Silver State has first breeze since Met Mile; heads to Saratoga on Monday
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Silver State, whose unbeaten streak dating to last fall has made him one of the leading older horses on the continent, has resumed a regular breeze schedule and will be among the Steve Asmussen contingent leaving Churchill Downs on Monday for Saratoga.
A winner of his last six races, most notably the Grade 1 Metropolitan Handicap on the June 5 Belmont Stakes undercard in his latest out, Silver State went an easy half-mile Sunday in 51 seconds at Churchill and will have a similar work this coming Sunday, said Asmussen. The Grade 1 Whitney on Aug. 7 at Saratoga is the next major goal for Silver State, a 4-year-old Hard Spun colt who is the No. 2-ranked horse behind only Mystic Guide in the latest weekly poll conducted by the National Thoroughbred Racing Association.
Saratoga starts July 15, with most of the Asmussen horses currently stabled at Churchill set to arrive more than two weeks early, which is customary for his stable. What’s different this year is his Keeneland string will stay put, as opposed to moving over as it usually does to Churchill, where the entire barn area is being vacated for about nine weeks starting July 5 because of the massive turf-course renovation. Asmussen also has maintained a full barn in recent years at Ellis Park, where the summer meet starts Sunday, in addition to his year-round divisions in New York and Texas.
Meanwhile, Asmussen will have plenty of action during the final three-day stretch of the Churchill meet, including two starters in each of the 2-year-old features, the Grade 3 Bashford Manor and Debutante, on the huge closing-day card Saturday. Asmussen has combined to win those races 11 times, including a record six runnings of the Bashford Manor. His starters this year are Red Run and Vodka n Water in the Bashford Manor and Tiz Plenty and Wicked Halo in the Debutante. Both races go at six furlongs.
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These are exciting times for Asmussen, a 55-year-old Hall of Famer who is bearing down on the all-time record for career wins by a trainer. He trails only Dale Baird, who died in December 2007 with 9,445 wins. With 9,389 winners through Tuesday, and given his long-established win rate of slightly more than one win per day, Asmussen figures to surpass the record sometime this summer while at Saratoga.
“Just 56 away,” he said. “It’s awesome, some real crazy stuff.”