Asmussen pair will advance to Southwest Stakes

Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen had a number of promising 3-year-olds in action last month between stakes at Oaklawn and Sunland Park.

Long Range Toddy finished second by a neck in the $150,000 Smarty Jones, a mile race that ended at the sixteenth pole at Oaklawn. The multiple stakes winner owned by Willis Horton Racing is now being pointed to that track’s Grade 3, $500,000 Southwest at 1 1/16 miles on Feb. 18.

“He went back to the track really good off the Smarty Jones,” Asmussen said last week. “I liked how he continued on to the wire in the Smarty Jones, and it looks like another sixteenth at Oaklawn might suit him.”

Boldor finished third in the Smarty Jones, beaten a half-length by winner Gray Attempt.

“I was very encouraged by his first two-turn run,” said Asmussen, adding that Boldor also would advance to the Southwest.

The Asmussen-trained Bankit, sent off as the Smarty Jones favorite, finished an uncharacteristic sixth. The horse’s next target is to be determined, Asmussen said.

“He came out of the race good, physically,” he said.

Over in New Mexico, Nitrous closed from last to win his two-turn debut in the $106,000 Riley Allison at Sunland. Earlier in his career, he won his debut wire to wire in a maiden special weight sprint at Saratoga, then was third when part of the pace in that track’s Grade 1 Hopeful. In the Riley Allison, Nitrous was bumped at the start and found himself 10 lengths back in the mile stakes run Jan. 27.

“The race was not what I was expecting – how I thought it would go – but the results were what I was hoping for,” Asmussen said. “Whether he returns for the Mine That Bird will be determined by how he trains.”

Nitrous is at Fair Grounds for Winchell Thoroughbreds and Stonestreet Stables. The $100,000 Mine That Bird runs Feb. 24 at Sunland.

Hogy show coming to New Orleans

Hogy, the popular 10-year-old turf sprinter who has earned more than $1.3 million, is on deck for an upcoming stakes at Fair Grounds.

Hogy is being pointed to the $75,000 Colonel Power at 5 1/2 furlongs on the turf Feb. 16, trainer Mike Maker said. The horse won that race in 2017 off a runner-up finish in the $75,000 Frontier Utilities Turf Sprint at Sam Houston. Hogy will enter this year’s Colonel Power off a closing third-place finish in last month’s five-furlong Frontier Utilities Turf Sprint.

“He just couldn’t quite get there,” Maker said. “He finished strong.”

Maker said Hogy is one of the most popular runners in his barn, and he often gets calls and texts from people rooting on the horse. Hogy races for Michael Hui.