Steve Asmussen

Todd Scherer, who had worked as an assistant trainer and a groom in recent years on the Nebraska racing circuit, was found dead Thursday morning on the backstretch of Fonner Park, the victim of a shooting. He was 62. Scherer trained from 1981 through 1994 and won 60 races in his career. Two individuals have been arrested for their alleged role in the murder. Logan Hunts Horse, 20 of Wounded Knee, S.D., has been charged with first degree murder and two counts of use of a deadly weapon to commit...

Sponsored by Alex Nichols Agency 1st-AQU, $80K, Msw, 3yo, 6f, 12:50 p.m. Bought by Chenoweth Stables for $200,000 at the '21 FTKJUL auction, GLOBAL IMAGE (Liam's Map) was purchased by Taproot Bloodstock a year later at the OBSMAR after breezing an eighth of a mile in :10 1/5. Owned by Robert LaPenta and Madaket Stables, the Brad Cox trainee shipped to Belmont after training with his Churchill Downs string over the winter. Out of Ballerina S. heroine Class Included (Include), the gray colt will break from the three post with...

8th-FG, $50k, Msw, 3yo, 6f, 5:45 p.m. ET WICKED AGAIN (Gun Runner), a full-brother to MGSW and last term's GI Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Sprint third-place finisher Wicked Halo, kicks off his career for Hall of Famer Steve Asmussen. The Winchell Thoroughbreds homebred, drawn on the inside in post two and favored on the morning line at 5-2, fired back-to-back, five-furlong bullets for this, including a 1:00 2/5 (1/8) drill Feb. 21. Wicked Again's dam Just Wicked (Tapit) won the 2015 GII Adirondack S. at Saratoga. The field of...

According to a report in the Los Angeles Times, four more possible GI Kentucky Derby starters made the move Sunday from the Bob Baffert barn to the stable of Tim Yakteen. The four are possible Derby favorite Arabian Knight (Uncle Mo), National Treasure (Quality Road), Fort Bragg (Tapit) and Mr. Fisk (Arrogate). They join Arabian Lion (Justify), Carmel Road (Quality Road), Hejazi (Bernardini) and Reincarnate (Good Magic) who landed in the Yakteen barn earlier this month. Reincarnate finished a troubled third in Saturday's GII Rebel S. for Yakteen, Baffert's former...

Had he done this once, maybe twice, the easy conclusion would be that trainer Keith Desormeaux is just lucky. Anyone can stumble onto a good horse that slipped through the cracks at the sales and was bought for a song. But with Desormeaux there's obviously a lot more to it than that. He keeps finding these good horses that most everyone else overlooks, the latest example being Confidence Game (Candy Ride {Arg}), the $25,000 buy at Keeneland September who won Saturday's $1-million GII Rebel S. at Oaklawn, securing a spot...

Sponsored by Alex Nichols Agency 3rd-OP, $106K, OC, 4yo/up, 1 1/16m, 2:03 p.m. Last seen checking in fourth in last July's GII Suburban S. at Belmont, MAX PLAYER (Honor Code) makes his 6-year-old debut Saturday in an optional claimer at Oaklawn. The picture of consistency throughout his career, the Steve Asmussen trainee was a Triple Crown contender in 2020, placing third behind Tiz the Law (Constitution) in both the rescheduled GI Belmont S. and the GI Runhappy Travers S. before finishing fifth behind future Horse of the Year Authentic (Into...

Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen reached another personal milestone in his career on Monday at Oaklawn Park, winning his 10,000th race. The first North American trainer ever to reach that number, Asmussen recorded the historic win in the fifth race on the card with $40,000 maiden claimer Bet He's Ready (More Than Ready), an easy winner under jockey Ricardo Santana Jr. "This is very hard to put into words," Asmussen said from the Oaklawn winner's circle. "There's all the support that we have continually gotten. This is a family...

Sponsored by Alex Nichols Agency 8th-OP, $103K, OC, 3yo, 1m, 5:10 p.m. Last year at this time, Epicenter (Not This Time) was making his case as the Derby favorite after declaring victory in the GII Risen S. at Fair Grounds. This Sunday in Hot Springs, another Winchell Thoroughbreds-owned colt, DISARM (Gun Runner), who is a Triple Crown nominee, will begin to layout his own path to be in the starting gate in early May. A game third on debut to GIII Sanford S. victor Mo Strike (Uncle Mo) at Churchill...

Sponsored by Alex Nichols Agency 5th-FG, $70K, Msw, 3yo, 6f, 3:00 p.m. Purchased by Coolmore's M V Magnier as a weanling for $600,000 just one hip after his dam herself brought $850,000 in foal to Into Mischief at the 2020 Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale, OCEAN CITY (American Pharoah) is the fifth foal out of Unicorn Girl (A.P. Five Hundred), making him a half-brother to champion male sprinter and MGISW Jackie's Warrior (Maclean's Music). The colt drilled five furlongs from the gate in 1:00 4/5 (2/42) Jan. 27 and again...

Already the winningest trainer in the history of North American racing, Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen is close to another milestone, his 10,000th career win. Asmussen entered Thursday with 9,997 wins and had only one starter on the day, Flute Master (Gun Runner) in a maiden special weight race at Turfway Park. After a quiet day for the barn, Asmussen's stable will go into overdrive on Friday. He has 13 horses entered in 11 races. His day will begin at Oaklawn Park, where he has entries in seven races....

As the field turned for home in Saturday's Suncoast S. at Tampa Bay Downs, Dreaming of Snow (Jess's Dream), trained by Gerald Bennett, had the lead, but it sure looked like she'd never hold on. It wasn't just that she was 38-1 and had been pressed most of the way, it was who was chasing her, monsters from the stables of super trainers Mark Casse and Todd Pletcher in Wonder Wheel (Into Mischief) and Julia Shining (Curlin). Could a horse from the barn of a 78-year-old claiming trainer who had...

Defending G1 Dubai World Cup hero Country Grammer (Tonalist) is one of over 1,600 entries, including 892 individual horses from 21 countries, entered in the $30.5-million Dubai World Cup night card. The featured event, sponsored by Emirates Airline, attracted 171 entries. Of the 24 Group or Grade 1 winners besides the Zedan Racing-owned and Bob Baffert-trained Country Grammer, is the duo's three-time Grade I winner Taiba (Gun Runner). Joining them could be a pair of longshot headliners from last year; namely, GI Kentucky Derby champ Rich Strike (Keen Ice) and...