Business as usual for Asmussen

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Steve Asmussen already is well into his ninth set of 1,000 victories while still savoring hitting the 8,000-win milestone on Kentucky Derby Day at Churchill Downs. The Hall of Fame trainer was thrilled that his parents and two of his sons were here to celebrate the monumental feat with him.

“I was happy beyond words,” Asmussen, 52, said one morning this week while astride his pony on the Churchill backside.

If Asmussen keeps winning the way he usually does, it won’t be that much longer until he hits the 9,000 mark – and then takes aim on the all-time North American record of 9,445 held by the late Dale Baird.

Over the last seven years, Asmussen has averaged 311 wins per season – which doesn’t even count the three-year period of 2008-10, when he averaged a surreal 592 wins per year. If he remains on pace, it should be about three more years (in 2021) when he hits 9,000 and less than five years (in 2023) when he passes Baird. Into Friday, Asmussen’s win total stood at 8,007.

In the meantime, his hectic schedule continues. Among the plans he was formulating this week was getting 10 horses to Pimlico for the big May 18-19 weekend, including Tenfold for the Preakness.

“They’ll all van up there,” he said. “The Friday horses go Monday and the Saturday horses go Tuesday.”

Asmussen also has the following in mind for some of his other stakes horses:

◗ Mia Mischief, winner of the Eight Belles, could run next in the June 10 Jersey Girl or wait for the July 8 Victory Ride, both at Belmont Park.

◗ Lookin At Lee, the 2017 Derby runner-up who gave him his 8,000th win, goes next in the June 16 Stephen Foster at Churchill. “Obviously he likes this track,” he said.

◗ Midnight Bisou, recently turned over to him after finishing third as the favorite in the Kentucky Oaks, could run next in the June 9 Acorn or wait for the June 30 Mother Goose.

◗ Combatant, 18th in the Derby, “came out of it fine,” he said, adding that options for him include the June 16 Matt Winn at Churchill.

◗ New York Central, runnerup at 31-1 in the Pat Day Mile, has been turned out to WinStar Farm for a brief freshening.

Norm Casse has first training win

He wasn’t actually here to witness it first hand, but surely Norm Casse was able to enjoy the first victory of his training career Thursday evening when favored Tiznoble rolled to a 7 1/4-length victory in the third race.

Casse was on a quick vacation trip to the Bahamas.

“It was only right to get our first win at my home [track],” he posted on Twitter. “It felt like it took a long time, but it was certainly worth the wait.”

Casse, who graduated high school and college from Louisville-area schools, worked closely in recent years with many of the Thoroughbred stars trained by his father, Mark Casse, including Tepin, World Approval, Classic Empire, Salty, and Catch a Glimpse.

Tiznoble, who was claimed from his Thursday win for $25,000, was the ninth starter of a solo training career for Casse that officially began in February at Gulfstream Park.

Hot hand for jockey Hernandez

Nobody has held a hotter hand in the Churchill jockey colony since the 38-day meet started April 28 than Brian Hernandez Jr.

After a terrific Derby weekend that included an upset of the Pat Day Mile on 39-1 shot Funny Duck and key allowance scores with McCraken and Crosswalk, Hernandez rode four winners on the Thursday program, the first post-Derby card. All four were part of a Single 6 force out that returned a whopping $81,891 for a winning 20-cent ticket, including Angaston, a 33-1 shot.

“Things are just clicking right now,” Hernandez said. “I’ve been very lucky to have horses for the right spots and a few nice surprises like Funny Duck.”

After the first seven programs, Hernandez topped the local standings with 10 wins.

New bets in the Thursday Single 6 totaled $1,838,298, chasing a halved carryover pool of $385,132 from the Derby Day pick six. The other $385,132 half of the Derby Day carryover was used to seed the Single 6 on Friday, with solo-sweep jackpot rules in effect for the balance of the meet.

Hollywood Park legend retired

Woodmans Luck, best known as the last horse to win a race at Hollywood Park in California, has been retired by Churchillbased trainer Michelle Lovell.

Woodmans Luck, a 10-yearold California-bred gelding, compiled a record of 13-19-13 from 80 starts, with his last race a sixth-place finish in a $20,000 claiming race April 11 at Keeneland. Easily his most memorable performance came when he was ridden by Corey Nakatani in winning the final race at Hollywood on Dec. 22, 2013, in a photo finish.

Mother’s Day co-features

Back-to-back allowances (races 8 and 9) anchor a 10-race Sunday card that will draw one of the larger ontrack crowds of the meet as families come out in force to celebrate Mother’s Day. First post is 12:45 p.m. Eastern.

After Sunday, Churchill goes dark for three days before another four-day week resumes Thursday with a first post at 5 p.m.

EMILY SHIELDS At Steve Asmussen’s current pace, he should hit the 9,000-win mark in about three years. Going into Friday he had 8,007 wins.