After another Kentucky Derby misfire, Steve Asmussen goes again at the Preakness
Steve Asmussen, once again, arrives at the Preakness Stakes without an ever-elusive victory in the Kentucky Derby.
Asmussen — the first horse racing trainer with 10,000 career wins in North America — is now 0-for-28 in the Run for the Roses. This year, Asmussen finished well off the pace in the Derby: Tiztastic ran 10th and Publisher was 14th.
But horse racing requires the ability to quickly turn the page.
Come Saturday night, Asmussen will be doing just that in the Grade 1, $2 million Preakness Stakes (post time 7:01 p.m. EDT), which this year is celebrating its 150th running at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore.
Neither of Asmussen’s two Derby starters will be running things back on two weeks of rest. Instead, Asmussen will saddle Clever Again in this year’s Preakness, which will go 1 3/16 miles on Pimlico’s main track and features a nine-horse field.
To be ridden by 2022 Preakness winner Jose Ortiz (Early Voting), Clever Again will depart from post position No. 8 in the Preakness and was 5-1 in the morning line odds.
A son of 2015 Triple Crown winner American Pharoah, Clever Again was last seen in late March dominating the Hot Springs Stakes at Oaklawn Park in Arkansas in front-running fashion, ultimately winning by four lengths. He’s only run in three career races, but he’s won two of them, both of which came at Oaklawn earlier this year.
“I think that he will relish the distance,” Asmussen said of Clever Again, who has previously raced at distances of 4 1/2 furlongs, 1 1/16 miles and 1 mile. “It does appear to be more pace signed on for the Preakness than in any of his previous races… (We) think that he should handle well enough to get the distance.”
To Asmussen’s point, both Clever Again’s sire (American Pharoah) and dam (Flattering) have won races at a 1 1/2-mile distance.
There’s plenty of intrigue surrounding Clever Again’s potential in the Preakness. He recorded impressive Equibase speed figures of 100 and 108 in his two Oaklawn Park victories, which both came with Ortiz in the saddle.
Clever Again is one of six horses that will be making their Triple Crown debuts in the Preakness. He joins Goal Oriented, Gosger, Heart of Honor, Pay Billy and River Thames in this regard.
Of the nine horses in this year’s Preakness Stakes field, Clever Again is tied for the second-most lightly raced. Both he and Gosger have only run three prior times. Bob Baffert’s Goal Oriented (two career starts) is the least experienced runner.
“The horse is very manageable, very mature,” Asmussen said of Clever Again. “… He has shown a lot of talent obviously, but he is definitely mature beyond his racing.”
Can Clever Again give Steve Asmussen another Preakness Stakes win?
Like Ortiz, Asmussen has past experience in the winner’s circle at Pimlico. Asmussen is a two-time winner of the Preakness Stakes with legendary horses Curlin in 2007 and filly Rachel Alexandra in 2009.
Curlin ran third in the 2007 Kentucky Derby before his victory in the Preakness. Rachel Alexandra triumphed in the 2009 Kentucky Oaks, run the day before the Derby at Churchill Downs in Louisville, before capturing that year’s Preakness.
Compared to Asmussen’s two previous Preakness Stakes winners — who were each coming off two weeks of rest — Clever Again has significantly more downtime before his Preakness run. Clever Again’s win in the Hot Springs Stakes came on March 30, which means he’ll have almost seven weeks of rest by the time he takes the starting gate Saturday night.
Curlin (2007 and 2008) and Rachel Alexandra (2009) combined to give Asmussen three consecutive Horse of the Year winners. A trip down memory lane concerning these two champions was fitting this week, because of the air of finality surrounding Saturday’s 150th Preakness.
This will be the last running of the Preakness Stakes at the current configuration of Pimlico. The track is set to be rebuilt following the race. Naturally, this has led to plenty of reflection about the Preakness at Pimlico, with Asmussen chiming in on his history in the event.
“(The) turning point in the barn’s trajectory was when Curlin beat Street Sense in the 2007 Preakness. It was our first classic victory … And then, how can you compare anything to Rachel’s 2009 Preakness?” Asmussen said.
What still sticks with Asmussen about the Preakness experience at Pimlico?
“I think the demeanor of the racetrack and the staff that runs it, they’re welcoming and appreciative,” he said. “Maybe it’s just the tension of the Derby (has) climaxed and then how there seems to be a little bit more oxygen in the air.”
While it’s unlikely that Clever Again will get anywhere close to the level of a Curlin or Rachel Alexandra, Asmussen is bullish on Clever Again’s chances to become the fourth horse he conditions to a Triple Crown victory.
“I expect him to handle the circumstances of a Classic crowd, (the) walk over prerace, very well,” Asmussen said. “He’s got a great temperament. Don’t expect him to lose anything there. Jose Ortiz, who is riding him, has great confidence in the horse.”
