Asmussen-trained Calibrate wows on debut at Saratoga

In one of the most stacked two-year old maiden races of the year, Calibrate, a Steve Asmussen-trained son of Distorted Humor out of Glamour and Style, pulled away from the field in the stretch to take the victory, beating out competitors trained by the likes of Chad Brown and Tom Amoss.

It was the first attempt at breaking maiden for the colt, who is owned by Winchell Thoroughbreds, who purchased him for $340,000 at the 2019 Keeneland September Yearling sale.

“He came in as advertised,” Asmussen said after the race. “He’s been a complete gentleman with a ton of talent.”

Calibrate raced in second for much of the race, taking to the rail to pull ahead of Unitedandresolute, with Engrave, trained by Brown, finishing second. Unitedandresolute, trained by Amoss, fell back to third in his second attempt at breaking his maiden.

Calibrate looked as if he might have done even better with more distance then the 6 1/2 furlong race on the main track at Saratoga offered. After the race, Asmussen praised his physical development and potential.

“He’s very mature physically but he takes everything extremely well,” Asmussen said. “He’s got a very calm demeanor about him. I think that he’s going to be better stretching out.”

Asmussen also discussed his plan for Calibrate’s next step, saying he would like to send him to Keeneland the first weekend of October for the Breeders' Futurity (G1) in preparation for the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile a month later over the same course.

Splits for the race were :22.69, :45.76 and 1:10.86. The winning time was 1:17.55.

Calibrate returned $6 with the victory.