HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Oaklawn Park leading trainer Steve Asmussen is coming off an outstanding weekend with his sprinters, as Booth gave him his seventh win in the Grade 3, $500,000 Count Fleet Sprint Handicap on Saturday and Skelly popped a Beyer Speed Figure of 107 for an allowance win last Friday in his first out since November.
Skelly’s big Beyer is tied for highest of the meet, equaling the number Booth earned last month winning the Grade 3 Whitmore. The Beyers also are North America’s highest for male runners at distances of up to one mile on the main track so far in 2025.
Asmussen said Booth will be nominated to the Grade 1, $1 million Churchill Downs, a seven-furlong race for 4-year-olds and up May 3. He has won his last three starts, taking an overnight stakes with a Beyer of 105, the Whitmore, and the Count Fleet with a Beyer of 97. In the Count Fleet, Booth battled throughout with Grade 2 winner Anarchist.
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“He took the pressure,” Asmussen said of Booth. “Obviously, his two previous races he was loose on the lead. But for him to take the pressure and still show up and win such a significant race, it’s awfully nice.”
Asmussen said he will make firm plans for Booth after he sees how he trains out of the Count Fleet. He said Booth is scheduled to ship to Churchill Downs.
Skelly is sticking around town. Asmussen said the two-time winner of the Count Fleet is scheduled to make his next start in the Lake Hamilton at Oaklawn. The $200,000 race for 4-year-olds and up at six furlongs will be run May 2.
Asmussen said the race is appealing because it offers Skelly another opportunity to race at Oaklawn, where he is 9 for 11. He has won the past two runnings of the Lake Hamilton.
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