Toga Too
-photo courtesy Lone Star Park

(June 16, 2007) - Toga Too, under leading rider Ramsey Zimmerman, slipped through an opening along the inside rail at the top of the stretch and powered home to a 1 ½-length victory over Lissa's Star in Saturday's $50,000 Carter McGregor Jr. Memorial Stakes at Lone Star Park in Grand Prairie, Texas.

Toga Too, owned by Frank Carsten Jr. and conditioned by Bob Schultz, ran six furlongs over a muddy main track in 1:09.93. The 6-year-old gelding collected his first career stakes win and paid $11, $7.40 and $3.80 as the 9-2 third betting choice in the field of nine Texas-breds.

Runner-up Lissa's Star, an 11-1 outsider, returned $15.20 and $6. Defending race champ War Bridle, off at odds of 7-1, was another length back in third and paid $4.80.

Nuttyboom, the Louisiana invader who was sent postward as the mild 5-2 favorite, finished fourth.

The win was the fifth in 23 lifetime starts for Toga Too, a son of The Prime Minister bred by A.J. Foyt Jr. It was worth $30,000, pushing his career earnings to $110,515.

"At the three-eighths pole, I had a ton of horse and I hadn't even asked him yet," said Zimmerman, who collected his third stakes win of the meet. "I was able to slip through along the rail, and it was just a dream trip."

Earlier on the card, trainer Steve Asmussen won three races - the second with Swamp Lady ($8.80), the fourth with Our Call ($3.80) and the eighth with Red Rock Creek ($5.80) - to give the Preakness Stakes-winning trainer nine victories on the day. The 41-year-old Arlington, Texas resident also won four races at Churchill Downs - the second with Humble Janet ($5), third with Sok Sok ($9.80), fourth with Simon Pure ($7.60) and sixth with Inca King ($18.60) - and one at Arlington Park - the first with Deputy Dancer ($3.60).

On Feb. 7, 2004, Asmussen won a North American record 10 races. He nearly equaled the mark Saturday, but True Man, trained by his sister-in-law Cheryl Asmussen, nailed his trainee Cantallbechiefs by a nose in Lone Star Park's seventh race.

Live racing continues Sunday at Lone Star Park with a nine-race Father's Day program that begins at 1:35 p.m. CT. The first 200 men age 21 and over in attendance will be eligible for a Father's Day Fishing Contest to win a stainless steel barbecue grill.

Sunday is also the second and final day of Lone Star Park's Daily Racing Form/NTRA National Handicapping Championship Qualifying Tournament. At the conclusion of Saturday's action, Ralph Lough unofficially led the 194 participating horseplayers with a bankroll of $161. Marcy Jordan was second with $150.80 and Jack Bailey was third with $126. The top three finishers will earn berths to the NHC IX finals in Las Vegas in January. Plus, more than $10,000 in prize money is up for grabs.