Asmussen loaded for bear on holiday stakes card

Oaklawn Park will offer $1 million in stakes races Feb. 20, and trainer Steve Asmussen will be attacking the program. He said Wednesday that Gun Runner is on deck for the Grade 3, $500,000 Razorback Handicap and Lookin At Lee and Hence are being pointed for the Grade 3, $500,000 Southwest Stakes.

Oaklawn is putting the races on the same card for the first time. The track also made changes to the Razorback this year, boosting the purse by $150,000 and moving the race previously run in March to February.

Asmussen said Florent Geroux has the mount on Gun Runner in the Razorback. The rider has regularly teamed with the horse and was aboard for his last start, when Gun Runner captured the Grade 1 Clark Handicap at Churchill Downs on Nov. 25.

Asmussen said Ricardo Santana Jr. has the mount on Lookin At Lee in the Southwest. The horse last raced Nov. 5, finishing fourth in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile at Santa Anita. Lookin At Lee arrived at Oaklawn on Monday.

In other upcoming Oaklawn stakes action for the Asmussen barn, Ever So Clever is set to launch her season in the $125,000 Martha Washington on Saturday. The start will be her first since finishing third in the Grade 2 Golden Rod at Churchill. Asmussen said the Clearview Stable runner arrived at Oaklawn on Monday.

Terra Promessa is on deck for the Grade 3, $150,000 Bayakoa on Feb. 18.

“She’s trained nice here, and hopefully we can keep our undefeated record at Oaklawn intact,” Asmussen said.

Terra Promessa is 4 for 4 at Oaklawn, with her latest local score the $125,000 Pippin on Jan. 14. She races for Stonestreet Stables.

Dial Me returns to sprint

Dial Me will be cutting back to one turn, similar to her maiden win, for the featured eighth race Friday at Oaklawn. The six-furlong sprint for 3-year-old fillies, open to nonwinners of two races lifetime and $75,000 claimers, drew a field of nine.

Dial Me was third in an optional $62,500 claiming race at a mile in her last start Jan. 20 at Oaklawn. The winner of the race, Torrent, is in the Martha Washington on Saturday. D. Wayne Lukas trains Dial Me for the Churchill Downs Racing Club and has given the mount to Alex Birzer. Others set to start in the optional $75,000 claiming race include the impressive debut winner Treble.