Assessment shows his class with victory

AUBURN, Wash. - Assessment, once a leading handicap horse at Emerald, had fallen on hard times in recent years, ceding much of his speed to injuries or Father Time. So when the 10-year-old captured a $15,000 claiming sprint last weekend, trainer Howard Belvoir was just as surprised as anyone.

“He had been training terrible,” Belvoir said. “In fact, he tied up three days before. His muscles locked up real bad, kind of like a charley horse. I was going to scratched him, but I hate to do that, and he came out of it, so we went ahead. It’s good on him for getting a win.”

Assessment rallied strongly through the stretch to prevail by one length under old friend Gallyn Mitchell, running six furlongs in 1:10.23 on a sloppy track. His Beyer Speed Figure of 68 was not vintage Assessment – he routinely posted 90 Beyers in his heyday – but Belvoir certainly wasn’t complaining. The victory snapped a 21-race losing streak dating to 2010.

Belvoir recently took ownership of Assessment from Diane Tice, who had owned the horse with her husband, Lou Tice, who died in 2012. But what does one do with a horse who is nearing his sell-by date?

“You could make him a show horse or something,” Belvoir said. “But he likes to run, and I like old horses. Diane had so much other things going on, she just didn’t have time. I didn’t want to see the horse go anywhere. So I took the horse; she made me a good deal.”

Assessment has won 10 of 53 starts with earnings of $513,780, numbers that would be flashier if not for a succession of health woes. He suffered an ankle injury following his Longacres Mile victory in 2009. After Belvoir got him back up to speed the following year, he had another setback in 2011, shortly after finishing third in a minor stakes race at Hollywood Park while under the care of Belvoir’s son Vann.

“He came back from that ankle, it was a tough injury, and then he got a suspensory when I sent him to Vann,” Belvoir said. “Then we brought him back. He’s been through some things that most horses would not have handled. This horse has been through the wars.”

Now that he has found a comfort zone in the claiming ranks, Assessment will stay there, Belvoir said. His days as a stakes runner are over, barring the unforeseen.

“He’s doing good, he’s just old,” Belvoir said. “He’s got a right to get cheap. But I won’t cheapen him up much more than that.”

◗ Undefeated 4-year-old filly Stopshoppingdebbie is on track to make her 2014 debut when Emerald kicks off its stakes schedule next Sunday with the $50,000 Hastings Handicap at six furlongs. The Tom Wenzel trainee – 5 for 5, with four stakes victories – worked a slow four furlongs Monday, her latest spin in a workout regimen that started in early March.