Epicenter puts exclamation mark on Fair Grounds series with Louisiana Derby victory
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NEW ORLEANS – There’s plenty of partying to be done in this town, but when trainer Steve Asmussen arrived for the winter months ago with Epicenter, he meant business. And now he’s ready to leave, in the position he hoped to be all those weeks ago.
Epicenter completed a terrific series of races at Fair Grounds with an emphatic victory on Saturday in the Grade 2, $1 million Louisiana Derby. Six weeks hence, if all goes well in the interim, he will be one of the top contenders for the Kentucky Derby on May 7 at Churchill Downs.
“He was here for this race. Leaving here as happy as could be,” Asmussen said in the winner’s circle, a place he and jockey Joel Rosario found themselves on five occasions Saturday, including with the champion filly Echo Zulu in the Fair Grounds Oaks.
Epicenter ($4) was favored off his victory in last month’s Grade 2 Risen Star, in which he led from start to finish. What made his win Saturday all the more satisfying and significant is that he sat third, behind pacesetting Zozos and Pioneer of Medina, before being produced at the top of the lane.
He responded to the tactics, and when acceleration was needed, he delivered. Epicenter rocketed past Zozos and Pioneer of Medina coming into the lane, opened a daylight advantage at midstretch, and went on to score by 2 1/2 lengths over Zozos, who held second by two lengths over Pioneer of Medina.
Rattle N Roll ran on for fourth, nosing out Galt, with Call Me Midnight only a neck farther back. Kupuna, Curly Tail, and Silent Power were well back, in that order.
Epicenter completed 1 3/16 miles on the fast main track in 1:54.38, getting a 102 Beyer Speed Figure. He picked up 100 Kentucky Derby points with the win, but he already was guaranteed a spot in the Derby owing to the 50 points he had earned in the Risen Star.
“It was great to see a new dimension in him,” Asmussen said. “He hasn’t plateaued.”
Asmussen said the four-race series of races here was significant in Epicenter’s development. He won the 1 1/16-mile Gun Runner on Dec. 26, was nailed on the money by Call Me Midnight going 1 1/16 miles in the Grade 3 Lecomte in January, then won going 1 1/8 miles in the Risen Star and 1 3/16 miles in the Louisiana Derby.
“I love the progression and the opportunity that it is. I hope it’s enough to win the Derby,” Asmussen said, laughing. “He made great progress over the winter. I love the opportunity in the series at Fair Grounds. A mile and an eighth as a front-runner, a mile and three-sixteenths a little off the pace. Couldn’t feel better about how he’s done to this point. Fair Grounds has a tremendous amount to do with his development.
“He has six weeks going into the Derby. I expect he’ll be extremely sharp for the Derby.”
Asmussen said Epicenter would head to Churchill Downs on Monday. Zozos will go there early next week, said his trainer, Brad Cox, who said the Derby would be on Zozos’s agenda, too. Zozos earned 40 points in his stakes debut.
Epicenter made quite the impression in the paddock. It was warm, but he was dry, and he was focused, alert, ears forward, eager to go. He looked more physically developed than his rivals.
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“Great physical. He’s gotten bigger, put on weight,” Asmussen said.
Epicenter, starting from post 6 in the nine-horse field, was allowed to leave the gate by using his natural speed, but without being hustled away. Zozos, under Florent Geroux and in post 2, went for the front. Pioneer of Medina, who briefly got loose from rider Tyler Gaffalione in the post parade, pressed the pace, and Rosario tucked Epicenter in, saving ground.
“Watching the earlier races, the rail and the lead was the place to be,” Asmussen said. “I thought Florent would defend the rail. I thought Joel showed a lot of confidence.”
The top three drew clear of their rivals heading around the far turn, and at that point Rosario decided playtime was over. He angled Epicenter off the rail, sat still for an instant, then let him roll, and the response was immediate. The result would not be debatable.
“I thought he tracked nicely. He wasn’t rank,” Asmussen said.
Epicenter, by Not This Time out of the Candy Ride mare Silent Candy, has now won four times in six starts, including, significantly, a victory against maidens at Churchill Downs in November. Asmussen trains him for Ron and Joan Winchell, who also are co-owners of Echo Zulu.
Epicenter is a bay colt, with some white on his left rear ankle. He has a crescent-shaped star on his forehead, foreshadowing that he would be the star of the season in the Crescent City.