Barn Notes

March 21, 2008 --

FAIR GROUNDS BARN NOTES

Headlines for Friday, March 21, 2008

· Asmussen Has Record-Setting Year En Route to 7th Title

· Jockey Jamie Theriot Hit the ‘Grounds’ Running

· Heflins Repeat as Leading Owners; Drivers Included

· Mean Butterbean Bookends Fair Grounds Season

 

Asmussen Has Record-Setting Year En Route to 7th Title

NEW ORLEANS, La. – Trainer Steve Asmussen has horses stabled from New York to New Mexico and points in between in the winter, but he chooses to make his main base at Fair Grounds.

With his top horses again in New Orleans this winter, Asmussen has become the first trainer in track history to average more than one win per racing day. He entered the final weekend of the meet with 85 wins, which means that even if he fails to win a race over the final three days, he would have four more wins than race days.

“That’s our goal – to average a win a day,” said Asmussen in January.

Asmussen kicked his season into high gear with a record-setting six-win day on Santa Sprint Saturday Dec. 22, which included a sweep of all four stakes. By January, Asmussen had also set a Fair Grounds record for stakes wins in a meet, and goes into the final weekend with 16 stakes victories.

Everyone will associate Asmussen with his conditioning of 2007 Horse of the Year Curlin and current Kentucky Derby favorite Pyro, who captured the Grade III Risen Star Stakes and the Grade II Louisiana Derby at Fair Grounds before shipping to Kentucky earlier this week. But the Asmussen stable combines quality with quantity, and he can capture maiden and claiming races at the same time as graded stakes.

Last week, Asmussen topped the 80-win mark, joining Jack Van Berg and Joseph Dorignac III in that select group at Fair Grounds. With a strong finish, he could challenge Van Berg’s single-season Fair Grounds record of 92 wins, set in a 105-day meet in 1973-74.

 

Jockey Jamie Theriot Hit the ‘Grounds’ Running

Louisiana-born jockey Jamie Theriot, a native of Breaux Bridge, is on the cusp of his first riding championship at Fair Grounds – and he’s earned it since the first day he arrived.

After riding at Churchill Downs last Nov. 23, Theriot drove all night from Louisville to New Orleans accompanied by his wife Dawn and arrived in time to win both halves of the early double at Fair Grounds on Nov. 24.

Theriot, 29, followed that up by scoring a riding triple the next afternoon, and has virtually led the local standings every day since. He entered Friday’s program 12 wins in front of his nearest pursuer.

“I started off very well and was able to keep it going,” said Theriot. “It’s a great winter meet here, with a lot of good horses and a lot of good riders, and I feel very fortunate.

“I’ve been leading rider at Hot Springs (Oaklawn Park), and that’s a tough meeting, and I’ve also been leading rider at Lone Star and at Evangeline Downs, but I think this one will be the tops of all the riding titles I’ve won,” Theriot said.

After the Fair Grounds season closes Sunday, Theriot plans to ride at Keeneland and Churchill this spring, but his schedule beyond those two Kentucky meetings are uncertain at this time.

 

Heflins Repeat as Leading Owners; Drivers Included

One year ago, Jerry and Sandy Heflin won their initial leading owner title at Fair Grounds after a little more than three years in the business.

This year, with 30-year-veteran owners James and Ywachetta Driver added to their partnership, the foursome will be leading owners at the current Fair Grounds meeting. With three racing days left, the Heflin and Driver Racing partnership was credited with more than twice as many wins as Maggi Moss, the nation’s leading owner in 2006.

“It was a good year once again for us,” said Jerry Heflin, a real estate executive from Rockwell, Texas. “After we won the Fair Grounds title last year, we defended our leading owner title at Lone Star Park, and added a third title during the Remington meeting. We had a game plan coming into this year’s Fair Grounds season. We prepared for about 45 days before the season started, and now we’re looking forward to a good season in Kentucky.

“Jim (Driver) and I have been friends for a number of years,” explained Heflin of the new partnership. “He’s owned horses for more than 35 years, but he was interested in getting into the claiming game with us.”

 

Mean Butterbean Bookends Fair Grounds Season

Brittlyn Stable’s Mean Butterbean made his most recent start on opening day at Fair Grounds this season, finishing seventh in the $60,000 Thanksgiving Handicap on opening day.

The 6-year-old Louisiana-bred gelding makes his next start in Sunday’s third running of the $60,000 Louisiana Lagniappe Classic on the closing day of the current 81-day session.

While coupled with Grand Minit, Mean Butterbean is 8-1 in the morning-line of the final stakes event of the 2007-08 Fair Grounds season.