Steve Asmussen, the winningest trainer in horse racing history, returns to the scene of one his most memorable victories. Asmussen won his 10,000th race with the appropriately-named Bet He’s Ready at Oaklawn last February. The Hall of Fame conditioner will be well-represented again when Oaklawn’s 2024-25 Winter Meet begins this Friday. He has four entrants in the late Pick 4 sequence -- two in the featured $150,000 Advent Stakes -- that shapes up this way:
OP 7th race (4:18 p.m. EST) -- Recent allowance winners from seven tracks unite in this 12-horse route race to start the Pick 4. GUNOE finished behind three $500,000 earners and Grade 1-placed Piroli when third in his two starts this year. SHARP SPARK benefited from a fast pace when he blew past four rivals in a one-mile allowance at Remington Park, but three of the rivals he defeated in the turf-to-dirt route arrived in top form. Asmussen sends out GET A JOB, who held off the troubled 8-to-5 second favorite to win a New York bred allowance at Aqueduct but moves from post 1 to post 11.
OP 8th race (4:46 p.m. EST) -- MIMI’S GRACE ranged up in-hand and led in late stretch before the 6-to-5 favorite fought back to win in a one-mile test at Churchill Downs. The interior fractions stacked up favorably against a 7-1/2F Maiden Special Weight race for the boys on the same card. ZAGHRUTA debuts for the high-percentage barn of trainer of Brad Cox with a one-minute, 5F workout over the track two weeks ago. Her dam won the first three starts of her career by a combined 26 lengths and was Grade 2 placed. The Asmussen-trained MOMENTARIO was out-dueled by the 3-to-5 favorite and tired as the winner swept past both of them. She gets in light-weighted and could carry her speed farther in start number two. VINO TEMPO makes the ticket at 20-1 on the morning line. She broke last, swung 6-wide and didn’t threaten in her debut, but she’s bred to go longer, sheds 6 pounds and her trainer, Thomas Vance, is 14 of 24 in the money at Oaklawn Park this year, with only three favorites.
OP 9th race (5:14 p.m. EST) -- INNOVATOR returns on short rest in the featured $150,000 Advent B Stakes after giving 2-to-5 debut favorite Barnes – a $3.2 million purchase from the Bob Baffert barn -- all he could handle in a photo-finish setback at today’s distance. If he doesn’t duplicate that effort, Asmussen’s THREE ECHOES could be heard from. He is Grade 3 and multiple stakes placed in three short sprints since his first-out maiden win. He broke in the air and finished third to eventual Grade 1-placed Mo Plex.
OP 10th race (5:40 p.m. EST) -- BRIGHT SPARK ran away from a very average field at Horseshoe Indianapolis, but he equaled his lifetime-best 95 Beyer speed figure and must be respected despite drawing post 11. TRUCULENT is a model of ultra-consistency, winning route races at seven tracks from around the country in his illustrious 35-win career. He got the jump on a pair of deep closers to prevail in a 1-1/8-mile starter allowance at Keeneland, but he looms an underlay in the wagering as the race produced 7/0-0-1 follow-ups. INDIANA GULCH was one of those late runners and could turn the tables with more ground to cover. EXECUTIVE ACTION is the wild card in the field, winning his last four races—three at 1-1/8 miles and beyond -- in small fields at Prairie Meadows and Delta Downs by a combined 20-1/4 lengths. GRATEHEART was claimed four times in the last year and returns to the scene of his last victory seven months ago. He showed a pair of fast workouts and Monmouth before he showed up at Remington Park for his last race, but he stalled in deep stretch after a 4-wide bid on the final turn in a five-horse field.
Suggested 50-Cent Ticket
OP 7th Race: 5, 8, 11
OP 8th Race: 2, 6, 7, 10
OP 9th Race: 2, 5
OP 10th Race: 5, 6, 8, 11
Cost: $48
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