Looking to close résumé hole, Asmussen has strong trio
Only six trainers in history have brought more starters to the Kentucky Derby than the 15 saddled by Steve Asmussen, but nobody has taken more shots on the first Saturday in May without winning at least once. It’s the only hole in Asmussen’s otherwise stellar résumé that includes wins in the Preakness Stakes and Belmont Stakes, five Breeders’ Cup victories, two Eclipse Awards as the nation’s top trainer and a spot last year in racing’s Hall of Fame.
“It is the one major box that hasn’t been checked off,” Asmussen said Monday. “With the great fortune we’ve had, a Kentucky Derby would look really good to add to the list.”
Although Asmussen doesn’t shy away from his Derby struggles and has made adjustments in his training style to help improve, the only way to end the conversation is to keep bringing high-quality horses here and hope one breaks through. Why could this be the year for Asmussen, who will send out three starters Saturday?
Hence, whose morning workouts have sent a buzz through the Churchill Downs backstretch, has the breeding and running style to thrive at 11⁄ miles. 4
Untrapped, though 1-for-6 in his career, hasn’t run a bad race and finished 2 lengths behind Girvin, one of the Derby favorites, in New Orleans this spring.
And Lookin at Lee, a fast-closing third behind Classic Empire in the Arkansas Derby despite traffic trouble, should relish the distance of the race and the fast early pace.
But as Asmussen knows from his 0-for-15 Derby record, the best-case scenario in his mind for every horse rarely plays out when the gates open.
“Once the race is run, it seems to sort out, and you get a lot of ‘I knew that’s,’ ” Asmussen said.
Of course, this isn’t the first time Asmussen has felt good entering the Kentucky Derby. In 2007, he had Curlin, who went on to be a Preakness winner and twotime Horse of the Year. But on Derby Day, he simply wasn’t as fast as Street Sense, who had a perfect ground-saving trip and exploded off the far turn to win convincingly. In 2011, it looked like Nehro might deliver Asmussen’s Derby victory at the top of the stretch until Animal Kingdom roared past him. Then last year, Asmussen had two of the favorites in Creator and Gun Runner, but only the latter delivered a representative effort — and even that wasn’t good enough to beat Nyquist. Creator finished a dismal 13th but bounced back five weeks later to win the Belmont.
Whether it has been bad luck or simply not having the best horse, Asmussen isn’t discouraged by his Derby record. But he has come to understand that the entire process of getting a horse ready to peak for this particular event is more complicated than a regular race.
“I think early on, I was pretty good at getting here but might have been a little done when I got here,” he said. “I think with our approach, we’ve got a lot more horse while we’re here (this time), and that’s what I’m most pleased about.”
Asmussen might not have pushed his horses to be at their best for Derby prep races, but it’s unclear whether they’re good enough to win Saturday.
While Hence’s Sunland Derby victory March 26 was visually impressive, circling the field from last place to win by 33⁄ lengths, 4 the competition was soft. It was Hence’s second start in a stakes race, and few horses win the Kentucky Derby without staring down top 3-year-olds in the traditional preps. On the other hand, Irap, the fourth-place finisher that day, went on to win the Blue Grass Stakes at 31-to-1 odds to earn his ticket to Churchill.
“His training has indicated, as everybody is aware of now, how much talent he has, how fast he moves easily,” Asmussen said of Hence, who was impressive in his final breeze Tuesday. “That’s a good quality.”
Untrapped and Lookin at Lee faced each other twice at Oaklawn Park, and Asmussen was convinced both belonged in the Kentucky Derby, though neither won a prep race. Lookin at Lee is par- ticularly intriguing, as he finished 11⁄ lengths behind Classic Empire 2 despite his momentum being stopped twice in the stretch, forcing his jockey to angle sharply inside and then back outside.
Lookin At Lee was 21st in Derby points but got into the field this week when Battalion Runner was declared out of the race, and he could be a factor if he runs the way he typically does, passing tired horses with a late charge.
“When you look at the past performances of this race, you see a lot of talent, but Lookin At Lee has handled the circumstances, the big event, the full fields, the travel,” Asmussen said. “I don’t think there’s near as many variables with Lookin at Lee as there is with the majority of the field.”
For Asmussen, who grew up in a horse racing family but had to work his way up from years of training cheaper horses at lowlevel tracks to becoming a regular in Grade 1 races, it’s probably just a matter of time before he wins a Derby. Outside of Bob Baffert and Todd Pletcher (who finally got his Derby in 2010 after sending out 24 starters without a winner over the previous decade), nobody is more likely to have high-quality 3year-olds in their barn each year.
But things must go right every day for weeks and months just to get to the starting gate, much less win. Asmussen won’t stop trying.
“I feel very good about the foundation these three horses have in them and how they’re going to accept the things that inevitably happen,” he said. “It doesn’t make the races any easier, but it makes the circumstances around the races a lot easier. I very much feel that if it’s meant to be, it’ll happen.”