KY: Trainers Asmussen, Romans tie for Churchill title

Louisville Courier-Journal

Once again the Churchill Downs training title came down to Steve Asmussen and Dale Romans, each finishing with six victories after going 0 for 2 Sunday on the September meet’s closing-day program.

It marked a record 16th Churchill crown for Asmussen and the 13th for Romans. Incredibly, the men, both 49, have been the top two in the standings — including two ties for the title — 13 times dating to the 2003 spring meet. During that span, Asmussen has landed on top of the trainer exacta seven times, Romans four.

“Is that a good sign for both of us or a bad sign?” Asmussen quipped, adding with a laugh, “The company we keep?”

Afterward, Romans wanted to talk about how many races he needs to win to surpass Hall of Famer Bill Mott as the track’s all-time win leader. Mott has 687 victories, with Romans No. 2 at 654 and Asmussen third at 552.

“I wonder how many behind Mott I am,” Romans said. “I want to catch Bill Mott.”

“I thought you were the all-time leader,” Asmussen told Romans.

“I was winning races here when you were still bulimic,” Romans joked, a reference to the physically towering Asmussen’s long-ago career as a jockey, which was cut short by a growth spurt.

Asked if talking about the all-time win record wasn’t an example of a guy having a loaf of bread and wanting two, Romans said, “Right. Listen — we wouldn’t have been leading rider 29 times between us if we didn’t want more, if we were content.”

Still, he said, paying tribute to both stables’ top assistant, “Any time I tie with (Asmussen), it’s fun. He and Scott (Blasi) do such a good job, Baldemar (Bahena) and I do such a good job, it’s no problem to dead-heat with him.”

Overall, Romans has tied for the title six times to five for Asmussen.

Brad Cox threatened to make it a three-way tie, taking to sixth race with Misleading Lady for his fifth win of the meet out of only nine starts. But he finished second in the eighth race — after Asmussen and Romans were done for the meet — with 9-5 favorite Be Well.

Corey Lanerie captured his ninth riding title, all in the past 10 meets. Lanerie won two races Sunday to finish with 16 victories, five more than Brian Hernandez Jr.

Tom Durant secured his first Churchill owner’s title, winning three of four starts, with a second. Ken and Sarah Ramsey of Nicholasville, Ky., had one shot to tie for their 25th Churchill meet championship, by far a record, but their lone mount of the day, 4-5 favorite Playing a Joke, wound up fifth in the final race.