Steve Asmussen in synthetic track stake races

[The Indomitable DrugS]

Overall on synthetic:

1,149-168-158-159 - ($1.25 ROI) - 14.6% wins

Overall on dirt this decade:

15,050-3,548-2,658-2,182 - ($1.66 ROI) - 23.6% wins


Here's a comparison of Asmussen's stats on Keeneland dirt versus Keeneland synthetic.

Overall KEE Synthetic: 17-for-136 ($1.27 ROI) 12.5% wins
Overall KEE Dirt: 63-for-327 ($1.84 ROI) 19.3% wins

KEE 4.5 furlong 2yo races Synthetic: 10-for-40 ($2.52 ROI) 25.0% wins
KEE 4.5 furlong 2yo races Dirt: 16-for-62 ($2.88 ROI) 25.8% wins

KEE all races except 4.5f 2yo races Synthetic: 7-for-96 ($0.75 ROI) 7.3%
KEE all races except 4.5f 2yo races Dirt: 47-for-265 ($1.60 ROI) 17.7%

KEE all two-turn Synthetic races: 0-for-23 ($0.00 ROI) 0.0% wins
KEE all two-turn Dirt races: 9-for-44 ($2.48 ROI) 20.5% wins


I think this breakdown is very telling of what's going on.

Asmussen remains very dominant and profitable on synthetic with his 2yo's going 4.5 furlongs at KEE.

However, he struggles badly in the synthetic races beyond 4.5fs in distance.. and is downright terrible in the races a mile or further. He's never even won a race at Keeneland on synthetic beyond a mile.

Synthetic racing is mostly about being able to finish.

Go watch last years Breeders Cup Classic. Pay attention to how flat 4th place finisher Curlin was in the stretch run. Pay attention to how flat 11th place finisher Student Council was the entire race.

Asmussen won 2 Horse of the Year's with Curlin on dirt. Student Council ran just 3 times on dirt for Asmussen .. a Grade 1 win in the Pimlico Special, a Grade 2 win in the Hawthorne Gold Cup, and a 112 Beyer 2nd place finish in the Whitney.

Go watch last years Blue Grass Stakes. Pyro always comes with something late on dirt. He was a flat 10th by 11.5 lengths to Monba at even money.