(May 22, 2004)- Lone Star Park at Grand Prairie's all-time leading trainer Steve Asmussen and 3-year-old filly Everheart traded places Saturday. The result was two stakes wins.

Forty-seven minutes after the national win leader saddled multiple Grade I winner Lady Tak to victory in the $108,600 Winning Colors Stakes at Churchill Downs, Team Asmussen connected with Kentucky invader Everheart in the $50,000 Wafare Farm Stakes at Lone Star Park in Grand Prairie, Texas.

Owned by Padua Stables, Everheart ran six furlongs in a swift 1:08.85 - the fastest clocking in eight runnings of the three-quarter mile sprint for 3-year-old fillies. It was Asmussen's second victory in the stakes race - he won the inaugural 1997 running with Little Sister - and 30th local stakes win.

It didn't take long to wonder why Everheart was sent off as the odds-on 1-2 favorite. The Grand Slam filly settled into stride early on under leading rider Eddie Martin Jr., ranged up to leader Boston Common and drew away to win by 4 ¼ lengths under Martin's strong handling.

Runner-up Boston Common, the 5-2 second betting choice, broke slowly and spotted the field about four lengths before rushing up to the lead while under a strong hold by jockey John Jacinto.

"It looked like (Boston Express) was running off with Jacinto," said Martin, who has won three of the seven stakes races run at Lone Star Park this meeting (he also won the $75,000 Irving Distaff with Janeian and $75,000 Ford Express with Beau's Town). "She ran off with him down the backside and I let my filly out a notch just to make sure he didn't get too far in front of me because I sure didn't want him to steal off. My main goal was just to keep her out of trouble."

Asmussen's other charge, Bluegrass Sara, rallied late and just missed completing an Asmussen exacta, saddled by his assistants Darren Fleming and Tony Mathiasen.

Everheart paid $3 to win and earned $30,000 for the victory in her stakes debut. Previously, she had won two of five starts and most recently finished third in a second-level allowance race at Keeneland Race Course.

"She's a very fast filly that hopefully has an excellent future," Asmussen said via telephone from Kentucky. "I'm glad to get a stakes win in her."

As for Lady Tak, she held off a threat from Put Me In to prevail in her six-furlong stakes engagement.

"I'm happy she's back in the winner's circle where she belongs," Asmussen said. "She went [1:08.87] in the stakes today at Churchill and that's where you want to be - back winning with the big mare. It's not bad having a couple of horses going 1:08 and change."