Retirement Fund throws his hat into ring for Asmussen

Steve Asmussen-trained 3-year-olds Principe Guilherme, Snapper Sinclair, and Zing Zang finished second, third, and fourth in the Lecomte Stakes on Jan. 13 at Fair Grounds, and two days later, the Asmussen-trained pair of Combatant and Tap Daddy finished second and third in the Smarty Jones Stakes at Oaklawn.

That’s a lot of firepower already, and Asmussen’s 3-year-old arsenal expanded Saturday when Retirement Fund won a Fair Grounds first-level allowance race over one mile and 70 yards by two lengths. Retirement Fund now has two wins from two starts, having captured a Fair Grounds maiden race at the same distance by more than seven lengths Dec. 22. Retirement Fund was timed Saturday in 1:43.02 on a fairly fast-playing surface and got an 80 Beyer Speed Figure following the 81 from his first start.

“He’s got to be in the mix now,” Asmussen said Sunday. “I’m very pleased with both his races. It’s hard to know who he beat, but at least they’re not beating him.”

By “in the mix,” Asmussen means stakes competition. Three-year-olds this time of year with two wins outside claiming races have two options – run in a stakes or stay in the barn.

“If they’re writing two-other-thans for 3-year-olds right now it’s happening in a country where I don’t have a trainer’s license,” Asmussen said. “We’ll consider the Risen Star. Timing-wise, it might be a little tight. We’ll see.”

The Risen Star will be run Feb. 17 at Fair Grounds.

Retirement Fund is a dark bay colt with decent size by Eskendereya out of the Street Cry mare Northern Station; L and N Racing paid $100,000 for him as a yearling. He’s a half-brother to Barbados, a stakes-winning sprinter, but more generally has heaps of stamina in his female family and struck his trainer as a route horse to the extent Asmussen started him off going two turns. Retirement Fund led on a soft pace first time out, winning at odds of almost 13-1, but went at a quicker tempo – albeit on a faster surface – on Saturday.

“He’s just a horse with a docile attitude that has impressed,” Asmussen said. “When you go back over it, everybody liked how he went, even if he never visually impressed you. He obviously stays. I thought the fractions were solid and his final time was.”

As for Asmussen’s trio of Lecomte runners, Principe Guilherme is pointed to the Risen Star, but plans remain uncertain for Snapper Sinclair and Zing Zang, in part because of a recent spell of freezing weather in New Orleans that has compromised training. Under normal circumstances, all three horses would have had their first post-Lecomte work Monday, but now they won’t breeze until at least Sunday, Asmussen said.