Asmussen ties Baird with win at Ellis Park

Steve Asmussen has tied the North American record for wins by a trainer, equaling the late Dale Baird’s total of 9,445 when Shanghai’s Dream won the sixth race at Ellis Park on Friday.

Asmussen is all but certain to set the wins record Saturday, Aug. 7, when he has 14 horses entered in 13 different races at four venues: Ellis, Louisiana Downs, Monmouth, and Saratoga.

Asmussen went 2 for 2 on Friday, with Jalen Journey scoring a sharp win at Saratoga earlier in the day.

Asmussen, 55, has won two Eclipse Awards, already is in racing’s Hall of Fame, and has trained the American Horse of the Year in four different seasons. He also set a standing record for training wins in a season with 650 in 2009.

Asmussen and Baird are the only trainers in North American racing history with more than 9,000 wins. Baird, whose racing stable consisted almost entirely of lower-level claiming horses, died in a van accident at age 72 in 2007.