From Gun Runner’s win in the $16 million Pegasus World Cup, to reaching a milestone of 8,000 wins, to being named an Eclipse Award finalist for outstanding trainer, 2018 will be a tough year to top for Steve Asmussen. But that doesn’t mean he won’t try. Asmussen is in the midst of strong winter meets at Aqueduct and Fair Grounds and on Friday, with the opening of both Oaklawn Park and Sam Houston, his stable will be at full throttle. Oaklawn has become a key meet for the operation, and Asmussen has brought another deep barn to Hot Springs, Ark. He will be gunning for his 10th training title at Oaklawn – the track record is 11 by Henry Forrest – and his fourth win in the Arkansas Derby. Asmussen has been a regular at Oaklawn since the late 1990s, with his first local title coming in 2007. The meet has become more of a focus for his barn in recent years and, as with many trainers, the reason for that is Oaklawn’s ascending purse structure. According to track officials, purses are projected to average more than $550,000 a card during the 57-date season that runs to May 4. :: WIN A TRIP TO THE QUEEN'S PLATE: Click here to cast your vote for the 2018 Horse of the Year contest, and be entered to win a trip for two to the Queen’s Plate at Woodbine! Last season, Asmussen won 44 races at Oaklawn and led all trainers in stable earnings with $2.9 million. “The financial opportunities at Oaklawn over the last several seasons have been substantial,” he said. “I think with the increased opportunities financially, it’s requiring better horses and I think over the last couple of seasons we’ve been very fortunate to have the right horses at the right time of year. I think the competition has stepped up over the last few years because of the financial opportunities, and we will have to improve significantly just to do as well.” Asmussen said he is optimistic for the new meet because of the horses owners have placed in his barn. “I do feel from a talent level, we’re in very good shape,” he said. “We need to be fortunate from a weather standpoint, as far as timing for the individual horses.” A first look at some of the 3-year-olds the barn has at Oaklawn comes Friday with the running of the $150,000 Smarty Jones, a points race for the Kentucky Derby. Asmussen will saddle stakes winners Bankit and Long Range Toddy, as well as the promising Boldor. He also has four other 3-year-olds running on the card, with Gun Club a chief player in a maiden special weight for fillies worth $77,000 and Laughing Fox stretching out to two turns for another deep maiden allowance. Asmussen would like to see these, and other young prospects in his care, develop during the course of the meet. “Oaklawn, this time of year, I’m hoping to have a Creator emerge,” he said of the 2016 Belmont Stakes winner who went from Oaklawn maiden winner in February to Arkansas Derby hero in April. Asmussen also has a diverse group of older horses gearing up for Oaklawn. On the immediate horizon, he said Hence is being pointed to the Grade 3, $500,000 Razorback Handicap on Feb. 18. She’s a Julie will likely see action on the same card, he said, in the Grade 3, $200,000 Bayakoa. Limation, winner of last year’s Grade 3 Super Derby, is on pace to run early in the meet, Asmussen said, while Mitole, a sprinter of note, will be seen later in the season. Vertical Oak, a Grade 2 winner, leads a group of filly and mare sprinters set to run Saturday in the $100,000 American Beauty. On a larger scale, Asmussen – second all-time in trainer wins and earnings in North America with 8,288 and $296 million – has a fun target to chase in 2019. His stable banked $26,457,276 in 2018. “We’re not going to have $7 million in the month of January,” he said of Gun Runner’s paycheck for the Pegasus World Cup. “Better get pedaling.”