With Epicenter, Asmussen Eyes Elusive Kentucky Derby

Trainer Steve Asmussen has come so close to Kentucky Derby (G1) glory that he briefly has experienced the feeling of winning the race.

He hopes this is the year he finds out what it's like to enter the Derby winner's circle.

The trainer who has sent out more winners in North American racing than any conditioner in history has found the Derby a bit elusive; even when he's twice sent out Derby starters that eventually would earn Horse of the Year titles.

Both of those horses, eventual two-time Horse of the Year Curlin   and 2017 Horse of the Year Gun Runner  , would finish third in the Kentucky Derby. In fact, since first sending out ninth-place Fifty Stars  for the 2001 Derby, the Racing Hall of Famer has moved into consideration for the "best trainer to not yet win the Derby" category behind his 23 starts without a victory in the Churchill Downs classic.

That's not to say Asmussen hasn't enjoyed plenty of spring success. He has twice won the Preakness Stakes (G1); with the aforementioned Curlin in 2007 and filly Rachel Alexandra  in 2009. He sent out Creator  to victory in the 2016 Belmont Stakes Presented by NYRA Bets (G1). And he's won the Derby's sister race, the Kentucky Oaks (G1), with Summerly  in 2005 and Untapable  in 2014.

As for the Derby, Asmussen has come close. Gun Runner and Curlin each finished third while Lookin At Lee   nearly ended the drought for Derby horses breaking from post 1 when he finished second to Always Dreaming   in 2017. Then there's 2011 runner-up Nehro , who gained the lead in the Churchill Downs stretch—sending Asmussen's heart racing—before yielding to Animal Kingdom .

"I thought Nehro was home; I did not pick up Animal Kingdom," Asmussen recalled of watching that race. "So I literally know what it feels like to think you're going to win the Derby, but it didn't happen."

This could be the Derby Asmussen garners a more-lasting winning feeling as he sends out Winchell Thoroughbreds' Epicenter  off of dominating victories at Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots in the Risen Star Stakes Presented by Lamarque Ford (G2) and the Twinspires.com Louisiana Derby (G2). The potential is there; Asmussen said that at this point in Epicenter's career, he is faster than both Gun Runner and Curlin when they went into the Derby.

Before he gets to Saturday, Asmussen will have a chance at his third Oaks win with undefeated champion juvenile filly Echo Zulu , a daughter of Gun Runner campaigned by L and N Racing and Winchell Thoroughbreds.

"We're very pleased with how the training has gone for both Epicenter and Echo Zulu," Asmussen said. "This year's Oaks and Derby are extremely exciting in terms of how strong the races look and how well all of the horses are doing going into them. I'm unbelievably excited to be doing this well with this much on the line."

The Oaks field is so deep that 2021 NetJets Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies (G1) winner Echo Zulu enters with five wins in as many starts—by more than 22 combined lengths—and yet she is the third-choice on the morning line at 4-1 behind Central Bank Ashland Stakes (G1) winner Nest  (5-2) and undefeated Gulfstream Park Oaks (G2) winner Kathleen O.  The odds may reflect a season debut in which Echo Zulu experienced the first close race of her career, holding off Kentucky Oaks rival Hidden Connection  by a nose in the Twinspires.com Fair Grounds Oaks (G2) March 26.

"I thought she won the Fair Grounds Oaks on natural ability and class," said Asmussen, adding that he's been pleased with her works and wants her razor sharp for Friday. 

At 7-2 Epicenter is the second-choice on the Derby morning line to Toyota Blue Grass Stakes (G1) winner Zandon  (3-1), even though he defeated the son of Upstart   by 3 1/4 lengths in the Feb. 19 Risen Star.

Asmussen loves the natural talent of Epicenter, noting that if you only looked at numbers, you'd think Epicenter was training harder than some of his previous Derby contenders. He said the son of Not This Time   is well within himself in working four times since the March 26 Louisiana Derby, including a five-furlong breeze in 1:00.80 April 17 at Churchill.

