A Breeders' Cup Classic of Magnitude

We talk to trainer Steve Asmussen after Magnitude worked five-eighths of a mile in 1:00.60 in company with the 3-year-old Preside Saturday (Oct. 10) morning in preparation for the Breeders' Cup Classic at Keeneland, with new jockey Flavien Prat aboard. "I love how he handled for him," Asmussen said of Prat, the two-time reigning Eclipse Award jockey. "Flavien’s feedback afterward, he’s obviously a very good horseman, picked up a couple of little inuendos off of Magnitude. The horse has a tremendous amount of talent, and they ought to get along well." Magnitude, who broke his maiden at Ellis Park as a 2-year-old, comes into the Breeders' Cup with purse earnings of $9.6 million, which ranks #9 all-time among American-based horses (Japan's Forever Young is the all-time leader at more than $32 million), with Asmussen having trained four of the nine American leaders (joining his Breeders' Cup Classic winners Curlin and Gun Runner and the filly Midnight Bisou). Magnitude looked like the best horse in the world after he defeated the concensus best horse in the world (2025 Breeders' Cup Classic winner Forever Young) to win the Dubai World Cup in March, followed by defeating reigning North American Horse of the Year Sovereignty in Churchill Downs' G1 Stephen Foster. He comes into the Breeders' Cup off of an off-the-board finish in Saratoga's Whitney won by Sovereignty, with Magnitude's team noting the colt didn't run well in two starts at the upstate New York track. "With his successful races, and who he is away from there and how light he is on his feet, how athletic he is, for whatever reason at Saratoga in both of his efforts (he) was heavy-footed and ran in place," Asmussen said. Prat was lined up as Magnitude's jockey after Jose Ortiz, who also rides Kentucky Derby winner Golden Tempo, opted to stick with the younger horse who is scheduled to race next year, while Magnitude is expected to be retired to stud at Coolmore America's Ashford Stud following the Breeders' Cup. Note: Prat and owner Winchell Thoroughbreds' blood-stock and racing manager David Fiske are interviewed at this link:    • More on Magnitude: Hear from Flavien Prat,...