Echo Town has first Grade 1 triumph in Allen Jerkens

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - A couple of hours after Midnight Bisou’s unexpected second-place finish in the Personal Ensign, trainer Steve Asmussen bounced back in a big way, sending out Echo Town to become a Grade 1 winner with a resounding 3 1/2-length victory over Tap It to Win in Saturday’s $300,000 Allen Jerkens at Saratoga.

Another member of Asmussen’s potent stable, Shoplifted, finished third.

Echo Town finished second behind No Parole in the Grade 1 Woody Stephens in his previous start. He settled near mid-pack off the early pace of No Parole, the 2-1 favorite in the Allen Jerkens, then came under vigorous handling from jockey Ricardo Santana Jr. commencing his bid approaching the quarter pole. Echo Town continued his strong run down the center of the track to readily overtake Tap It to Win near midstretch before drawing away with complete authority at the end.

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Tap It to Win, turning back in distance while making his first start since the Belmont Stakes, raced forwardly placed from the outset, forged to command outside the tiring leader before six furlongs but proved no match for the winner. Shoplifted rallied mildly near the center of the track to finish another half-length farther back in third.

Echo Town, who has never finished worse than third in seven starts, is trained by Asmussen for L and N Racing LLC. A son of Speightstown, Echo Town covered seven furlongs over a fast track in 1:22.53 and paid $16.40.

“It was great to see him put it all together when it mattered so much, on this stage,” Asmussen said. “He ran solid in the Woody Stephens, but I thought the timing to this race was better and the horse trained beautifully here. He’s run hard all year, he’s run consistently all year, and now he’ll be noticed. We had a little bit of an issue there with him for a while, when we tried to get him not to be on the lead he settled too much. Now he’s settling into a much better rhythm where he doesn’t have to be ridden the whole way. He stayed on the bridle the whole way today and responded when he (Santana) asked him.”

Asmussen said he was also pleased with Shoplifter’s performance, giving him his second Grade 1 placing in six weeks and the third of his career. He had also finished third in the Woody Stephens and second in the Hopeful here last summer.

“It was good Tyler (Gaffalione) rode him once before, I thought that was key,” Asmussen said. “He needs to be timed with his run. I thought this was a very strong performance for him and I loved how he ran through the wire, which he hadn’t done recently.”