Barn Tour: Breeders’ Cup looms; Asmussen discusses 13 horses
As the winningest trainer in the U.S. and Canada every yearsince 2020 and for all time, Steve Asmussen continues to be blessed with a talentedpool of horses who benefit from his expertise.
He has had at least one Eclipse Award winner in his stable fourof the last six years, and his candidates this year may include Echo Zulu, Guniteand Clairière.
At this point all three might be on the same path to the endof the year.
“Echo Zulu, she will train up to the Breeders’ Cup,”Asmussen said Sunday at Kentucky Downs. “Clairière will train up to theBreeders’ Cup.”
He did not quite make it 3-for-3.
“We’re not positive of where, when and if Gunite is going torun back or if he’s going to train up to the Breeders’ Cup,” Asmussen said.
Those were three of the 13 horses the Hall of Fame trainerwas asked about in this Horse Racing Nation Barn Tour.
Echo Zulu. Her rivalry with Goodnight Olive reckonsto be renewed in the Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Sprint. “I assure you wehave respect for each other,” Asmussen said after Echo Zulu beat GoodnightOlive by 2 1/2 lengths last month in the Ballerina Handicap (G1) at Saratoga. “Thedevelopment that she has shown is so much like her father Gun Runner. The longeryou had him, the faster he was, and that’s how she’s been.” Echo Zulu finishedsecond in the 2022 Breeders’ Cup to Goodnight Olive, who then won the EclipseAward as the year’s top female sprinter. The 4-year-old filly is owned by Lee,Michael and Andy Levinson and Don Nelson’s L and N Racing in partnership withthe Winchell Thoroughbreds operation led by Ron Winchell. Echo Zulu will take a3-for-3 record in 2023 to Santa Anita, where she conceivably could be pointed toward a race against the boys in the Sprint. Asmussen was not saying.
Gunite. Another showdown between rivals is bound for California,where Gunite is likely to face Elite Power for the third time this year, although Asmussen did not get into specifics on Breeders’ Cup divisions. Defendingwinner Cody’s Wish, a stablemate of Elite Power, also is being aimed presumably for theBreeders’ Cup Dirt Mile. Elite Power beat Gunite in the Riyadh Dirt Sprint (G3)and in the Alfred G. Vanderbilt Handicap (G1), but Gunite defeated Elite Power by1 3/4 lengths last month in the Forego (G1). “With Gunite, obviously we’re veryproud of the great race he ran in the Forego,” Asmussen said. “Couldn’t beprouder of the 4-year-old year he’s putting in.” The biggest challenge for theGun Runner colt who is a Winchell homebred might be in the mornings. “PoorGunite has had to work with (Echo Zulu) the majority of his life,” Asmussensaid last month at Saratoga.
Clairière. Fourth in 2021 and third in 2022, the5-year-old Curlin mare bred and owned by Barbara Banke’s Stonestreet Stables isheaded back to the Breeders’ Cup Distaff. Clairière was twice a Grade 1 winnerthis year in the Apple Blossom Handicap and the Ogden Phipps. At Saratoga,though, she finished second to Nest in the Shuvee (G2) and an empty fifth to Idiomaticin the Personal Ensign (G1). That last result compelled Asmussen to letClairière wait for what could be her finale Nov. 4 at Santa Anita.
Pauline’s Pearl. “The Locust Grove (G3) on Saturday atChurchill” was the race in which Asmussen entered the 5-year-old Tapit mare whois a Stonestreet homebred. Pauline’s Pearl is only 5: 1-0-1 at Churchill Downs,but the one win was impressive. That was her half-length score overShedaresthedevil in the 2022 La Troienne (G1). Her most recent outing was aJuly 1 victory against only two other runners in the Fleur de Lis (G2) at EllisPark. Pauline’s Pearl has 5-1 program odds for Saturday’s 1 1/16-mile race forfillies and mares. Search Results is the 3-1 morning-line favorite.
Wicked Halo. Twice a winner in Grade 2 races, the4-year-old Gun Runner filly who is a Winchell homebred races Saturday atChurchill Downs in “a filly and mare, three-quarter,” Asmussen said, referringto the six-furlong, $300,000 Open Mind. Most recently a winner in the TwinBridges on July 23 at Ellis Park, Wicked Halo is the 3-5 morning-line favorite thisweekend.
Society. Peter Blum bred and owns this filly who ison a break until she is shipped to Santa Anita. “Society will train up to theBreeders’ Cup,” said Asmussen, who may be aiming the 4-year-old daughter of GunRunner toward the seven-furlong Filly & Mare Sprint. She won the seven-furlongChicago (G3) in track-record time at Ellis Park and then finished first lastmonth in the seven-furlong Pink Ribbon at Charles Town. Society was seventhlast year in the Distaff at Keeneland.
Ryvit. The three-time stakes winner has a name that soundslike the croak of a frog or the work of a welder. Asmussen said Ryvit willstart this month in a six-furlong sprint on the Pennsylvania Derby undercard. “TheGallant Bob (G2) at Parx on the 23rd of September,” he said. Owned by Bill andCorinne Heiligbrodt, the 3-year-old Competitive Edge colt finished fifth lastout in the Robert Hilton Memorial at Charles Town.
Five of Asmussen’s turf horses just got done with races inthe past 1 1/2 weeks. Private Creed won the Franklin-Simpson (G2), Aspenitescored in the Juvenile Mile, Cogburn was fifth in the Turf Sprint, and RedRoute One finished eighth in the Dueling Grounds Derby (G3), all at KentuckyDowns. Gigante was sixth in the Virginia Derby (G3) at Colonial Downs. Asmussensaid it was too soon to know their next stops.
