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Kennedy Road Stakes Betty Grable Stakes Breeders Cup Wrap Up Breeders Cup Saturday Breeders Cupnbsp;Friday |
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 Trainer Steve Asmussen after winning the 2021 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies with Echo Zulu. |
Trainer Steve Asmussen, a resident of Arlington, Texas, notched win number 11,000 with Beau Soleil in the eighth race at Remington Park on Saturday October 11. His first victory was in 1986 at Ruidoso Downs, New Mexico, with Victory's Halo and that was his only win that year in 15 starts. Asmussen was voted into the Hall of Fame in 2016 and has won the Eclipse Award for Outstanding Trainer twice, 2008 and 2009. He topped the list of trainers by lifetime wins on August 7, 2021, and continues to draw away. He leads the second place trainer Dale Baird, who is retired already, by over 1,500 wins and third place trainer Jerry Hollendorfer by over 3,000 wins.
 Trainer Steve Asmussen's son Erik Asmussen aboard Beau Soleil after winning the eighth race on Saturday night at Remington Park to give his father 11,000 winners. |
He started the evening card at Remington needing three wins to reach the milestone. He won the second race with Vestes and the third races with Amadora's Empire. In the eighth race, a $39,000 allowance for older fillies and mares going 6 1/2 furlongs, Steve's son Erik Asmussen sent 17-2 fourth choice Beau Soleil to duel for the lead with 7-2 second choice Kerry's Kiss, and in the final strides got up to win by a neck. Erik rode all 3 winners (and all 5 entrants) for his father. In addition Steve has won a record 19 training titles at Remington, and is already on pace to win his 20th, with the current meeting ending on December 20.
After the 11,000th win Asmussen said at Keeneland, "I'm extremely proud of it; the help and all that they've done. I think it highlights the importance of every single race, how significant they actually are. We're blessed with a tremendous opportunity from the greatest owners in the game and wonderful horses. (Chasing milestones) puts an added emphasis on right now. (There are) peaks and valleys. You'll have a great run, and then things will back off.
 Trainer Steve Asmussen saddles Jackie's Warrior at Saratoga before winning the Alfred G. Vanderbilt Handicap. |
Asmussen, who is 59 years old, was born in Gettysburg, South Dakota, and grew up in Laredo Texas. He is from a horse racing family with his parents, Keith and Marilyn both in racing, and his older brother Cash being a jockey both in America and Europe. Steve rode 63 winners as a jockey before switching to training. His sons are carrying on the legacy with sons Keith and Erik as jockeys. He added, My racing stable from day 1 has been a family thing. I've had four different Asmussens win races for me through my training career. For what Keith and Erik bring to the mornings and the afternoons, it continues to allow us to get better. I think in everything, you have to get better continuously or become irrelevant. We've accumulated quite a resume. but we feel like we're in the middle somewhere. We've got a lot left to do."
 Trainer Steve Asmussen follows Curlin on the walkover before the 2007 Preakness. |
In the Triple Crown he has three wins, but is still winless in the Derby. He won the Preakness in 2007 with Curlin and 2009 with Rachel Alexandra, and the Belmont in 2016 with Creator. He has come close in Louisville, finishing second with Nehro in 2011, Lookin at Lee in 2017, and Epicenter in 2022. He has eight Breeders' Cup World Championship wins, including Gun Runner in the 2017 Classic, and Curlin in the 2007 Classic, and most recently Echo Zulu in the 2021 Juvenile Fillies.
 Steve Asmussen with Gun Runner after winning the 2018 Pegasus World Cup. |
At time of writing (October 14, 2025) Asmussen has a record of 11,000 wins, 9,049 seconds, and 7,737 thirds in 55,172 starts, with purse earnings of almost $481 million. Gun Runner is far and away his best horse, winner of $15.9 million including the 2017 Breeders' Cup Classic (leading to Horse of the Year honors) and the 2018 Pegasus World Cup. The mare Midnight Bisou is second with $13.4 million, moved up to that rank after inaugural Saudi Cup first place finisher Maximum Security was disqualified more than four years later, handing her the win. Curlin, winner of the 2007 Breeders' Cup Classic and 2008 Dubai World Cup, ranks third with his $10.3 million.
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