Asmussen pointing Epicenter to Lecomte, Midnight Bourbon to Louisiana Stakes
Midnight Bourbon won the 2020 Lecomte Stakes for trainer Steve Asmussen and owner Ron Winchell’s Winchell Thoroughbreds and will make his 4-year-old debut at Fair Grounds on the same Jan. 22 card as the 2022 Lecomte. Moreover, owner and trainer, if all goes to plan, will have a leading Lecomte contender in Epicenter, who won his stakes and two-turn debut Sunday in the inaugural edition of the $100,000 Gun Runner.
Off a one-turn mile maiden win at Churchill Downs, Epicenter stormed to a 6 1/2-length victory in the Gun Runner, named for the champion racehorse and remarkably successful young sire who was trained by Asmussen and campaigned, in part, for Winchell. Pressing the pace while rating kindly, Epicenter opened a big lead past the eighth pole Sunday, earning an 87 Beyer Speed Figure for running 1 1/16 miles in 1:44.19.
“It was everything I was hoping for when he stretched to two turns,” Asmussen said Tuesday. “He’s a nice, handy horse. It was a step in the right direction, and he’ll have to improve, but we expect him to, and he’ll continue on the series in New Orleans.”
Epicenter is by Not This Time out of Silent Candy, by Candy Ride, the sire of Gun Runner. His dam was graded stakes-placed over 1 1/8 miles on turf, and his third dam won at 1 1/4 miles in Ireland, hinting that Epicenter can continue improving over longer distances.
Midnight Bourbon, meanwhile, is aimed toward the Group 1, $20 million Saudi Cup on Feb. 26 and will use the $150,000 Louisiana Stakes over 1 1/16 miles as a stepping-stone. Midnight Bourbon hasn’t won a race since the Lecomte but finished second in the $1 million Louisiana Derby, second in the Preakness, second in the Grade 1 Travers, second in the Grade 1 Pennsylvania Derby, and third last out in the Grade 1 Clark, his first test against older rivals.
Asmussen went into Dec. 26 winless at Fair Grounds but won four races over two days, including three stakes. Sunday, Halo Again, making his turf debut, went wire to wire in the Buddy Diliberto Memorial Stakes. He will run back on grass, Asmussen said, in the Colonel E.R. Bradley on Jan. 22.
Monday, Chattalot, a Saratoga debut winner, rebounded from two Kentucky defeats to capture the $75,000 Sugar Bowl, also in wire-to-wire fashion. Turning back a bid from the promising Underhill’s Tab, Chattalot ran six furlongs in 1:10.03 and earned a career-best 87 Beyer.
“He ran back to his ability,” said Asmussen, who said he’d keep Chattalot, a son of Midnight Lute, in sprints, which will require shipping away from Fair Grounds to find a spot.
Asmussen also reported that Echo Zulu, who will be named champion 2-year-old filly of 2021 off a perfect four-start campaign culminating in a Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies romp, is in steady training at Fair Grounds. The filly merely is jogging right now and there are no set plans, her trainer said, for Echo Zulu’s 2022 debut. Grade 1-winning 3-year-old filly Clairiere, beaten less than one length in the Breeders’ Cup Distaff, is due to arrive in New Orleans on Jan. 5 following a Florida freshening.