4-1 chance tracked 3-2 favorite Lady Scarlet (Union Rags), a debut runner-up at Churchill June 4, from second through an opening quarter in :22:07. Echo Zulu, a $300,000 KEESEP yearling purchase, cruised up to challenge for command approaching the quarter pole under...

5th-SAR, $100k, Msw, 2yo, f, 5 1/2f, 3:21 p.m. ET Split divisions of juvenile filly sprinters get the Saratoga baby race season underway on opening day Thursday, with this latter half appearing to be clearly the saltier spot on paper. Heads turned when a filly by thus-far unheralded freshman sire Valiant Minister hammered for $360,000--120 times the Bridlewood Farm resident's stud fee--at OBS April, but one viewing of OUTFOXED's breeze-show effort quickly explains why. The dark bay barreled through a powerful :20 4/5 quarter-mile work, sparking a bidding war that...

7th-BEL, $92K, Alw, N1X, 3yo/up, f/m, 6f, post time: 3:47 p.m. ET The rail-drawn HARPER'S IN CHARGE (Malibu Moon) makes her first start since posting a runaway wire-to-wire 'TDN Rising Star' performance on debut at Aqueduct Nov. 15. The $220,000 KEESEP yearling purchase's unraced dam Azara (More Than Ready) is a half-sister to the brilliant Tepin (Bernstein) and MGSW Vyjack (Into Mischief). Harper's in Charge has a pair of bullets on her worktab for this at Christophe Clement's Saratoga base. Even-money morning-line favorite Bella Sofia (Awesome Patriot), runner-up behind the...

The betting public had Saturday's GII Suburban S. down to a battle between a pair of 'TDN Rising Stars': in one corner, Mystic Guide (Ghostzapper), whose victory in the G1 Dubai World Cup made him favored at 85 cents on the dollar, and in the other, Happy Saver (Super Saver), who got the better of Mystic Guide when first they eyeballed one another in last year's GI Jockey Club Gold Cup and the clear second choice at 8-5. Max Player (Honor Code) had yet to beat a horse of the...