NEWS
Friesan Fire sent to Asmussen for comeback
Posted: Thursday, October 22, 2009 3:21 PM
FRIESAN FIRE
Lou Hodges Jr. photo
by Jeff Lowe
Friesan Fire, the multiple graded stakes winner and beaten favorite in the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (G1), breezed a half-mile on Thursday at Fair Grounds in his first workout since being moved to trainer Steve Asmussen’s barn.
The A.P. Indy colt underwent surgery for a stress fracture in the left front ankle and chip in the right front ankle following an 18-place finish in the Derby and tenth-place finish in the Preakness Stakes (G1) for trainer Larry Jones, who is winding down his stable this fall.
Asmussen oversaw Friesan Fire briefly as a two-year-old until co-owner Vinery Stables removed its horses from his care last summer. Friesan Fire scored in his debut about a month later at Delaware Park and swept the LeComte Stakes (G3), Risen Star Stakes (G3), and Louisiana Derby (G2) at Fair Grounds leading up to the Triple Crown.
As Jones cut back his roster, Asmussen resumed training for Vinery. He won the Vosburgh Stakes (G1) on October 3 with Kodiak Kowboy, who had been with Jones and is owned by the same partnership of Vinery and Rick Porter’s Fox Hill Farm that races Friesan Fire.
“We made the decision based on Kodiak, and with Larry semi-retiring,” Vinery General Manager Tom Ludt said. “It wasn’t anything to do with Larry. He just wanted to retire, and we did what we did.”
Friesan Fire covered four furlongs in :51 in Thursday’s workout. He had three published workouts at Vinery’s training center in Summerfield, Florida, before joining Asmussen in New Orleans. Ludt said the Donn Handicap (G1) would be a goal this winter at Gulfstream Park.
Toyota Blue Grass Stakes (G1) winner General Quarters also is on the way back from knee surgery. He breezed three furlongs in :38.80 on Thursday at Churchill Downs.
Owner and trainer Tom McCarthy had a knee chip removed from General Quarters’s right knee after he finished tenth in the Derby and ninth in the Preakness.
Jeff Lowe is a Thoroughbred Times staff writer
