A Dash for Cash and His Brother

Several hours after riding Spinning World to victory in the 1997 Breeders’ Cup Mile at Hollywood Park, Cash Asmussen took a redeye flight to Kentucky, so he could ride a $50,000 claimer at Churchill Downs the next day.

This wasn’t just any plater, it was a horse trained by Steve Asmussen, the jockey’s younger brother.

At Pimlico on Thursday, the younger Asmussen told the story to show how close these brothers are. There may be an ocean between them much of the year, as Cash rides in some of the biggest races in France and Steve cranks out winners in Texas, but the common blood still bonds.

“When Cash wins a race for me, it’s always more meaningful,” Steve Asmussen said. “We grew up together with horses, which have been our whole life, and we’ve had a special relationship for a long time. It’s just that until lately, nobody’s ever asked us much about it.”

A good Preakness horse will bring extra scrutiny to a horseman’s life, and the Asmussens have a top colt in Snuck In, one of the eight horses in the field here Saturday in the middle leg of the Triple Crown. Trouble is for the Asmussens, impressive Kentucky Derby winner Fusaichi Pegasus is back for more. Fusaichi Pegasus is 3-5 on the Preakness morning line. Snuck In is the sixth choice at 12-1.

“We’re not running for second place, I don’t think anybody is,” Steve Asmussen said. “That’s not the right way to approach this game. And if we do win, with Cash riding, it will be something to remember for the ages.”

The Asmussens are the first trainer-jockey brother team to compete in the Preakness, which has been run 124 times. Records of the other Triple Crown races are incomplete, but in the Derby, Gerald Romero did saddle Dixieland Heat, who finished 12th in 1993, with Romero’s brother Randy riding.

The South Dakota-born, Texas-reared Cash Asmussen, 38, has been riding successfully in France since 1982, having left Santa Anita that year, even though his career in the United States was blossoming. Stavros Niarchos, the Greek shipping magnate, offered him a contract to ride for French trainer Francois Boutin and Asmussen, 20 years old and his Berlitz in hand, made the move.

Steve Asmussen and his parents, jockey-turned-trainer Keith Asmussen and his wife Marilyn, who’s also a trainer, were not surprised.

“Cash was always very aggressive when it came to his riding career,” Steve Asmussen said. “He had won races in New York, and he was winning in California, so to go all the way over there, just for the opportunity, that was very impressive. But I supported him all the way. I’ve always been his biggest fan.”

Just starting out, barely a teenager, Cash once hustled his way to a tiny Texas town, 150 miles from his home in Laredo, to ride three races at an outlaw track. The underage jockey won them, pocketing $1,500.

“What did he do with the money?” asked Keith Asmussen, who was telling the story. “He saved it.”

The jockey, born Brian Keith Asmussen, caught the Cash nickname from his father, and legally changed to that in 1977.

John Hammond, the trainer who used Asmussen to win the 1991 French Derby and Arc de Triomphe with Suave Dancer, feels that Cash picked the perfect name.

“He’s Cash by name, and cash by nature,” Hammond said in an interview several years ago. “He’s probably the only jockey I’ve ever known who would have made himself a millionaire if he hadn’t been a jockey.”

Asmussen, who was due to arrive here from Paris on Thursday night, has never apologized for his capitalistic ways.

“I went to France instead of other places in Europe because of the prize money,” he once said. “Anyone who says they don’t like money to compensate them for what they do is wrong. That’s not me.”

Snuck In, a $130,000 auction purchase as a 2-year-old, was ridden by Robby Albarado and Calvin Borel in his early races. They combined for three wins, a second and two thirds in six starts, but when Cash Asmussen came home during the off-season in France, his brother gave him the mount.

The first time Asmussen was aboard, on Dec. 10, Snuck In won the Gallery Furniture Juvenile Stakes at Sam Houston Race Park in Texas. The trainer of record was Marilyn Asmussen, while her son was sitting out a suspension after one of his horses had tested positive for a strong anti-inflammatory drug at the Fair Grounds in New Orleans.

In subsequent races at Oaklawn Park in Arkansas, Steve Asmussen was back from the suspension and Cash rode Snuck In to a win in the Rebel Stakes and a second-place finish behind Graeme Hall in the Arkansas Derby.

Steve Asmussen, who’s 34, sent Snuck In to Churchill Downs, but didn’t think he was training well enough to run in the Kentucky Derby.

“This is the best 2-year-old I’ve ever had,” the trainer said. “Now it’s time to find out how he stacks up against the other top 3-year-olds. If he can’t handle them, then we’ll go to Plan B for the rest of the year.”

For a while, Steve Asmussen also envisioned a riding career. “They called me Gumby,” he said, “and it was not a term of affection.”

He grew to be a 6-footer and weight pushed him into the training ranks. Last year, Asmussen’s horses earned $4.1 million, which ranked 15th nationally, and this year, at Lone Star Park near Dallas, he has already saddled 30 winners.

On Saturday, as their sons try to squeeze Fusaichi Pegasus out of the spotlight at the Preakness, Keith and Marilyn Asmussen will be in from Laredo, where they break and train young horses at their training center. They won’t see Steve Asmussen give his brother too many pre-race instructions.

“The only thing I might point out to Cash is the track tendencies that have surfaced in the earlier races,” Steve Asmussen said. “All those years together, we’re bound to be on the same page. But I’ll be the boss. I weigh 100 pounds more, I oughta be.”

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Fusaichi Pegasus, taking to the Pimlico racing strip for the first time, jogged around the track once, then was distracted by his new surroundings, and trainer Neil Drysdale sent him back to the barn. “He’s a character,” Drysdale said. “He was more interested in what was going on than anything else. He’ll have a more serious gallop [today].” In early afternoon, Drysdale schooled Fusaichi Pegasus in the indoor paddock, where he will be saddled for the race. Most of the Preakness horses are saddled in the infield, in front of the tote board. . . . Rain is in the forecast for today, but it’s supposed to be dry, with temperatures in the 70s, on Saturday. . . . Lucky Livi, paying $15 to win, was the best of five horses in the $100,000 Miss Preakness Stakes. Swept Away, the 3-10 favorite, was third. . . . Frank Stronach’s purchase of Bay Meadows in San Mateo gives the racing mogul ownership of three of the five thoroughbred tracks in California. Stronach also owns Santa Anita and Golden Gate Fields. Stronach bought the Bay Meadows track but not the real estate from Paine Webber, in a deal that’s expected to close by the end of the year. . . . Evelite, a 73-1 longshot, won Thursday’s feature race at Churchill Downs, a $47,200 allowance for fillies and mares, 3-years-old and up.

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* PREAKNESS STAKES

* Post time: 2:25 p.m. Saturday

* TV: Channel 7

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Preakness Post Positions

The field for Saturday’s 125th Preakness Stakes. Post time: 2:25 p.m. PDT. Weights: 126 pounds; Distance: 1 3/16 miles; Purse: $1 million--First place: $650,000. Second place: $200,000. Third place: $100,000. Fourth place: $50,000.

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P Horse Jockey Odds 1. Hugh Hefner Victor Espinoza 20-1 2. Snuck In Cash Asmussen 12-1 3. Impeachment Craig Perret 8-1 4. Red Bullet Jerry Bailey 9-2 5. High Yield Pat Day 10-1 6. Captain Steve Robby Albarado 8-1 7. Fusaichi Pegasus Kent Desormeaux 3-5 8. Hal’s Hope Roger Velez 20-1

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