Steve Asmussen ended Todd Pletcher's four-year grip as the nation's top trainer, and now he's surpassed him with the most nominations to the Triple Crown races.
Asmussen, the 2008 Eclipse Award-winning trainer who guided Curlin to consecutive Horse of the Year titles, has 25 3-year-olds on the list of 401 thoroughbreds made eligible for the Kentucky Derby, Preakness and Belmont Stakes.
The list was released Sunday morning.
Pletcher was next with 20. Two-time Derby winning trainer Nick Zito was third with 19 — the same number he had last year. Zayat Stables led owners with 22 nominations — the third year in a row Ahmed Zayat's stable topped the list.
Among the top names on the list are 2-year-old champions Midshipman and the filly Stardom Bound.
The early nominating fee was $600. A latecomers fee is $6,000 due in March, with a final chance to get in for a $200,000 supplemental fee due before the Derby on May 2.
With a bleak economy, the total nominations dropped for the first time since 2005. Last year, 449 3-year-olds were nominated; the record is 450 in 2007.
In 2005, when 358 thoroughbreds were nominated, the decline was attributed to a disease called Mare Reproductive Loss Syndrome, which struck Kentucky the year the '05 crop was conceived and claimed the lives of hundreds of foals and fetuses.
"Though the numbers are down from previous record-setting years in the early nominating period, we are thrilled to see that the elite of this 3-year-old crop is represented," executive vice president of Triple Crown Productions Ed Seigenfeld said in a statement.
A total of 371 colts, 25 geldings, four fillies and one ridgling were nominated this time around. Other leading contenders include Vineyard Haven, Square Eddie and Old Fashioned.
Midshipman won the Breeders' Cup Juvenile, while Vineyard Haven won the Hopeful and the Champagne. Square Eddie — out of training at least 30 days with a shin injury — took the Breeders Futurity and ran second in the BC Juvenile and the San Rafael, his 3-year-old debut. Old Fashioned won the Remsen for 2-year-olds.
Stardom Bound won the BC Juvenile Fillies, and then was purchased by IEAH Stables — Big Brown's owners — for $5.7 million. She is now trained by Bobby Frankel, and opened her 3-year-old campaign Saturday with a victory in the Las Virgenes Stakes. She is set to run next against the boys in the Santa Anita Derby on April 4.
The other nominated fillies are Abound, Laragh and Sky Diva. Last year, the filly Eight Belles finished second to Big Brown in the Derby, then broke both ankles in the gallop out and was euthanized on the track.
Dubai's Sheik Mohammed may have his best chance at winning his first Derby. His Godolphin Stables acquired Midshipman last year, and the colt formerly trained by Bob Baffert is now training in Dubai under Saeed bin Suroor. Vineyard Haven was purchased privately by the sheik from Frankel and partners and is in Dubai as well.
Also listed is Nicanor, the full brother of 2006 Derby winner Barbaro. Nicanor's debut did not go well last weekend when the colt clipped heels at the start of a race at Gulfstream Park and finished 10th.
Nominees include 27 horses based outside the United States — bin Suroor trains seven and Irishman Aidan O'Brien has six.
Asmussen, who broke his own record for wins in a year with 622 in 2008, is looking for his first Derby win. He's sent out two horses in each of the past three Derbys, with Curlin producing the best result — third in 2007 behind Street Sense. Among his prospects in 2009 are Haynesfield, Omniscient, Professor Z and Uno Mas.
Pletcher, too, is after his first Derby win. His record is 0-for-21. His hopefuls include American Dance, Idol Maker, Munnings and Obligingly. Pletcher nominated 31 3-year-olds last year.
Other trainers with 10 or more nominees are Baffert with 12, Richard Violette Jr. with 11 and Frankel with 10.
Copyright 2009 AP News
