Steve Asmussen

After he crossed the wire first aboard Journalism (Curlin) in the GI Preakness Stakes, jockey Umberto Rispoli planned to take a few days off and bask in what was the biggest win of his career. Instead, he has found himself in the middle of an ugly controversy involving his ride and the bumping incident with Flavien Prat, who was aboard 'TDN Rising Star' Goal Oriented (Not This Time). The two banged into each other in upper stretch and impeded the Steve Asmussen-trained Clever Again (American Pharaoh). While some people have...

Taken off the Triple Crown trail with an ankle chip, sensational GII Fasig-Tipton Risen Star S. upsetter Magnitude (Not This Time) has begun to gear up for a return to action this summer. The Winchell Thoroughbreds colorbearer was a 9 3/4-length, front-running winner of the Risen Star at odds of 43-1 Feb. 15, good for a co-division leading 108 Beyer Speed Figure. He was credited with a four-furlong workout for Hall of Famer Steve Asmussen in :53.40 (54/54) at Churchill Downs May 15, his first breeze since having an ankle...

Brendan Walsh earned the top prize of $50,000 in 1/ST Racing's $100,000 trainer bonus offered to horsemen for their participation in stakes races over Preakness weekend at Pimlico, the group announced via press release Sunday afternoon. Highlighted by runner-up efforts in the GI Preakness Stakes with GSW Gosger (Nyquist) and in the GII George E. Mitchell Black-Eyed Susan Stakes with Paris Lily (City of Light), his charge Austere (Mendelssohn) came short of catching Charlene's Dream (Qurbaan) on the lead in the GIII Gallorette on the Preakness undercard. He started the...

Towering over this competition on paper, 'TDN Rising Star' Booth dutifully got the job done with a one-length score over Epic Ride in Saturday's GIII Maryland Sprint Stakes. Breaking like a shot, the 4-5 choice was fortunate to get the jump on neighboring Concrete Glory (Bodemeister), who hesitated at the start and never got going as his six rivals raced down the backstretch. Narrowly ahead of a tightly-bunched trio, which headed by 3-2 second choice Epic Ride through an opening quarter in :23.30, the Steve Asmussen trainee was moving under...

GISW Sandman (Tapit) has picked up the services of John Velazquez for his anticipated start in Preakness 150, who will replace Jose Ortiz due to another commitment for the contest. Hall of Fame trainer Mark Casse promised he'd have a Hall of Fame rider for his grey son of Tapit, and a legend he has procured. Velazquez will be replacing Jose Ortiz, who had the mount in the Derby, as Ortiz has a prior commitment aboard Clever Again (American Pharoah) for trainer Steve Asmussen. The Triple Crown trail has been...

'TDN Rising Star' Jaxon Traveler (Munnings--Listen Boy, by After Market), winner of both the GIII Maryland Sprint Stakes and the GIII Whitmore Stakes, has been retired sound at the age of seven, West Point Thoroughbreds announced Wednesday. Trained by Hall of Famer Steve Asmussen, the son of Munnings  earned more than $1,131,643 from 37 career starts between the ages of two and seven and was twice named a Maryland-bred champion as both a 2 and 3-year-old. "Jaxon Traveler has been an absolute dream to have in the barn," said President...

The Oaklawn Park live racing season wrapped up last Saturday, and it delivered with strong numbers across the board, with over $56-million in purses distributed over 621 races, the track announced Monday evening. With an average of 10 races a day, and a daily purse distribution of $903,338, the racing remained competitive with an average of 9.32 starters per race. The average daily handle surpassed $6.73-million while the meet handle reached well north of $417-million. Participation from horsemen remained strong, too, as 2,030 individual horses made at least one start...

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Journalism (Curlin) has gotten plenty of ink--and rightfully so--ahead of the 151st running of the GI Kentucky Derby. But here's something that you may not know about the 3-1 morning-line favorite. How did Journalism--campaigned in partnership by the powerhouse partnership of Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners, Bridlewood Farm, breeder Don Alberto Stable, Robert LaPenta, Elayne Stables 5 and the Coolmore partners (Mrs. John Magnier, Michael B. Tabor and Derrick Smith)--get his name? "We have always tried to mimic the Claiborne tradition of naming horses with one-word names with a...

Taking her game on the road and gradually coming east since starting her season in January, California invader Look Forward (Bolt d'Oro--Troublesome, by Into Mischief) set her sights on Churchill Downs on the first Friday in May and took home top prize in the GII Eight Belles Stakes right before racing was interrupted for a severe weather delay. With a menacing patch of storms bearing down on Churchill, the race was on to get the field out and over the track in advance of the forecasted heavy rain and winds....

With a lot of the negative news we often confront in racing, sometimes it's important to also see the good, like how taking just five minutes to talk to a young person who is just beginning their journey in the racing business can be. By my estimate, each person listed below graciously spent five to 10 minutes of his or her time during a very busy Derby week visiting with a dozen students from Bluegrass Community and Technical College's Equine Studies program. Yet the impressions they left will last far,...

Oaklawn Park's Hot Springs Stakes winner Clever Again (American Pharoah) worked ahead of an intended tilt in the GI Preakness Stakes at Pimlico May 17. Clever Again worked five-eighths of a mile in 1:00.40 at Churchill Downs Sunday morning. "[It was a] solid work. The racetrack is in very good shape," said trainer Steve Asmussen, who won the 2007 and 2009 Preakness with Horses of the Year Curlin and the filly Rachel Alexandra. "I think he'll actually do a little more next week." Asmussen also trains Kentucky Derby contenders Publisher...

The lightly raced Clever Again (American Pharoah), a sharp, front-running winner of the Hot Springs Stakes going a mile at Oaklawn Mar. 30, is pointing to the GI Preakness Stakes May 17 at Pimlico. Clever Again, a $500,000 Keeneland September Yearling, has won two of three career starts for Winchell Thoroughbreds, Mrs. John Magnier, Michael Tabor and Derrick Smith and Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen. "He's a talented horse," Asmussen said. "Obviously, the measurements or rulers that we're using, the company that he's kept, which is Tiztastic (Tiz the...