No catching Mitole in Bachelor

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Trainer Steve Asmussen and jockey Ricardo Santana Jr. won their third race together at Oaklawn Park on Thursday in the $150,000 Bachelor, the first of seven Racing Festival of the South stakes that will be run here before the meet concludes Saturday.

Mitole, a very quick son of Eskendereya, outbroke his five 3-year-old rivals in the six-furlong Bachelor, set a rapid pace, and then lengthened his lead in the stretch to score by nine lengths.

Asmussen said after the race Mitole would join his Churchill Downs stable and could possibly make his next start in the Grade 2, $400,000 Woody Stephens, a seven-furlong race for 3-year-olds at Belmont Park on Belmont Stakes Day.

“It looks like he’ll get seven-eighths to me and it’s a big race on a big day,” Asmussen said.

Mitole is owned by Asmussen’s longtime owners, William and Corinne Heiligbrodt. Asmussen said he and the Heiligbrodts have won more than 1,000 races together.

“I was very tempted to stretch him out earlier, but Mr. Heiligbrodt likes winning and we have placed him where we thought he would do just that,” Asmussen said.

Mitole paid $2.80 and was timed in 1:08.41, the fastest time of the meet. He set fractions of 21.32, 44.22, and 56.39. The previous quickest time of the meet was Whitmore’s 1:08.57 in the Hot Springs Stakes.

Mitole earned a 107 Beyer Speed Figure.

“It was very key today that he broke brilliantly,” Asmussen said. “He was on his feet and went 21 and one as easy as you can go 21 and one.”

Mr. Jagermeister, who won a first-level optional-claiming race at Turf Paradise in his prior start for trainer Valerie Lund, made a three-wide move to contention on the far turn and finished second, 1 1/2 lengths ahead of Supreme Aura, who was outrun early and then finished with a late bid.

Asmussen and Santana will lead their respective divisions at Oaklawn once again this year. This will be Santana’s sixth consecutive riding title and Asmussen’s ninth training title since 2007.

Earlier on the Thursday card, Asmussen and Santana teamed up to win race 4 with Red Hot Cherry and race 6 with Westfest, both of whom paid $3.60.

Westfest was Santana’s 1,000th Thoroughbred winner in North America. Santana also has more than 50 wins in his native country of Panama.