Entering the day, Steve Asmussen and Gary Contessa each had 10 wins during Aqueduct's main track meet. By sheer volume, Contessa should win the title. He's started twice as many horses as Asmussen and has 13 in the last two days while Asmussen has 4.
However, in Saturday's opener, the Asmussen-trained Hopssey, Cornelio Velasquez up, rallied from well off the pace to run down the Contessa-trained Mighty Ego, the even-money favorite under Jorge Chavez, to earn the victory. Asmussen is now up, 11-10. Mighty Ego, by the way, leapt at the start, then rushed between horses to get the lead.
When you've won two Eclipse Awards and trained three consecutive Horses of the Year, an Aqueduct spring trainer's title may seem trivial, though Asmussen has never won a race meet on the NYRA circuit before.
