Asmussen seeks ninth Carousel with Benedetta

Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen will attempt to win the Carousel for the ninth time Sunday when he saddles a filly on a win streak of her own.

Benedetta will be looking for her fifth straight victory when she starts in the $150,000 race for fillies and mares. The six-furlong race is slotted as the first stakes on the card and drew a field of nine.

Benedetta’s streak began last fall, when she won back-to-back allowances at Churchill Downs. She then won stakes at Mahoning Valley and Oaklawn.

“She’s a very nice filly,” Asmussen said. “She’s got ability. She’s on a four-race win streak. It’s a very competitive field. She’s giving weight to some nice fillies, but we like her.”

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Lady Moscato won the $145,000 Bugler overnight stakes at six furlongs in her last start Jan. 25. She was an authoritative three-length winner and earned a career-high Beyer Speed Figure of 86.

“I just need the same race back,” said Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas. “That was a very powerful, good score. That race back would put her in contention very much.”

Sandy Bottom, a stakes winner at this distance at Santa Anita, could show the way Sunday. She set the pace last out in the Grade 1 La Brea and finished seventh in what was her first career defeat.

“She’s a quality filly, always has been,” trainer Michael McCarthy said. “Going seven-eighths the other day in the La Brea, obviously bouncing out of there and setting some incredibly fast fractions probably got to her late. Maybe she’s a filly that’s best going three-quarters.”

Justique, a stakes-winning half-sister to Grade 1 winner Mo Town, will get good support off a Fair Grounds allowance win for which she earned a Beyer of 93.

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