Fair Grounds Notebook

FAIR GROUNDS NOTEBOOK

DECEMBER 27, 2007

by Steve Collison

Trainer Steve Asmussen provided a clinic on winning Saturday (12/22) as he

sent out no less then six winners under jockey Shaun Bridgmohan. That number

includes all four stakes in the Santa Sprint Series as the powerful Asmussen

operation attempts to win their seventh Fair Grounds' training title.

Considering that Asmussen is now the nation's leading conditioner with 473 wins

and trains a horse by the name of CURLIN (Smart Strike), I guess you could say

he's had a career year which is well deserved.

In the opening event on Santa Day, the two-year-old colt SOK SOK (Trippi)

turned in an explosive performance to win the 57th Sugar Bowl S. by 8 3/4

lengths. The winner paid $3.60 That was followed by BLITZING (Montbrook) taking

the Letellier Memorial S., which was almost as impressive simply because she was

able to accomplish the feat in wire-to-wire fashion. That hasn't been the norm

over this surface and was done against a field containing plenty of early speed

while setting sizzling fractions. She returned $4.80 for the win. The Asmussen

hit parade continued with TRES DREAM (Chester House) in the 15th running of the

Esplanade S., and STORMIN BAGHDAD (Stormin Fever) wrapped up the onslaught by

winning the Bonapaw S. Actually, Stormin Baghdad was a beneficiary of the heavy

rain earlier in the week as this event was taken off the lawn, which isn't his

best surface anyway.

TRACK SURFACE

Track superintendent JAVIER BARAJAS confirmed what I have been saying over

the past couple of weeks: the Fair Grounds' main oval is deep and favoring

off-the-pace runners who stay to the outside.

"With 2,000 horses training over, it's getting loose on me," Barajas said

when asked about the situation. "Monday, I'll grade the track and get it all

pretty, but then by the weekend it becomes loose again."

That's why on Thursdays, the strip typically starts out being fair but soon

becomes dull by the time Friday's racing rolls around. And since most horses

train over the inner portion of the track, it's understandable that this too

will become deeper and thus lacking the cushioned spring required for a

successful sustained run in front. Unfortunately, this knowledge was of little

importance on Thursday (12/20) as heavy rains deluged the surface and racing was

suspended after the fifth race. Once racing resumed on Friday, the surface

continued playing as previously mentioned -- favoring off-the-pace runners who

stay out from the rail. Due to the rains, racing was wisely taken off the grass

for the remainder of the week to preserve it for this lengthy meet.

TRAINERS

Steve Asmussen: 24 wins

Cody Autrey: 16 wins

Patrick Mouton: 14 wins

Tom Amoss: 12 wins

TRAINER PROFILE

I typically like to highlight lesser known trainers to give some insights

that may otherwise be missed. However, in view of the absolutely astounding year

that ASMUSSEN is producing, we'll make an exception. Consistency is the hallmark

of any good trainer and that's what stands out with Asmussen. His numbers right

down the line never vary much when it comes to isolating potential patterns. He

wins 26 percent first time off the claim and 24 percent going the second time

around. He hits 20 percent with his first time starters and 26 percent with the

same runner on the rebound. In fact these are pretty much his numbers on down

the line in all situations. Steve does do somewhat better with his runners

dropping down in class substantially as they win more than 30 percent of the

time. Naturally prices are hard to come by under such circumstances but horses

being claimed from Asmussen do come back to win for other stables which is

something to hang your hat on. If this stable does have an Achilles' Heel, it

would be with turf runners in which they with only at a 16 percent clip. Of

course many barns would love to win at "only" that rate. But following a turf

effort, when Asmussen moves these runners back to the main oval, they win at,

you guessed it, 26 percent!

JOCKEYS

Jamie Theriot: 28 wins

Shaun Bridgmohan: 20 wins

Miguel Mena 17 wins

Robbie Albarado: 17 wins

JOCKEY PROFILE

BRIDGMOHAN enjoyed his greatest season of his brief career when winning with

249 mounts in 2005 from 1,316; a 19 percent win rate. Since that time, Shaun has

been riding at a slower pace, with 135 winners this year from 969 mounts so far.

