Asmussen pleased with how Basin and Silver Prospector are coming into the Arkansas Derby

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Trainer Steve Asmussen has a pair of graded stakes winners on deck for the Arkansas Derby next Saturday in Basin and Silver Prospector.

Basin won last year’s Grade 1 Hopeful at Saratoga, and Silver Prospector has captured both the Grade 2 Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes at Churchill Downs and the Grade 3 Southwest at Oaklawn.

The horses are expected to be part of a large field for the Grade 1, $750,000 Arkansas Derby, which will be drawn Sunday. The 1 1/8-mile race carries Kentucky Derby points and closes out the meet. It shares a card with the Grade 2, $600,000 Oaklawn Handicap.

Basin exits a fourth-place finish in the $200,000 Oaklawn Sakes on April 11. It was his second start since the Hopeful last September. In his first out this year, he was third in the Grade 2 Rebel on March 14 at Oaklawn.

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“We need him to be a little bit more aggressive,” Asmussen said. “He found a really good position in his race [last time], lost concentration it appeared to me, and finished back up.

“I think he’s a very young horse mentally. I think there’s still a lot more there, and he can do better.”

Silver Prospector was a length winner of the Southwest in February, earning a career-high Beyer Speed Figure of 97. He was flattered when runner-up Wells Bayou returned in his next start to win the Louisiana Derby at Fair Grounds.

Silver Prospector, a winner of 3 of 9 starts who comes off a troubled sixth-place finish in the Rebel, has long been intended for the Arkansas Derby. The race is being held three weeks later than usual this year due to the coronavirus pandemic and the postponement of the Kentucky Derby to Sept. 5.

“I think the extra time, with as much racing as he has, is a positive,” Asmussen said. “We know how strong the race is going to be. We like our chances.”

Silver Prospector’s recent works include a bullet five-furlong drill in 59 seconds on April 18 at Oaklawn.

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“He’s training great,” said Asmussen, who has given the mount to Ricardo Santana Jr.

Silver Prospector is a son of Declaration of War who races for Ed and Susie Orr.

Basin is a son of Liam’s Map owned by Jackpot Farm.