Winchell Thoroughbreds

Michael Dubb and Michael Caruso's Doctor Jeff (Street Boss), a first-out winner in a six-furlong off-turf maiden special weight at Belmont Park July 10, will step right up to graded company as the 2-1 morning-line favorite in Saturday's GII Saratoga Special S. The chestnut colt earned a Special field-high 78 Beyer Speed Figure for his 2 1/4-length debut win and he has recorded three breezes over the main track at Saratoga, including a bullet five-furlong work in :59.61 Sunday, for trainer Rudy Rodriguez. "I'm just very happy with the way...

Everyone knows how the system works; how lavishly choreographed is the promotion of new sires. Center stage is cleared, the footlights are turned up, the make-up and costume departments go into overdrive. But we also know that most of them will go out there, clear their throats nervously, and murmur a few lines that barely qualify them, in the longer term, for a place in the back row of the chorus line. Every now and then, however, one of these rookies steps up and you sense within moments that a...

One day after breaking the all-time North American wins record, Steve Asmussen got right back to business in a big way Sunday at Saratoga, as his Wicked Halo (Gun Runner) shook off intense pace pressure and kicked clear in the lane to capture the GII Adirondack S. Adding to the significance of the moment, Wicked Halo is both by and out of Asmussen trainees, and her dam won the same race at the Spa in 2015. Unveiled going five furlongs in the mud at Lone Star June 5, the homebred...

In an effort befitting the record-setting 9,446th training victory in the Hall of Fame career of Steve Asmussen, L & N Racing & Winchell Thoroughbreds LLC's Stellar Tap (Tapit) cruised through the Saratoga stretch to earn the 'TDN Rising Star' distinction on the GI Whitney S. undercard at Saratoga. The 11-2 chance, wearing the silks of longtime Asmussen client Winchell Thoroughbreds and campaigned in partnership with another loyal owner, L & N Racing, jumped straight into the bridle and argued the pace outside of 6-5 chalk Brigadier General (Street Sense)....

Steve Asmussen entered Saturday with 13 chances to pass Dale Baird to become the winningest North American trainer of all time. He needed just one. With his first starter on the day, Asmussen moved into sole possession of first place with a win from first-time-starter Stellar Tap (Tapit) in the fifth race at Saratoga, a maiden special weight race for 2-year-olds. It was the 9,446th win in a career that began quietly in 1986 at Ruidoso Downs in a race worth $2,600. The win came for Winchell Thoroughbreds, who owns...

6th-Ellis, $51,000, Msw, 7-1, 2yo, 5f, :57.41, sy, nose. COSTA TERRA (c, 2, Gun Runner--Teardrop {SP}, by Tapit), the 9-5 favorite, was hustled out of the gate, but could not keep pace with the early leaders who separated themselves from the field as the favorite fell well off the pace in a strung-out field. Buckingham Prince (Klimt) battled on the front end through an opening quarter in :22.37, had sole command of the lead after a quarter in :45.35 and looked home free, but Costa Terra was finding his best...

Winchell Thoroughbreds and Willis Horton Racing's Silver State (Hard Spun) upped his win streak to six while providing trainer Steve Asmussen with a third GI Hill 'n' Dale Metropolitan H. in the last four years. The historic Met Mile also gave Silver State an automatic spot in the starting gate for the GI Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile should his connections choose that event over the GI Breeders' Cup Classic. By My Standards (Goldencents) rallied to cut the winning margin to a length after missing the break, while stretching-out GI Carter...

Winchell Thoroughbreds LLC's Midnight Bourbon (Tiznow) tuned up for Saturday's GI Preakness S. Monday morning at Churchill Downs, working an easy half-mile in :50.20. A $525,000 Keeneland September yearling, Midnight Bourbon won the GIII Lecomte S. in January and earned additional points on the Road to the Kentucky Derby with a third in the GII Risen Star S. and a runner-up effort in the GII Louisiana Derby. Unable to go forward after taking a bump at the start of the GI Kentucky Derby May 1, the strapping bay colt raced...

Well-bred Red Run (Gun Runner) ran to 3-5 backing Sunday in the Churchill Downs slop to become the first winner for his freshman sire (by Candy Ride {Arg}). Sporting the same Winchell silks that near $16-million earner and fellow Steve Asmussen pupil Gun Runner did, the chestnut broke in midpack and was ridden along to track from third as second timer Trebbiano (Connect) showed the way. One of several pursuers revving up behind the pacesetter heading for home, Red Run mounted his three-wide bid in upper stretch and outkicked a...

Hot Rod Charlie (Oxbow) exited his win in Saturday's GII Twinspires.com Louisiana Derby in fine shape and will ship back to trainer Doug O'Neill's California base Tuesday to prepare for the May 1 GI Kentucky Derby. "Charlie looked great this morning," O'Neill said. "He flies back to California on Tuesday. I love the spacing [six weeks] leading up to the Kentucky Derby. It's ideal. He's proven to travel well. I'm very proud of my nephew Patrick [with co-owner Boat Racing]. He's a real good young man and I'm very excited...

Midnight Bourbon (Tiznow) came out of his wire-to-wire victory in Saturday's GIII Lecomte S. in fine shape, Scott Blasi, assistant to trainer Steve Asmussen, said Sunday. The Winchell Thoroughbreds runner is expected to start next in the Feb. 13 GII Risen Star S. Mandaloun (Into Mischief), the beaten favorite when third in the Lecomte, may get a change of equipment for his  next start, according to trainer Brad Cox. "We still think he is a very good horse," Cox said of the Juddmonte Farm homebred. "He raced wide around both...

After Saturday's GIII Lecomte S., one thing's for certain: the offspring of broodmare Catch the Moon have a strong affinity for that main track in New Orleans. Three of the four graded stakes winners the Malibu Moon mare has produced are now a collective 5-for-6 over the Fair Grounds dirt after the one-length wire job by Midnight Bourbon (Tiznow) in the first leg of the track's Road to the GI Kentucky Derby series. Trainer Steve Asmussen's job will now involve trying to build upon that home-track advantage as Midnight Bourbon...