Our questionnaire is answered by the ultra-prolific Hall of Fame trainer who holds the all-time record for career victories in North America
Steve Asmussen is out on his own as America’s winningmost trainer. He passed the 10,000-winner mark in February this year and is already more than 300 winners nearer to the 11,000 milestone.
The 58-year-old grew up in a racing family, the son of former jockey Keith and Quarter Horse trainer Marilyn, who now run the El Primero Training Center in Laredo, Texas. He is the younger brother of Cash Asmussen, who enjoyed a highly successful riding career in Europe as well as the US.
Steve has established himself as one of the top trainers in the US over three decades, winning the Eclipse Award for outstanding trainer in 2008 and 2009, when he broke his own single-season win record with 650.
10,000 wins and counting: major career milestone for Steve Asmussen
Operating with a huge string at multiple centers, he has produced quality as well as quantity as trainer of Curlin and Rachel Alexandra, both winners of the Preakness Stakes, who earned Horse of the Year honors for the stable in three consecutive years. Curlin won twice, in 2007 when he landed the Breeders’ Cup Classic, and 2008 after winning the Dubai World Cup.
Other stars include Gun Runner who won five G1s in a campaign that included victories in the Breeders’ Cup Classic in 2017 and Pegasus World Cup in 2018. Inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2016, Asmussen has trained eight Breeders’ Cup winners.
Which racing figure past or present do you most admire?
Obviously my parents, Keith and Marilyn. I grew up in their stables in Laredo, Texas, and all of my experiences and opinions have been shaped and modelled by them. They are still a huge part of what we do. Racing has intertwined our lives continuously, from being there every day to still discussing it. It’s the topic of all of our conversations.
Me and Cash are at an age where you reflect back and both of us have achieved the success we’ve had from the upbringing. So nothing short of this was always expected of us.
Which is your favorite venue, and favorite race, anywhere in the world?
Churchill Downs and the Kentucky Derby are right up there. There is only one Derby for me – but Lone Star Park is special too.
Myself and Julie’s boys [Keith J, pictured right, and Erik] were born there and have grown up there. You can’t get better memories than your kids growing up at a racetrack.
Here’s looking at you, kid! Keith Asmussen surpasses father Steve’s win record as a jockey
The race for me is the one I haven’t won, which is the Kentucky Derby. I hope to do it whenever God sees fit. Each chance is an individual chance and we are still in the game.
Who is your favorite racehorse and why?
Curlin, because of how much he taught us. Him being our first Classic winner and our first Breeders’ Cup winner brought us to a completely different level.
You look back over it and there are horses that take you to a next level. The first one for me was Valid Expectations who was my first stakes winner and first graded-stakes winner. He taught us a tremendous amount but I’m able to race at the Breeders’ Cup because Curlin put us on that platform. He will be in generations forever.
What is your fondest memory in racing?
I have been unbelievably blessed with fond memories but selfishly or personally it would be extremely hard to top Curlin’s Breeders’ Cup Classic win against Hard Spun and Street Sense. It had been a tough year for all three of those horses and for it to culminate in a crowning moment for Curlin, with all the family there, meant so much to us. There was more water than dirt that day at Monmouth Park.
If you could change one thing about racing, what would it be?
I would like there to be no bad luck. I don’t think they are going to let us change that, but we can dream. Nobody’s content in racing, nobody rests on their laurels. We are all here to improve and get better.
Steve Asmussen was speaking to Jon Lees
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