Winchell Thoroughbreds and Three Chimneys Farm's GI Breeders' Cup Classic hero Gun Runner (Candy Ride {Arg}–Quiet Giant, by Giant's Causeway) will make his final start in the $16 million GI Pegasus World Cup in January, after which he will retire to stand the 2018 season at Three Chimneys. The leading candidate for Horse of the Year will be available for viewing at his future home from 9-11 a.m. and 1:30-3:30 p.m. Nov. 8 to Nov. 10 before shipping back to trainer Steve Amussen to resume training.
“I have been fortunate enough to own several great horses, but Gun Runner is clearly at the top of my list,” said part-owner Ron Winchell, who also campaigned leading sire Tapit and several of his top offspring. “He is the horse of a lifetime. His brilliance was recognizable early and improved with every season. His consistency, soundness and race recovery were comparable to none. These traits should serve him well as a stallion. I am a believer and will be supporting him 100%.”
Three Chimneys' Goncalo Torrealba expressed similar sentiments, saying, “This horse is the dream result and is a testament to why my family and I re-entered racing and breeding in the US. I am a big believer in top families, and with two Horses of the Years in his first two dams, one could make a case that there is no more active or relevant pedigree in the stud book today than that of Gun Runner. He gave all of us the thrill of a lifetime and joined us to Ron Winchell, who became a partner and a friend and who, in turn, introduced me to Steve Asmussen and his family. These friendships have made the whole journey exponentially more enjoyable. At Three Chimneys we believe in partnerships and our co-ownership with Ron Winchell in Gun Runner is the 'poster child' for why we believe this. We are very excited to have him join the stallion roster, and we will be committing our best mares to him, including the dams of Twirling Candy and La Verdad, and GI winners Stopchargingmaria, Pure Clan, and Malibu Prayer, to name a few.”
A three-time graded stakes winner last term, in addition to his third in the GI Kentucky Derby, Gun Runner capped his sophomore season with his first top-level success in the GI Clark H. Prepping for Dubai with a victory in the GIII Razorback H. in February after an EHV quarantine forced him to miss the Pegasus, he was second behind an unbelievable performance from champion Arrogate (Unbridled's Song) in the G1 Dubai World Cup in March.
Gun Runner has been unstoppable since his return to the States, scoring dominant victories in the GI Stephen Foster H., GI Whitney S. and GI Woodward S., and went wire-to-wire to notch an impressive victory in the BC Classic, which likely secured him a pair of Eclipse awards. The chestnut's record currently stands at 18-11-3-2 with earnings of $8,988,500.
“I have been associated with many great horses in my life, but Gun Runner is the best racehorse I have ever been around,” said Three Chimneys board member Doug Cauthen. “As a stallion prospect he brings impeccable credentials, with a super physical, a royal pedigree and admirable speed and toughness–he deserves his fan base. He's the kind of horse people dream about, and it's a tribute to the Torrealba family's commitment to the US that they were able to add such a specimen to their racing stable and stallion roster so quickly in their tenure.”
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