Asmussen's vast stable races all over the country and his biggest star 2007 horse of the year, Curlin, last week captured the $6 million World Cup in Dubai.

Asmussen has won 161 races through April 1 with more than $5 million in purse money and trains one of the favorites for this year's Kentucky Derby in Pyro. However, it's a horse named Golden Hare, which he claimed for just $3,500 in 2006, that gets my vote for the winningest star in the Assmussen barn.

Once upon a time, Golden Hare set off to be like Pyro, but somehow plans didn't quite work out.

Missing his entire two-year-old season, Golden Hare debuted on Feb. 2, 2002, in a maiden special weight race at Santa Anita and won his debut easily at 32-1 odds. The rest of his three-year-old season went well as Golden Hare won three out of 10 races and ran a credible fourth in the Grade One Malibu Stakes.

Somewhere during his four-year-old campaign, Golden Hare forgot how to win or really how to compete and like many horses, went down the ladder, losing along the way. The once-promising gelding lost 18 consecutive races over a three year period and found himself in a $3,500 claiming race at Oklahoma City's Remington Park on Aug. 22, 2006.

Two important things happened that day for Golden Hare: He lost his 19th straight race and he was claimed by Scott Blasi and Steve Assmussen. Blasi works as Asmussen's assistant trainer and, in fact, spent six straight weeks in Dubai with Curlin before the World Cup.

However, in the case of Golden Hare, Blasi owns the horse, so even though Assmussen is his employer, as far as Golden Hare goes, Blasi is Asmussen's boss.

To say that Golden Hare enjoyed his new surroundings is like saying that birds like to fly. At first asking, Golden Hare won for his new connections and on second asking and on third asking. In fact, Golden Hare embarked on an eight-race win streak in the tough starter allowance ranks, before losing by a nose at Churchill Downs.

The gelding must have gotten mad, as he then won five consecutive races, before going into a long dry spell finishing second two straight times at Presque Isle Downs. Evidently, Golden Hare didn't care for the new racetrack in Erie, Pa., as he has since won seven straight races to improve his record under Blasi and Assmussen to 23 starts, 20 wins and three seconds, earning more than $200,000.

Don't think that this is a horse beating up on some lame competition on one track. In fact, Golden Hare travels so much he should be sponsored by American Van Lines. Since coming to his new connections, the well-traveled Golden Hare has run at 13 different racetracks in seven different states and has won races at Will Rogers Downs, Remington Park, Houston Racecourse, Retama Park, Turfway Park, Ellis Park, Churchill Downs, the Fair Grounds, Evangeline Downs, Delta Downs, Oaklawn Park and on the turf at Indiana Downs.

One of Golden Hare's victims, was Fonner's own Gilbert Ecoffey's Pager in the Claiming Crown Express Handicap at Ellis Park in 2007, as Pager ran a nice fourth to the once former $3,500 claimer.

"Basically we were all running for second," Ecoffey said about Golden Hare. "Once he took off he was gone."

Curlin and Pyro may get all the well-deserved attention with race fans, but give some attention to the lunch bucket star of Asmussen's stable, Golden Hare. After all, chances are that Asmussen's nine-year-old just might be appearing at a race track near you in the future.

Randy Monk covers horse racing for the Grand Island Independent.