Finite relaxes in winning Churchill's Golden Rod Stakes

Finite may have a stauncher distance test to pass on the first Friday in May of 2020, but the daughter of Munnings put herself on track to make it to the Kentucky Oaks on Saturday when winning Churchill Downs’ Grade 2, $300,000 Golden Rod Stakes.

Under jockey Ricardo Santana Jr., the Steve Asmussen trainee ranged up three-wide through the far turn to take the lead, then held off a stubborn Motu in deep stretch, finishing 1 1/16 miles in the slop in 1:45.99.

Finite extended her winning streak to three races after a maiden victory over the Kentucky Downs turf, then a switch to the dirt in Churchill Downs’ Rags to Riches Stakes back on Oct. 27. She’s never finished outside of the exacta in five starts having started out sprinting at Saratoga.

Finite is campaigned by breeder Winchell Thoroughbreds in partnership with Tom Reiman, William Dickson and Deborah Easter.

"She's been very versatile," Asmussen said. "To show the style she ran today will be very effective going forward."

"This is a filly that Steve's been working so long with her teaching her how to relax in the morning, and she relaxed very well," Santana Jr. said.

Behind the Top 2, Lady Glamour held for third with She Can’t Sing fourht.

The Golden Rod awarded Kentucky Oaks qualifying points on a 10-4-2-1 basis to its Top 4 finishers, with Finite likely to resurface in the spring at either New Orleans’ Fair Grounds or Oaklawn Park, where Asmussen’s strings spend the winter.

The Golden Rod has a strong recent history. Monomoy Girl ran second in 2017 before going on to win the 2018 Oaks, while Liora topped the Golden Rod before finishing as the runner-up in the 2019 Oaks.

Finite represented the Hall of Famer Asmussen's first Golden Rod winner.

“It was pretty cool that before the Golden Rod the replay of Untapable's Kentucky Oaks win (in 2014) was playing on the big board," the trainer said. "Hopefully, that is a sign of things to come.”