Mother Nature may have caused some delays in horses training at Churchill Downs over the last week, but Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen was glad that—if they had to receive severe weather—it coincided with settling Kentucky Derby (G1) contenders Tiztastic and Publisher into the track rather than when the more intense preparations begin as May 3 draws closer.
"Hopefully we get it out of the way and just have more normal circumstances from here to the Derby," Asmussen said. "Honestly, I'm extremely pleased with where we are today on April 12 and feel extremely fortunate to have two horses who are doing so well physically right now."
Asmussen took the pair to the track early Saturday morning to make their first entries on the work tab since Tiztastic won the March 22 Louisiana Derby (G2) and Publisher ran second in the March 29 Arkansas Derby (G1).
Breezing together with Publisher on the rail, the pair was clocked traveling five furlongs in 1:00 4/5 by Churchill Downs clockers over a track that Asmussen described as "tight" from recent rains.
"With all the weather we had last week, it's very nice to have a fast racetrack and let them stretch their legs a little bit," Asmussen said. "I was extremely pleased with how they handled and traveled over the racetrack. Both of them looked capable of doing more."
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Winchell Thoroughbreds, Mrs. John Magnier, Michael Tabor, and Derrick Smith's Tiztastic was based at Churchill Downs during the fall of his 2-year-old season, placing in both the Street Sense Stakes (G3) and Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes (G2) to get his journey on the Road to the Kentucky Derby started. He then traveled to Oaklawn Park where he finished third in the Southwest Stakes (G3) and fifth in the Rebel Stakes (G2). He finally got his breakthrough victory when stretched out to 1 3/16 miles in the Louisiana Derby at Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots with jockey Joel Rosario aboard, who will pilot the Tiz the Law colt in the Derby.
"I had a lot of confidence in him going into the Louisiana Derby. He was simply acting faster than he had previously to that. It proved to be true," Asmussen said. "Watching him go over the racetrack this morning, that's the best he's ever worked at Churchill Downs before. ... He ran some solid races here in the fall, but we're dealing with a much bigger, stronger, and faster horse now."
Asmussen has no concern about the 1 1/4-mile distance for either Tiztastic or Publisher, who races for Gus King and the estate of Brereton Jones. The son of 2015 Triple Crown winner American Pharoah is still a maiden after seven starts but has held his own on Oaklawn's Derby trail, culminating in his second-place finish to Sandman in the Arkansas Derby. With Irad Ortiz Jr. in the saddle, he will attempt to join Buchanan (1884), Triple Crown winner Sir Barton (1919), and Brokers Tip (1933) as horses to break their maiden with a Kentucky Derby victory while giving North America's all-time winningest trainer his first trip to the Derby winner's circle.
"Maybe both of us can break our maiden in the Derby," Asmussen joked. "Publisher's been a top-quality horse and kept company with the Magnitudes and the Tiztastics his entire life. I know that his ability level stacks up extremely well against those and he's still capable of more."
Tiztastic and Publisher would enter the gate as Asmussen's 27th and 28th Derby starters, but Publisher already ranks first in one category among all those starters.
"The thing about Publisher that gives you unbelievable confidence is what kind of a horse he is to run," Asmussen said. "He is going to be the easiest horse that we've ever saddled in the Derby as far as how he takes his surroundings and his personality. He's not going to waste an ounce of energy doing anything other than running."
