Asmussen loading up for Belmont Stakes week
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – After memorable Kentucky Derby and Preakness weekends, Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen will be looking to complete his own Triple Crown of sorts.
On Derby Day, May 5, Asmussen became just the second trainer in North American racing history with 8,000 career wins when Lookin At Lee won a Churchill Downs allowance. And on Preakness Friday and Saturday (May 18-19) at Pimlico, Asmussen earned $50,000 in a trainers’ competition when his stable won for four stakes among other sharp performances.
“The horses fired for us at Pimlico,” Asmussen said this week at Churchill. “I was really proud of them.”
Asmussen again will be loaded for bear on the Thursday-Saturday of Belmont Stakes week, June 7-9. Not only will he send out the Preakness third-place finisher Tenfold as a possible Triple Crown foil to Justify, but he will have a number of other starters on stakes-laden cards. While some of the Asmussen horses went straight to Belmont Park from Pimlico, others will be flown to New York from Louisville on June 5 on the first of two equine charters scheduled from here that week (the second charter on June 6 will transport Justify).
Belmont Day for Asmussen will include Mitole, winner of the Chick Lang on Preakness Day, wheeling back in the Grade 2 Woody Stephens, and Bee Jersey going in the Metropolitan Mile. Other intended starters for the weekend include Switzerland (True North), Sir Truebadour (Tremont), and a new acquisition, Lady Apple (Astoria).
Asmussen said that Midnight Bisou, third as the favorite in the Kentucky Oaks, will make her first start in his care in the June 30 Mother Goose at Belmont. Also: Combatant goes in the June 16 Matt Winn at Churchill; Tap Daddy could go next in the Iowa or Indiana Derby; Mia Mischief goes next in the July 8 Victory Ride at Belmont; and Vertical Oak may wait for the July 25 Honorable Miss at Saratoga.
Since May 4, Asmussen has been winning at a phenomenal rate, with his career win total standing at 8,031 into Friday.
