Asmussen holds strong hand in Iroquois with Stellar Tap, Guntown

Photo: NYRA

Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen arguably recorded one of the most memorable wins in his career when 2-year-old colt Stellar Tap broke his maiden last month at Saratoga to vault the 55-year-old conditioner past Dale Baird as North America’s all-time leading trainer.

Five weeks later, Stellar Tap is poised to tackle stakes company as the 3-1 favorite in Saturday night’s $300,000, Grade 3 Iroquois at Churchill Downs.

“We’ve been planning on that win for a long time,” Asmussen said. “It was better than anticipated. It was a wonderful moment with the entire family and we’ve relived it several times since.”

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Owned by L and N Racing and Winchell Thoroughbreds, Stellar Tap broke his maiden by 5 1/4 lengths under jockey Ricardo Santana Jr. The Tapit colt is out of the Medaglia d’Oro mare Gioia Stella, who is the half-sister to graded stakes winners Nereid and Sea Queen.

Also entered in the Iroquois is Stellar Tap’s stablemate Guntown. Owned by Winchell Thoroughbreds, Guntown broke his maiden in his second start at Ellis Park. He is by the first crop of 2-year-olds from the former Asmussen-trained superstar Gun Runner.

“I couldn’t be a bigger fan of Gun Runner,” Asmussen said. “I am surprised how good they are so soon. They trained really well in spring and continue to develop. Our colt Gunite, who won the Hopeful, took a couple of times to break his maiden. I do think it’s a good sign the further they go, the faster they get.”

Saturday’s 1 1/16-mile Iroquois kicks off the “Road to the Kentucky Derby” and awards the top four finishers 10-4-2-1 points for the first Saturday in May. The winner of the Iroquois will also get an automatic berth into the $2 million Breeders’ Cup Juvenile on Future Stars Friday at the Breeders’ Cup. The Breeders’ Cup World Championships are scheduled to be held on Nov. 5-6 at Del Mar.

The Iroquois was carded as Race 9 with a post time of 10:11 p.m. The first of 11 races will begin at 6 p.m. The other stakes events on the evening’s program are the $300,000 Pocahontas (G3), $400,000 Locust Grove (G3), $300,000 Open Mind and $275,000 Louisville Thoroughbred Society.