There are times when starting more than 47,000 horses in the career of the Hall of Fame would come in handy.
Just ask coach Steve Asmussen.
During the two-and-a-half-hour tornado that lasted June 11 at Belmont ParkThe sport’s all-time winning coach enjoyed a refresher course in the vigorous highs and lows of equestrianism.
In Acorn Stakes (G1), Asmussen endures the shock of his 2-year-old champion Echo Zulu Scratch at the gate is the 2-5 favorite.
Then, four races later, Asmussen was on top of the world when the Stonestreet Stables’ hybrid Clairiere suitable past Malathaat to score their first win at the $480,000 Ogden Phipps Stakes (G1) for cocks and mares, grab a free slot in the Longines Breeders’ Cup Distaff (G1) on 5 November at Keeneland through the Breeders’ Cup Challenge program.
Asmussen said: “Who would be better prepared to take it than a man who ran (47,852) the horse. “Always and never are two words that don’t belong in this game. I mean, what’s next?”
Although only five horses have broken from the starting gate in Phipps, there is quality from start to finish. Last year’s female champion was older, Letruska was the favorite 3-5 on the 1/16 mile test, but she faded in last place and raced to the finish line after fighting through a withering run: 45.23 half mile .
In the long run, the race has gone to Malathaat, the plump 3-year-old champion of 2021, and Clairiere, with Asmussen’s daughter Curlin dominated the 1:41.10 fleet under the jockey Joel Rosario and reversed the order of the top two finishers in last year’s Alabama Stakes (G1).
Stonestreet’s Barbara Banke (right) leads Clairiere and Joel Rosario to the winners’ circle
“It’s very special to the field here,” Asmussen said. “It was a great experience. Going 1:41 for a sixteen mile. Is that even possible?”
It was, and won, Clairiere’s second in 1st place, once again affirming the benefits of crossbreeding the best to the best. Curlin is of course a two-time Horse of the Year for Asmussen and Cavorting, a Bernardini mare, three-time 1st place winner for Stonestreet, who won the Ogden Phipps in 2016.
“She’s really racing for royalties,” Asmussen said of 4-year-old Clairiere ($11.60), who finished second to Letruska in the Apple Blossom Handicap (G1) in her first and was the pick. Tuesday 9-2 on Saturday. “A Cavorting Curlin. The race she hosted today was amazing. It’s been a great period for her.”
Phipps is a race with two separate segments.
When the field of five broke through the gate, Letruska and Klaravich’ Barn Search Results accelerate far beyond their three opponents. After a quarter-mile opening in: 22.75 Letruska leads in length over 2021 Acorn winner, with Malathaat 10 lengths back in third.
For Letruska coach Fausto Gutierrez, it was not the pace he expected on a small pitch.
“I thought: these 22 horses are very fast,” he said. “With those fractions, (closers) will enjoy the race.”
Gutierrez was right at the time when his championship mare began to fall behind the quarter post after six runs in 1:09.23, leaving in Search Results, his 4-year-old daughter Flatter Trained by Chad Brown, the catcher.
“They’re rolling around, the separation they get from the three-eighth pole to the quadruple pole worries me,” Asmussen said.
Part B of Phipps covers the last 1/8 mile. Even though the Search Results took a long two-and-a-half innings lead, fatigue was creeping in. Shadwell Stable’s Malathaat and Clairiere hastily decided on an outcome that might have been sealed when Malathaat lost focus on the final yards.
Malathaat coach Todd Pletcher said: “(Jockey John Velazquez) said she was a bit distracted during the last sixteen miles. “Maybe it’s time to think about some blinks, which we do. imprinted in my mind. She was always curious and looked around. Johnny says she saw something in the last 100 yards and slipped the reins. However, it is a great effort. “
Malathaat, Curlin’s 4-year-old daughter bred by Stonestreet and purchased for $1,005,000 at the Keeneland September Yearling Sale, comes in second by 2 1/4 lengths to Search Results. The champ finished ahead of the improving Clairiere in the previous three encounters.
Claire, who will confront Racecourse Saratoga for her summer campaign, being the first of three horses from Cavorting, who also has a 3-year-old to win a stake by Medaglia d’Oro named La Crete and a full 2 year old brother named Clairiere Judge Miller.
Cavorting wins Ogden Phipps Stakes 2016
As for Echo Zulu, who got scratched when Rosario felt she wasn’t warming up properly, Asmussen said an X-ray showed no problem.
“We did (the vet) X-ray her and everything came out clean,” Asmussen said. “It’s completely out of our hands. The main thing is that she’s okay.”
Claire and her connections enjoy their visit to the winner’s circle
Video: Ogden Phipps S. (G1)
