BY KENTUCKY DOWNS PRESS OFFICE (Edited)

FRANKLIN, KY—For any athlete celebrating a milestone, there is a layer of added sentiment if achieved in front of family. 

When Keith Asmussen guided Florida-bred Laigina to victory in the $250,000 Lucky Lantern at Kentucky Downs Labor Day Monday, it was the first career stakes at the Franklin, Kentucky track for the jockey, a box he checked in bold ink.

There may have been larger entourages that gathered in the winner’s circle during the final day of the U.S. Open of Turf Championships at Kentucky Downs but none boasted the level of familial closeness like the one following the six-and-a-half-furlong Lucky Lantern. Riding a filly trained and co-owned by his father-in-law Patrick Biacone, Asmussen was greeted and then interviewed by his wife, reporter and analyst, Andie Biancone Asmussen, who also galloped Laigina in the lead up to her victorious run.

Keith and Andie were married on August 18, making Monday’s triumph their first stakes victory as newlyweds.

“We’re paying for the honeymoon, little by little,” Andie laughed as she wrapped up her on-air interview with her father and her husband.

With Andie getting on Laigina in the mornings, Keith had firsthand intel on just how well the daughter of Leinster was taking to the Kentucky Downs course. So, when the 3-year-old chestnut filly had to rally from well off the pace instead of her usual style of being forwardly placed, her pilot was overwhelmingly confident she would nonetheless produce the desired outcome.

“[Andie] kind of just had unbridled optimism about her going into the race,” said Keith, a son of Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen. “I wasn’t overly concerned about any of the competitors in the race, just more so focused on the filly and how well she was doing here. She can run a little hot. We schooled here [Sunday] and she schooled beautifully. Today she warmed up looking at the clouds. She was very content with herself. 

“She got away good, but it’s a quicker race going six-and-a-half [furlongs] at Kentucky Downs,” Keith continued. “Even though my instructions going in were to ride her away from there and get kind of close, I was two slaps in and the first flight was already gone. From there it was just put your hands down and the filly handled it beautifully and really helped me out.”

The family theme runs deep with Laigina as her dam is the winning Brother Derek mare Patriotic Brother. Patriotic Brother also produced stakes-winning Florida-bred Diamond Cool, by Prospective, and is a half-sister stakes-winner Patriotic Viva, by Whywhywhy. Patriotic Viva is the dam of multiple graded stakes-winner Diamond Oops and stakes-winning, stakes-producer Patriotic Diamond. Biancone also trained Diamond Oops, Diamond Cool and Patriotic Diamond.

Return to the September 9 issue of Wire to Wire