NEW ORLEANS – The diversity of the Steve Asmussen stable is remarkable. From elite stakes performers (Gun Runner might be the second-best dirt horse in the world right now) to bottom-level maidens, Asmussen covers all categories at tracks where he runs strings. His client base is broad – and includes himself.
Asmussen regularly claims low- and mid-level claimers to run in his colors and regularly does well with them. Take the 5-year-old Louisiana-bred Grit.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – The multiple-Grade 1-winning and ultra-popular mare Lady Eli will make her 5-year-old debut in the Grade 1, $350,000 Jenny Wiley at Keeneland on April 15, trainer Chad Brown confirmed Friday.
Brown had been considering waiting until the Grade 3, $150,000 Beaugay at Belmont Park on May 14 for Lady Eli’s return but said the mare is training too well to keep her in the barn.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – When Luis Saez guided Sistine Sista to victory in Thursday’s final race here, it was his 100th win of the Gulfstream Park winter season, making him just the third rider in track history to reach that plateau for a meet.
ARCADIA, Calif. – Iliad finished a lot better in a team workout Friday than he finished his most recent race, a distant second in the San Felipe Stakes that suggested he could be vulnerable when he starts favored in the Santa Anita Derby on April 8.
But skeptical analysis of Iliad may require revision after a sharp seven-furlong workout Friday at Santa Anita. Trainer Doug O’Neill worked Iliad in company after the 9 a.m. renovation break.
ARCADIA, Calif. – Stellar Wind, the champion 3-year-old filly of 2015, worked seven furlongs in 1:27 at Santa Anita on Friday while preparing for the Grade 1 Apple Blossom Stakes at Oaklawn Park on April 14.
“I had her in 1:26,” trainer John Sadler said. “She broke two lengths behind Pappou, and she finished four or five lengths in front of him.
“She wasn’t tired. She galloped a mile in about 1:40. She’ll come back next Friday and probably work five-eighths.”
Keeneland racing officials expect a field of at least seven 3-year-olds for the Blue Grass Stakes, the annual spring showcase that will anchor an action-packed opening weekend at the Lexington, Ky., track.
The biggest name is McCraken, who is scheduled to breeze again Sunday or Monday at Keeneland in his last serious preparation for the Grade 2, $1 million Blue Grass on Saturday. The Whitham Thoroughbreds homebred already has breezed twice over the track since trainer Ian Wilkes sent him north from his winter base in south Florida.
ARCADIA, Calif. – The win by Lady Espionage in a maiden race on turf at Santa Anita on Thursday was one for the family – and former family.
Lady Espionage is trained by Michele Dollase and was ridden by her ex-husband, Corey Nakatani. Their son Matt, 25, is Corey’s agent and booked the mount.
“He’s the mediator,” Michele Dollase said.
ARCADIA, Calif. – California trainer Peter Miller had his first starters in Dubai last week. He may send runners to the Royal Ascot meeting in England for the first time in June.
Miller said this week he is considering Group 1 races at Royal Ascot for three of his stakes winners – Conquest Farenheit, Richard’s Boy, and Stormy Liberal.
Jockey Francisco Torres underwent successful surgery to fuse a fractured C-6 vertebra in his spine Thursday night in New Orleans, according to his agent, Derek Ducoing.
Torres fractured the vertebra and his tailbone as a consequence of a bad spill in race 6 Thursday at Fair Grounds. Torres's mount, Aaron of Goshen, broke down before the half-mile pole and was struck by a trailing horse, Zarby's Derby Day. It's unclear whether Torres also was struck by the trailing horse, whose jockey, Marcelino Pedroza, also went down but reportedly did not sustain serious injury.
