FORTE TOPS 369 TC NOMS – Horse Race Insider horseraceinsider.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from horseraceinsider.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Led by 2-year-old champion and three-time Grade 1 winner Forte, a total of 369 3-year-old Thoroughbreds were made eligible to compete in this year’s Triple Crown series during the early nomination phase, which closed Saturday, Jan. 28.
While graded stakes wins Saturday by Pauline’s Pearl in the $300,000 Houston Ladies Classic and Scarlet Fusion in the $200,000 John B. Connally Turf Cup anchored the Houston Racing Festival, three other runners gave standout performances in stakes on the undercard at Sam Houston Race Park.
It’s the first scheduled Oaklawn mount for Asmussen, 24, who resumed riding this fall after earning a master’s degree in professional accounting earlier this year from the University of Texas’ McCombs School of Business.