By Bill Finley
With a perfect two-for-two day Friday, Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen picked up career wins 9,444 and 9,445. That moved him into a tie with Dale Baird, the King of Waterford Park, for the most wins of all-time by a North American-based trainer.
Asmussen began his day with a win at Saratoga, taking home the honors in the fourth race with Jalen Journey (With Distinction), who was sent off at 3-1 in the allowance/optional claimer. About 1 hour and 45 minutes later and about 940 miles southwest of Saratoga, the trainer drew even with Baird when Shanghai's Dream (Shanghai Bobby) won a $30,000 claimer at Ellis Park. The colt was 2-1 and closed from last to win by three-quarters of a length under Rafael Bejarano.
“That's how I feel about it, it was meant to be,” Asmussen told the Ellis notes team. “Unbelievably significant win to me and the family. To be able to share the lead-up, getting close, all of the unbelievable support I've had and the well wishes, to be able to get to 9,445-which we've strived for quite some time—to be surrounded by family, what could be better?”
Asmussen spent the day in Saratoga and these were his only two starters on the afternoon. Barring what would be nothing less than an extraordinarily bad day from one of the sport's most consistent barns, the record will fall on Saturday. Asmussen has 14 horses entered on the day in 13 races at four tracks.
He may, however, have to wait until later in the day to get the record. His first entrant is Under the Gun (Gun Runner) in the first at Saratoga, but the horse is entered for main track only. His next starters will come in the fifth at Saratoga, where he has two entered. The race is a seven-furlong maiden special weight for 2-year-olds and his starters are Vodka Mardini (Bernardini) and Stellar Tap (Tapit). Both are first-time starters. Stellar Tap is 5-1 in the morning line and Vodka Mardini is 8-1.
From there, it will get very busy. He will send out Classical Romance (Classic Empire) in a maiden special weight race at Monmouth for 2-year-old fillies. Next up will be the first at Louisiana Downs, where the Asmussen-trained Policy Limit (Bradester) is the 2-1 favorite in the line in the $5,000 claimer. From 4 pm (ET) on, he will have nine starters, one at Louisiana Downs, three at Saratoga, three at Ellis Park and two more at Monmouth Park. His starters include Silver State (Hard Spun), who will take a six-race winning streak into the GI Whitney S. at Saratoga.
When the record falls, it will come in Asmussen's 36th year as a trainer. He started slowly, going just 1-for-15 in his first year, 1986. His first winner of his career came with in a July 19, 1986 race at Ruidoso Downs that had a purse of $2,600. His father, Keith, was aboard that day for the win.
Baird's career ended in 2007 when he died in an automobile accident. Asmussen still trails Peruvian-trainer Juan Suarez, who, as of Aug. 5, had 9,897 winners.
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