Steve Asmussen

3rd-Churchill Downs, $89,625, Msw, 6-13, 2yo, 5f, :58.48, ft, 2 lengths. SPIRALIZER (c, 2, Twirling Candy--Jotown, by Speightstown) sold earlier this year for $550,000 at OBS March for Wathnan Racing and jumped as the 8-5 favorite facing a field of fractious rivals in the pre-race lead up. Once settled and in the gate, the favorite was ridden for the lead from his rail draw and always looked the winner, traveling confidently along the fence and coming home unchallenged to win by two lengths. Asleep At Eight (Frosted) beat home a...

The New York Gaming Commission will hold a hearing Sept. 18 to look into whether or not Steve Asmussen's owner-trainer license should be revoked, the board said via a press release on Thursday. Asmussen has been accused on a number of occasions of violating federal labor laws by failing to pay his workforce overtime. Earlier this week the U.S. Department of Labor obtained a court order requiring Asmussen to pay $243,260 in back wages and an equal amount in liquidated damages (for a total of $486,520) after its investigation found...

The U.S. Department of Labor has obtained a court order requiring trainer Steve Asmussen to pay $243,260 in back wages and an equal amount in liquidated damages after its investigation found the employer's pay practices denied 163 grooms and hotwalkers at Churchill Downs and at Keeneland racetrack of overtime wages, according to a release from the U.S. Department of Labor Tuesday. The recovery is the latest action brought by the department since 2021 against KDE Equine LLC, operating as Asmussen Racing Stables with about 200 horses in five states. This...

Clark Brewster and Bill and Corinne Heiligbrodt's Cogburn (Not This Time) continued his assault on the American turf sprint division with a jaw-dropping, front-running success in Saturday's GI Jaipur S. at Saratoga, a 'Win and You're In' qualifying race for the GI Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint at Del Mar in early November. And if holding the form he's in currently, he will be a very difficult nut to crack. Drawn eight in a full field for the Jaipur, normally a six-furlong contest downstate, but shortened to 5 1/2 panels to...

The wagering public had their money on a son of Nyquist, it just happened to be the wrong one. The "other Nyquist", 13-1 longshot Studlydoright, kept his perfect record intact and picked up his first stakes win Thursday taking the Tremont S. on the opening day of the Belmont at Saratoga Racing Festival. A come-from-behind winner in the slop at first asking at Laurel Park, the Maryland-bred Studydoright added an extra furlong of distance Thursday and was one of only three runners in the 8-horse field with any prior experience....

6th-SAR, $100k, Msw, 3yo/up, f/m, 7f, 3:35 p.m. ET Trainer Todd Pletcher sends out a pair of debuting 3-year-old fillies by Into Mischief for Bass Stables as the 6-5 morning-line favorite entry. The homebred CHANTEUSE is a half-sister to GI Arkansas Derby winner Magnum Moon (Malibu Moon), while AUDACIOUS, a $700,000 Keeneland September purchase, is a granddaughter of multiple graded winner Yell (A.P. Indy). Yell also produced the dams of multiple graded winner Tax (Arch) and multiple Grade I winner Elate (Medaglia d'Oro). TJCIS PPs 1st-CD, $120k, Msw, 2yo, 5...

The span between Memorial Day and the third leg of the Triple Crown is often a quiet one in the racing world. Not this year, though. Here's a shaking-out of a reporter's notebook from a week that generated some unexpected headlines. Louisiana's move to more lenient medication rules: TDN's survey of seven trainers--Steve Asmussen, Brad Cox, Michael Stidham, Tom Amoss, Al Stall, Dallas Stewart, Cherie DeVaux--spoke volumes about the announcement by the Louisiana Racing Commission that it would be implementing "emergency" standards that softened a number of drug-regulating standards as...

Young jockeys Keith and Erik Asmussen, both sons of Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen, were each injured Saturday in separate races at Churchill Downs and Lone Star Park, respectively. Keith Asmussen was injured at about 12:47 p.m. ET in the 1st race at Churchill, a $10,000 claimer for fillies and mares three and up. The Equibase chart said his mount, Singsational (Audible) "was jostled between horses and squeezed back at the start, clipped a rival's hind heels and fell at the eleven sixteenths pole, then walked off." Singsational, who...

1st-Churchill Downs, $116,625, Msw, 5-31, 2yo, f, 5 1/2f, 1:04.95, ft, 3 3/4 lengths. ADEERA (f, 2, Authentic--Majestic Presence {GSP-USA, MSP-Can, $227,896}, by Majestic Warrior) became the first winner for her freshman sire (by Into Mischief) Friday. The second choice at 8-5 behind fellow first-timer Salted (Tapit) at 4-5, the half-sister to GISW Newgate (Into Mischief) took it right to the favorite from the jump and the top pair quickly opened up a sizeable gap back to the rest of the field. Neck and neck off the far turn, it...

7th-Churchill Downs, $138,210, Alw (NW3$X)/Opt. Clm ($100,000), 5-30, 3yo/up, 7f, 1:21.54, ft, 3 1/2 lengths. EXTRA ANEJO (c, 4, Into Mischief--Superioritycomplex {Ire}, by Hard Spun), unseen since a well-beaten fourth in last year's GI Haskell S., returned to the races with authority Thursday night for trainer Steve Asmussen and Winchell Thoroughbreds. Dubbed a 'TDN Rising Star' first out, the $1.35m Keeneland September yearling buy won two of his first three, yielding the win only once behind another Grade I-runner in Federal Judge (Constitution) in his 3-year-old unveiling at Churchill last...

Thursday's TDN contains a story by Bill Finley discussing the set of more lenient medication rules that the Louisiana Racing Commission has recently enacted. Louisiana is not a state governed by the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act, and the new rules, which replace the ARCI model rules previously used, are scheduled to go into effect on June 8.  In Thursday's story, HISA Chief Executive Officer Lisa Lazarus suggested that there might have to be additional scrutiny on horses coming out of Louisiana races in the spring because of the more...

1st-CD, $120K, Msw, 2yo, 5 1/2f, 12:45p.m. SALTED (Tapit) debuts for Gary Barber, Bridlewood Farm and Eclipse Thoroughbreds and trainer Mark Casse. A $760,000 Keeneland September yearling purchase, the Don Alberto Corp.- bred filly is out of GI La Troienne S. scorer Salty (Quality Road), who brought $3 million at the Fasig-Tipton November Sale in 2018. Irad Ortiz Jr. gets the mount. Also marking her career bow, Adeera (Authentic), a $300,000 KEESEP yearling purchase for L and N Racing and Jerry Caroom, is trained by Steve Asmussen and will be...