Asmussen Works His Derby, Oaks Hopefuls

One handicapping angle for the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (gr. I) is to bet the guy who just got into racing's Hall of Fame.

That angle worked in 2000, when trainer Neil Drysdale was announced as being voted into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame days before he captured the Kentucky Derby with Fusaichi Pegasus. Jockey Gary Stevens pulled off the parlay in 1997, winning the Derby aboard Silver Charm. It took Pat Day until 1992 to win the Kentucky Derby on Lil E. Tee, but it came the year after he made the Hall of Fame.

Now Steve Asmussen, the newest Hall of Fame trainer, will try to go out and claim his first Kentucky Derby with Louisiana Derby (gr. II) winner Gun Runner and Arkansas Derby (gr. I) victor Creator. Both 3-year-old colts looked the part in major workouts April 25 at Churchill Downs.

Asmussen also worked his quintet of Longines Kentucky Oaks (gr. I) candidates as he seeks a third victory in America's biggest race for 3-year-old fillies.

Gun Runner, owned by Winchell Thoroughbreds, Three Chimneys Farm, and Besilu Stables, last ran in the March 28 Louisiana Derby and therefore had the more demanding workout. He went first during the 15-minute segment reserved for Kentucky Derby and Oaks horses, rolling six furlongs in 1:12 1/5 in company with Gold Hawk.

With jockey Florent Geroux aboard, Gun Runner was timed in splits of :12 2/5, :24 3/5, :36 2/5, :48 1/5, and :59 4/5 before galloping out seventh-eighths of a mile in 1:25 and the mile in a strong 1:39.

Creator, with jockey Ricardo Santana up, worked nine days after rallying to win the Arkansas Derby. He went five-eighths of a mile in 1:02 4/5 with the fellow 3-year-old Hundred Years.

Creator's splits were :12 3/5, :25, :37 3/5, and :49 3/5 before galloping out six furlongs in 1:15 1/5 and seven furlongs in 1:28 4/5.

"Their works were ideal for what we think that we need," Asmussen said. "I'm just very proud of the guys to get to this position. We worked Gun Runner last Monday and (we) thought it was a very good work, but that he needed a little more of a 'blow.' Saturday they started the Derby break training. I think the track is not as tight then. It seems early in the morning it's faster. We thought we'd get a good blow in him today, and I think that's exactly what we got out of the work.

"Creator is coming around at the right time. I really like his focus, how much more professional he has been the last two, three weeks, a month. We're just trying to keep him in the rhythm he was in between the Rebel (gr. II) and Arkansas Derby. I was extremely pleased for him to maintain his focus as well as he did today with as much as there is to look at here the couple of weeks leading up to the Derby.

"I think he's definitely turning into an excellent racehorse."

Creator, a Tapit   colt for whom WinStar Farm paid $440,000 at the 2014  Keeneland September yearling sale, needed six attempts to win a race, albeit with four seconds in that streak. But when he won, it was by 7 1/4 lengths, and in his next start he was a fast-closing third in the Rebel.

Four weeks later he improved even more, powering from last to take the Arkansas Derby by 1 1/4 lengths over Kentucky Derby candidate Suddenbreakingnews.

Creator is the first horse WinStar sent Asmussen. WinStar president Elliott Walden said they admired the work the trainer and his staff did with Tapit offspring, which can be headstrong and challenging.

"He has always been talented," Asmussen said of Creator. "He did lack some focus. Mr. (Kenny) Troutt and Elliott had all the patience in the world in letting him come around. Elliott always had the vision of him getting good when it mattered.

"They definitely are a complement to each other," Asmussen said of the Derby horses' running styles, with Gun Runner much more into the race early on. "Just speaking with Elliott after the work, as handy as Creator is in the morning in the way he goes to the pole and breaks off, it's kind of surprising his lack of speed from the gate. But it is very effective for him.

"We're comfortable with that. That being said, Gun Runner is a quick horse, extremely athletic and capable of being very close to any pace."

With unbeaten champion Songbird sidelined, the Kentucky Oaks shapes up as a fabulous betting race. Within that, it's tough just handicapping among Asmussen's five possible contenders, all of which worked five furlongs Monday. 

Adore, the Fair Grounds Oaks (gr. II) third-place finisher who worked with a stablemate, went in 1:01 2/5. Terra Promessa and Taxable, the 1-2 finishers in the Fantasy Stakes (gr. II) worked as a team in 1:02 4/5, and Beaumont Stakes (gr. II) runner-up Nickname and Gazelle Stakes (gr. II) runner-up Royal Obsession also went together and were timed in a minute.

Adore needs a lot of defections to make the 14-horse Kentucky Oaks, standing at No. 20 in qualifying points.

"They are five very different fillies," Asmussen said. "Terra Promessa and Taxable are very good company for each other as they had proved in the Fantasy at Oaklawn Park. I thought that they both ran very hard in their last race and did not want much from them. I thought that they handled really well, they were both very relaxed and traveled good, galloped out nice. Nickname and Royal Obsession both needed a little more this morning; they're both bigger fillies and they're both very talented.

"Adore is a very willing workhorse, a very good traveler and always on the bridle in the morning. I think with Songbird (being out) it opens the race to a new favorite so you're just trying to imagine where everyone will be and that's a bit of a guess."