Patience is his best virtue as he rates behind the speed and waits to move at

the proper time as well as anyone riding on the Fair Grounds circuit. And this

is also why Bridgmohan shows a positive return on all his mounts going longer

distances because he doesn't rush his horses, which frequently is the biggest

fault of many others. Bridgmohan is currently riding at a 38 percent clip while

continuing to ride the wave of the Asmussen success.

RECENT CLAIMS TO WATCH

Friday (12/21)

4TH -- SPA HA (Our Emblem) was never pushed once breaking slowly in his

career debut, and it was obvious that the eventual winner would never look back.

But Spa Ha was claimed from this race by trainer Patrick Mouton from the

Asmussen barn, and Mouton has enjoyed success in the past taking horses from

Fair Grounds' leading trainer.

5TH -- TUX N TALES (Tale of the Cat) was on the watch list (12/5) and did

nothing today to refute the opinion that he's sitting on a win. Gained the show

despite being compromised by an unwise ride, and the four-year-old gelding was

claimed by a capable trainer in Norman Miller.

Sunday (12/23)

1ST -- I sometimes wonder whether or not trainer Cody Autrey is attempting to

own every horse on this circuit? His claiming pace thus far has been phenomenal,

and he knows what he's doing. Consider MADAGASCAT (Tale of the Cat). The

juvenile filly lost her debut by 55 1/4 lengths yet Cody still claimed her for a

hefty $35,000 here. The filly proceeded to turn in a much more encouraging

performance, and winning now looks possible under the direction of the

aggressive Autrey.

2ND -- ESPOOF (Our Emblem) came off the shelf last out to be claimed by

Asmussen for $15,000. Stepped up in class today and ran very well, with the

eventual winner having just won an allowance affair. Trainer Keith Bourgeois

didn't hesitate to step in and take this colt despite the class hike, and his

stable hits at nearly 25 percent with first off-the-claim runners.

HORSES TO WATCH

Friday (12/21)

3RD -- PLEA FOR LEE (Leestown), a bottom-level claimer, turned in an upbeat

performance despite suffering through a less than stellar trip against a solid

field of nickel runners.

Saturday (12/22)

6TH -- LIBERTY BULL (Holy Bull), who despite spotting many of his rivals

valuable stakes experience, still managed to gain the place in the Sugar Bowl.

Trainer Tom Amoss clearly has great confidence in this one's potential and that

will reap dividends soon.

9TH -- The sophomore colt Stormin Baghdad won in determined fashion when

fighting for the lead throughout while being forced to race over the inner

portion of this strip.

Sunday (12/23)

1ST -- MONEY CENTER BANK (Delaware Township) has hit the board in both career

starts thus far, including in this spot against a favorite who was dropping down

from the maiden special weight ranks. Showed good late run while coming off a

brief vacation and figures to do well stretching out in distance.

5TH -- JONES KISS (Seneca Jones) cost her connections only $3,500, but the

modestly bred filly made her career debut against maiden special weight company

over the turf despite not having any grass breeding. This race was obviously

just for exercise to see what she could do, and the juvenile miss did very well

running sixth, especially considering she wasn't suppose to win. But she soon

will while being dropped down to a more suitable claiming affair.

BEWARE OF THESE

Saturday (12/22)

1ST -- CACHUMA'S IMAGE (Cachuma) was quickly dropped back down to a nickel

after spending several months on the sidelines. The four-year-old gelding was

stretching out today but after opening up a huge lead while setting plodding

fractions, he couldn't hold on for the win. Considering that both of his

previous career wins had came at today's distance, we wouldn't expect much in

the near future even if cutting back to a sprint. I make this point as many

players assume that after showing speed going long he'll fare well on the cut

back, but that's not the case in this example.

2ND -- VIVACI (Outofthebox) was claimed by Amoss for $25,000 a few months ago

but after several solid efforts against allowance company, Amoss quickly dropped

the three-year-old gelding back down below the original claiming price. The fact

that this horse failed to fire sends the message that something is amiss and if

Amoss can't correct, we doubt his new connections can.