SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Trainer Steve Asmussen did not get much time to savor Magnitude’s 9 3/4-length victory in February’s Grade 2 Risen Star Stakes.
The morning after that Feb. 15 victory at Fair Grounds, Magnitude was diagnosed with a chip in his front left ankle that would require surgery, effectively removing him from Kentucky Derby consideration.
“Dinner tasted good, breakfast tasted like [crap],” Asmussen said.
Six months later, however, Magnitude is back in the spotlight. He will likely be the one horse anybody believes can upset the applecart when he takes on dual-classic and likely odds-on choice Sovereignty in Saturday’s Grade 1, $1.25 million Travers Stakes at Saratoga. The race only drew five runners, with Magnitude the only one besides Sovereignty to have won a graded stakes.
“I’m excited about Magnitude’s training going into the Travers,” Asmussen said. “One of our most fun victories ever was Epicenter’s [2022] Travers. That was fun, would love to do it again.”
Magnitude, like Epicenter, is a son of Not This Time owned by Ron Winchell. He was highly thought of when he was sent to Asmussen off his father’s farm in Laredo, Texas, last spring, but the early results were mixed. Though Magnitude has since proven he is not a sprinter, Asmussen said he was disappointed when the horse finished fourth going 5 1/2 furlongs at Churchill Downs on June 6, 2024.
“He was a horse I thought he would win if they went once around or twice,” Asmussen said. “Pedigree-wise I expected him to do better farther just because less horses can do it. He always showed plenty of spark and a lot of ability.”
Magnitude, whose broodmare sire is 2006 Travers winner Bernardini, showed that ability winning a seven-furlong maiden race at Ellis Park by 5 3/4 lengths in July 2024. That victory didn’t earn Magnitude a trip to Saratoga for the Grade 1 Hopeful last September because to Asmussen, “the Hopeful’s a sprinter’s race and I don’t think he’s a sprinter.”
Instead, Asmussen ran Magnitude in the Grade 3 Iroquois Stakes, a one-turn mile race at Churchill where he finished seventh, 12 lengths behind Jonathan’s Way. When the horse worked back after that race in company with Tiztastic, a two-time winner on turf at Kentucky Downs, someone asked Asmussen who was the workmate of Tiztastic. “The best working, most disappointing, can’t-beat-anything horse I have,” Asmussen remembered saying.
On Nov. 17, two months after the Iroquois defeat, Magnitude won a first-level allowance at Churchill by one length. Asmussen had his son Erik aboard for that win, dictate how the horse should run, not let the horse decide. On that day, coming from just off the pace worked.
Perhaps, Magnitude was back on track. Asmussen ran him in the Gun Runner Stakes at Fair Grounds on Dec. 21 and the horse finished a well-beaten second to Built, who got loose on the lead.
“The Gun Runner, it wasn’t a bad race. I think Built just got away from him,” Asmussen said.
The Grade 3 Lecomte Stakes on Jan. 18 left Asmussen frustrated again. Yes, the track was sloppy, but somehow Magnitude, ridden for the second time by Jose Ortiz, was in midpack early and by the time he got clear running in the stretch, he just didn’t have enough kick to make an impact. Still, he was beaten only 2 3/4 lengths.
For the Risen Star, Ortiz took a call on Jonathan’s Way, who beat Magnitude in the Iroquois and was going to make his 3-year-old debut in that spot. Jonathan’s Way scratched due to an illness.
Asmussen gave the call for the Risen Star to jockey Ben Curtis. Prior to the start of this year, Asmussen had ridden Curtis only once, that being a mount in March 2024.
In January, Asmussen had made a last-minute decision to run Recharge in the Grade 3, $300,000 Houston Ladies Classic at Sam Houston. Asmussen had two others in the field – Our Pretty Woman, a 7-2 shot ridden by Isaac Castillo, and Flashy Lass, a 10-1 shot ridden by Stewart Elliott. Curtis guided Recharge to a 42-1 upset.
At Fair Grounds, by mid-February, Curtis was the third-leading rider at the meet.
The Risen Star was the last race on a 14-race card and it had become quite evident that inside speed was the winning formula that day. Magnitude was marooned in the outside post in the 12-horse field. Favored East Avenue, a speed horse, was in post 3.
“You walk up there, you’re 40-1. ‘Put him on the lead and the rail,’ ” Asmussen said he told Curtis. “He hit the ground running, ran East Avenue off his feet and flew home.”
The Risen Star, Asmussen said, “was a wow race.”
Magnitude ran a 108 Beyer Speed Figure. He was the horse Asmussen thought he had all along. A real opportunity for his first Kentucky Derby winner. Until the ankle chip.
“He’s a freakishly athletic, clean-legged horse, can’t believe it happened, but it did,” Asmussen said.
The surgery and subsequent recovery went as expected. Sixty days off. Jog. Gallop. Work. Find a race.
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Asmussen had options but settled on the Iowa Derby as a way to ease Magnitude back to the races. Against five rivals, Magnitude went to the front under Curtis, maintained a measured one-length lead, then drew clear in the lane to win by 9 1/4 lengths, running 1 1/16 miles in a solid 1:42.26, translating to a 105 Beyer.
“I went into that race wanting validation from the Risen Star,” Asmussen said. “If it’s in black and white, it’s true. They said you ran this fast and you did.”
Since Magnitude won an allowance race off a two-month layoff and the Iowa Derby off a five-month layoff, there was no need for Asmussen to run Magnitude in the seven weeks leading up to the Travers.
“Off the Iowa Derby, it’s quite obvious the boy will run good fresh,” Asmussen said.
Now, the question is, can he run good enough and fast enough to beat Sovereignty?
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