"He has taken a lot of training extremely easily," Asmussen said. "I also thought he took the Louisiana Derby extremely easily—in terms of how he came back from the test barn and went into the barn. That's why his training and his works since have been faster and stronger."

Compared with Asmussen's previous Derby horses that went on to earn Horse of the Year honors, Epicenter's preparation is closer to Gun Runner's than Curlin's. Gun Runner entered the Derby with four wins in five starts, including victories in the Risen Star and Louisiana Derby as his final preps. Epicenter enters with four wins in six starts with half those efforts at 2 and half at 3.

Curlin was attempting to be "Justify  " more than a decade before the lightly raced 2018 Triple Crown winner's amazing spring. Like Justify, Curlin didn't race at 2 and entered the Derby undefeated with just three starts under his belt, including wins in the Rebel Stakes (G3) and Arkansas Derby (G2) at Oaklawn Park. After losing to Street Sense   in the Derby, Curlin put it all together in an amazing stretch run in the Preakness to edge that rival. In the Belmont, Curlin lost by a head to filly Rags to Riches . 

Curlin would continue to reach racing's heights. He won the Jockey Club Gold Cup (G1) at 3 and 4, the Breeders' Cup Classic Powered by Dodge (G1) at 3, and the Emirates Airline Dubai World Cup (G1) at 4 in earning back-to-back Horse of the Year titles.

"You look at the third-place Derby finishes by Curlin and Gun Runner and I've had horses that were good enough, they just weren't fast enough on that day or the circumstances didn't allow it," Asmussen said of his Derby drought. "Our opportunity this year with Epicenter? You can't stand here and compare him to Curlin and Gun Runner yet because how they finished their career made them who they were."

Asmussen most assuredly puts the work in as he searches for Derby glory—in April he drove all night from Oaklawn to Churchill to witness an Epicenter breeze—but he's also been around the race enough to nod to the 'Derby gods.' He notes that in following the Derby his whole life, it nearly always seems that the winners' stories sound like "they were meant to be before it happened." He's hoping this might be the year that story finds a chapter that includes him.

"I got 23 different feelings on the Derby that I very vividly remember. I thought Nehro was going to win it and Lookin At Lee was just unbelievable. With Curlin, I just never dreamed he could get beat. I mean, Curlin gave us so much power. I never dreamed he'd lose," Asmussen said. "It felt like the walk over for Curlin's Derby took three strides and the walk back felt like the Sahara Desert. 

"I'm good at getting here. Some of them weren't fast enough and I've had others where it wasn't meant to be. Who knows what all the reasons are, whether they didn't run their best race that day or they were never good enough. I do love being a part of it and enjoy and appreciate every opportunity. We're not smart enough to give up."

Epicenter's owner, Ron Winchell, who has sent Asmussen a number of top runners, including Gun Runner (co-owned with Three Chimneys), has seen first hand Asmussen's determination to win the Derby.

"It's a big hole; he wants to fill it," Winchell said. "We've come here eight times together. He's come here a bunch of other times. He's won pretty much every other race. This is one that you definitely want to win. If you're in the business, this is a race you want to win."

The Winchell family has been pursuing a Derby win for two generations. Ron's Winchell's father, Verne, who passed away in 2002, predicted his son would reach Churchill's most hallowed ground.

"Before he passed away, he would always talk about winning the Derby and the 2-year-olds we had coming up," Ron Winchell said. "One particular moment he said, 'I won't win it, but you will.' And I was like, 'You're just being a pessimist.'

"But now that he's been gone so long, that thought pops in my mind."

Asmussen would love to help make Verne Winchell's prediction come true Saturday evening at Churchill but he's also appreciative of what he's accomplished as well as his racing family.

"Because it's the Kentucky Derby; it's attaining something that you haven't," Asmussen said of his drive for the Roses. "I've had the disappointment and survived it. But I think getting the wins (record) has made me reflect and look back and just realize how blessed I am; and to have my family involved in it.

"It's become a lot more emotional for me because of how blessed we've been and the success that we've had—the excitement of everybody coming for the Derby and feeling like you have a chance. It makes it extremely special."