Winchell, Asmussen eye big second half with 3-year-olds
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Separating their quality 3-year-olds for the second half of the season is a nice problem to have for owner Winchell Thoroughbreds and trainer Steve Asmussen, with three stakes winners preparing to get back to the races in the coming weeks.
Clever Again, winner of the Hot Springs Stakes in March at Oaklawn Park, was to step back into action in Saturday’s Grade 3 Ohio Derby. The colt, co-owned by Winchell with the Coolmore partners, is coming out of the Preakness Stakes, in which he set the pace, was roughed up in the stretch, and faded to last, an effort that should clearly have a line through it.
Meanwhile, Winchell, on its own, campaigns another stakes-winning 3-year-old on dirt this season in the comebacking Magnitude. The colt has not raced since rolling by 9 3/4 lengths in the Grade 2 Risen Star on Feb. 15 at Fair Grounds, earning a Beyer Speed Figure of 108. That Beyer still ranks among the best in the division. Sovereignty earned a 109 winning the Belmont Stakes, and Journalism posted a 108 winning the Grade 2 San Felipe in March.
After the Risen Star, Magnitude was diagnosed with an ankle chip. He returned to the work tab May 15 and has breezed five times at Churchill Downs. He most recently stepped it up for a pair of five-furlong works on June 8 and June 15.
“Hopefully, Magnitude comes back as good as he was, and they both have kind of the same races” to target, David Fiske, manager for Winchell Thoroughbreds, said of Magnitude and Clever Again. “Magnitude has worked a couple of five-eighths, and he’s almost there. He’s almost ready.
“I’m not sure where he’ll go, but [we’re] trying to figure out some plan for the rest of the summer. Hopefully, they’re both good enough that we need to keep them apart.”
Winchell and Coolmore also co-own Tiztastic, the Grade 2 Louisiana Derby winner who was 10th in the Kentucky Derby. Tiztastic will likely move back to the turf. He won both an allowance and the Kentucky Downs Juvenile Mile last year at Kentucky Downs, where Ron Winchell is co-managing partner. A return to that meet is a goal.
“Trying to get him cranked up for Kentucky Downs,” Fiske said. “He seemed to like it down there.”
Tiztastic breezed over the Churchill turf on June 15 and could be a candidate for the $250,000 American Derby on June 28.
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