Trainer Todd Fincher might be unknown to fans attending the Breeders' Cup, running horses for the first time at the World Championships this year, but he already has the recognition and respect of North America's all-time winningest trainer, Steve Asmussen.
Horses trained by the two will square off Nov. 5, first in the Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Sprint (G1) and later in the Big Ass Fans Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile (G1). Fincher runs Slammed in the Filly & Mare Sprint, while Asmussen runs Wicked Halo and Echo Zulu. Then in the Dirt Mile, Fincher starts Senor Buscador and Asmussen runs Gunite .
Both trainers hail from horse racing families, which put them around horses from the time they were children.
"He should know more than somebody that wasn't in the barn," Asmussen told publicist Jennie Rees of the Kentucky Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association. "He's an excellent horseman. He's hard to beat. I've run against him multiple times. He's extremely good at what he does."
Beyond growing up in the sport, the two are similar in that they are former jockeys and each notched their first victories as trainers in New Mexico at Ruidoso Downs. Fincher still bases much of his stable in New Mexico, while Asmussen runs his top horses largely in Kentucky, New York, Louisiana, and Arkansas.
Asmussen, a Hall of Famer, was quick to praise Fincher's two Breeders' Cup runners, Brad King, Stan Kirby, Suzanne Kirby, and Barbara Coleman's Slammed and Joey Peacock's Senor Buscador.
"He unleashed 'Buscador' on us in the (2020 Remington) Springboard Mile in a race in which I think we (had two of the favorites.) The second out of his life or whatever—he dominated that race," Asmussen said. "And you see the work he has done with the New Mexico-bred filly Slammed."
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"It's pretty outstanding" to be at the Breeders' Cup, Fincher told Rees.
Slammed (Marking) and Senor Buscador (Mineshaft ) bring contrasting running styles into their races, with the former regularly racing near the pace and the latter preferring to rally from far back.
Fincher is pleased to see them with these opportunities. It hasn't been a smooth road for the lightly-raced 5-year-old Senor Buscador, winner of the Oct. 1 Ack Ack Stakes (G3) at Churchill Downs in his last start. Well, it wasn't smooth until this year. He chipped an ankle as a 3-year-old that kept him off the Triple Crown trail and at age 4, was sidelined after he injured himself in his stall.
"It was just on and on, just something happening with him all the time," Fincher said. "But now he's going good. He's got some races under his belt. He's got a great foundation, and he showed in his last race how good he's getting."
