LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Steve Asmussen won stakes at Churchill Downs with all three of his trainees who won Horse of the Year honors – Curlin, Rachel Alexandra, and Gun Runner. Midnight Bisou, the latest Asmussen superstar, has won 12 of 20 career starts and earned $7.25 million – but she’s winless in two starts at Churchill, where on Saturday the 5-year-old mare will make her first start since the Saudi Cup when heavily favored in the Grade 2, $200,000 Fleur de Lis. “Obviously we’re very excited to run her,” said Asmussen. “We’ll see if we can win a race with her at Churchill.” No one is saying yet that Midnight Bisou will go on to be voted Horse of the Year for 2020, but it’s worth noting that she has been the No. 1-rated horse in the National Thoroughbred Racing Association poll each of the last 15 weeks. Those major props have been granted in deference to her 2019 season as the filly-mare Eclipse champion and for her runner-up finish behind Maximum Security in her lone race this year, the $20 million Saudi Cup on Feb. 29. “She’s trained gorgeously since we brought her back from Saudi,” said Asmussen. “We’ve taken a close look at the stakes schedules at various places, and this is the right starting point for her.” Mike Smith will be in from California to ride Midnight Bisou, who will break from post 5 and faces six other fillies and mares in the 45th running of the 1 1/8-mile Fleur de Lis, a Win and You’re In event toward the Nov. 7 Breeders’ Cup Distaff at Keeneland. :: Click to learn about our DRF's Free Past Performance program. Clearly the top challenger is Serengeti Empress, who will break alongside in post 4 with Joe Talamo aboard. Trained by Tom Amoss for Joel Politi, the speedy 4-year-old filly has won 2 of 3 starts at Churchill, both with a take-no-prisoners style in the 2018 Pocahontas and 2019 Kentucky Oaks. “It’s no secret what her style is,” said Talamo. “I’ll talk to Tom about it, but I’m sure our strategy will be to go to the lead. There’s not much other speed in there, unless somebody is looking to take their horse out of their element, so I imagine we’d like to create some separation. I don’t want to be just a half-length or length ahead. This filly can carry her speed a long way, so obviously we’d like to try to do the same kind of thing she did in the Kentucky Oaks.” After winning the March 14 Azeri at Oaklawn Park by 6 1/4 lengths, Serengeti Empress finished 11th in the Grade 1 Apple Blossom 10 weeks ago while never able to make the lead in a speed-laden lineup. “Obviously that wasn’t her best,” said Amoss. “This is a tough matchup against a champion, but the way our horse has prepared for this has us very confident she’ll put in a great performance.” Midnight Bisou is the 3-5 favorite on the Churchill morning line, with Serengeti Empress next at 2-1. The rest of the field is Go Google Yourself, Another Broad, Chocolate Martini, Red Dane, and Motion Emotion. Midnight Bisou is owned by three entities, with Jeff Bloom of Bloom Racing being her racing manager in a partnership that also includes Madaket Stables and Allen Racing. Remarkably, all 12 of her victories have come in graded stakes, including five Grade 1s. Her two Churchill races both were in 2018 and resulted in third-place finishes behind her nemesis Monomoy Girl in the Kentucky Oaks and BC Distaff. Her accomplishments since then are numerous, and she posted triple-digit Beyer Speed Figures in five of her seven starts before the Saudi Cup, where Beyers are not assigned. After being sent by Asmussen through six works since May 22 over the local course, there’s no doubt she will be a prohibitive favorite in her return to action Saturday. Asmussen said the manner in which Midnight Bisou closed in the Saudi Cup off a nearly four-month layoff “shows that she can train up to a major race and give a top-level performance.” “With her age and experience, the spacing of her races is going to be the most important thing from here to the end of the year,” he said. As for the other Fleur de Lis runners, Go Google Yourself could loom a potential upsetter with a ground-saving, mid-pack trip under Brian Hernandez Jr. after breaking from post 1. The 5-year-old mare has won a pair of Grade 3 races, the Locust Grove at Churchill and the Bayakoa at Oaklawn, from her last four starts. The Fleur de Lis, first run in 1975, directly precedes the Grade 2 Stephen Foster as the ninth of 11 races. Both will be shown live on NBC Sports (5-6 p.m. Eastern).