Grade 3 winner and Kentucky Derby (G1) alum Cutting Humor was represented by his first winner Jan. 2 when 3-year-old filly Basile took the opening race at Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots.
In the six-furlong sprint for $20,000 Louisiana-bred maiden claimers, Basile broke well beneath jockey Jose Ortiz and set fractions of :21.98 and :46.06. She kicked away in the stretch to win by 3 1/2 lengths as the 4-5 favorite, stopping the clock in 1:12.38.
Bred in Louisiana by Doyl Johnson and Cloyce Clark Jr., the daughter of the unraced War Front mare War Secret was a $62,000 purchase from the 2024 Texas Thoroughbred Association 2-Year-Old in Training Sale. Thursday's victory marked her second career start for Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen and owners Corinne and William Heiligbrodt, Coteau Grove Farms, Jackpot Farm and Dusty Castille.
Bred in Kentucky by Dell Hancock and Bernie Sams, Cutting Humor was a $400,000 purchase from Fasig-Tipton's The Saratoga Sale in 2017 by Starlight Racing.
Trained by Hall of Famer Todd Pletcher, Cutting Humor won the 2019 Sunland Park Derby (G3) while setting a 1 1/8-mile track record at 1:46.94 that still stands today. That victory qualified him for the Kentucky Derby where he'd finish 10th. Racing twice at 4, Cutting Humor completed his career 2-2-2 from nine starts for purse earnings of $525,467.
The son of First Samurai out of the unraced Pulpit mare Pun stands the 2025 season at McDowell Farm in Sparkman, Ark., for a fee of $1,500.
