Gun Runner (Candy Ride {Arg}) continued his domination of the East Coast handicapping ranks and earned the third Grade I victory of his career with a commanding 5 1/4-length win in the GI Whitney H. at Saratoga Saturday–a race he won despite running with an errant horse shoe, lost by pacesetting Cautious Giant (Giant's Causeway), entangled in his tail.
“He came to the paddock with his game face on,” said winning trainer Steve Asmussen. “Gun Runner has spoiled us with his ability and his consistency. For him to win a race of the quality of the Whitney at Saratoga under the pressure that Saratoga brings only elevates his status. The crowd here, going over walking from the Oklahoma side by the racetrack through the holding barn though the crowd…the attention that is given to a horse of his caliber adds up. The attention [doesn't] sneak up on you, and I thought he handled it well. He ran a dynamite race with a very good time over the racetrack here.”
Made the 1-2 chalk, Gun Runner broke alertly and was on top in the early strides before allowing Cautious Giant (Giant's Causeway) to take over going into the first turn. The favorite sat just off the pacesetting rabbit through modest fractions of :23.89 and :48.31. Surging to the fore under his own power at the half-mile pole, Gun Runner motored past six furlongs in 1:11.37, shook off a mild challenge from Breaking Lucky (Lookin At Lucky) turning for home and poured it on from there, completing the 1 1/8 miles in a sizzling 1:47.71. Keen Ice (Curlin) rallied stoutly to complete the exacta after stumbling badly at the start.
“He went about his business and Florent [Geroux] gave him a flawless ride,” Asmussen said. “We talked about the pace scenario with a possible rabbit, but we wanted him to wait and not take away from what got him here. He got away cleanly, he handled it nicely, he didn't let that horse disrupt the rhythm he was in. Florent showed a lot of confidence in him to take the lead when he did. There's a lot of pressure under those circumstances when there's a horse entered for pace for him. When he let him drop off into the second turn there, he showed a lot of confidence in the horse. As you saw how he went by the wire, Florent knows him really well.”
Gun Runner was third behind Arrogate (Unbridled's Song) in last year's GI Travers S. and he chased that superstar home when second in the Mar. 25 G1 Dubai World Cup. While Arrogate faltered in his stateside return in the July 22 GII San Diego S., Gun Runner returned from Dubai stronger than ever and has now swept to a pair of effortless Grade I tallies. His Whitney victory follows a front-running seventh-length score in the June 17 GI Stephen Foster H. last time out.
Asmussen admitted he is looking forward to a rematch with the gray champion.
“He beat us both times,” Asmussen said of Arrogate. “Hopefully, the stars will align and we'll have another opportunity at the end of the year. I got on the plane leaving Dubai thinking that way. He beat us 15 lengths in the Travers and 2 1/2 in Dubai. I felt like it's headed in the right direction. He needs to finish off this year [to be considered a great horse]. Nothing but respect for Arrogate. I witnessed the Travers here last year in person and to see a horse finish up like that at a mile and quarter is as rare as ever. Gun Runner gives us the confidence. We're up to the challenge and if he can finish off the year, it'll be deserving.”
A consistent graded performer throughout his sophomore season, Gun Runner was second in the GI Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile before concluding the year with a well-deserved first Grade I tally in the Nov. 25 GI Clark H. The quarantine at Fair Grounds over the winter forced him to miss an expected start in the inaugural GI Pegasus World Cup Invitational, but he prepped for his trip to Dubai with a facile score in the Feb. 20 GIII Razorback S. at Oaklawn Park.
Gun Runner captured last year's GII Louisiana Derby and his win in the Whitney gave the race its second Grade I winner in as many weekends, following 2017 victor Girvin (Tale of Ekati)'s win in the GI Haskell Invitational last Sunday.
Pedigree Notes:
Gun Runner's dam Quiet Giant, an Edward Evans homebred, concluded her career with a victory in the 2011 GII Molly Pitcher S. for trainer Todd Pletcher and was sold to Besilu Stables for $3-million at that year's Keeneland November sale. Out of SW & GSP Quiet Dance (Quiet American), Quiet Giant is a half-sister to Horse of the Year Saint Liam (Saint Ballado), GSW Congressionalhonor (Forestry), SW Dance Quietly (A.P. Indy) and SW & MGISP Miss Besilu (Medaglia d'Oro).
Gun Runner is the first foal out of the 10-year-old mare, whose now 2-year-old filly by Tapit summoned $1.4-million from Mandy Pope at last term's Keeneland September sale. Quiet Giant produced another Tapit filly in 2016 and foaled a full-brother to Gun Runner May 17 of this year.
Saturday, Saratoga Race Course
WHITNEY S.-GI, $1,176,000, SAR, 8-5, 3yo/up, 1 1/8m, 1:47.71, ft.
1–GUN RUNNER, 124, c, 4, by Candy Ride (Arg)&log=">Candy Ride (Arg)
1st Dam: Quiet Giant (GSW, $405,389),
by Giant's Causeway
2nd Dam: Quiet Dance, by Quiet American
3rd Dam: Misty Dancer, by Lyphard
O-Winchell Thoroughbreds & Three Chimneys Farm; B-Besilu
Stables, LLC (KY); T-Steven M. Asmussen; J-Florent Geroux.
$650,000. Lifetime Record: G1SP-UAE, 16-9-3-2, $5,288,500.
Werk Nick Rating: A+++. *Triple Plus*. Click for the
eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.[bullet ad=”niall-brennan-nbs-graduate”][bullet ad=”ea-bloodstock-2-yo-selection”][bullet ad=”bridlewood-farm-training-graduate”][bullet ad=”kbif-g2g3″]2–Keen Ice, 121, h, 5, Curlin–Medomak, by Awesome Again.
($48,000 Wlg '12 KEENOV; $120,000 Ylg '13 KEESEP).
O-Donegal Racing & Calumet Farm; B-Glencrest Farm LLC (KY);
T-Todd A. Pletcher. $220,000.[bullet ad=”fourstar-salesgrad”][bullet ad=”performance-genetics-selection”][bullet ad=”schumer-dam-purchased”]3–Breaking Lucky, 117, h, 5, Lookin At Lucky–Shooting Party, by
Sky Classic. ($100,000 Wlg '12 KEENOV). O-Gunpowder Farms
LLC, West Point Thoroughbreds et al.; B-Christine Hayden
(ON); T-Reade Baker. $120,000.[bullet ad=”carabloodstock-soldby”][bullet ad=”performance-genetics-selection”][bullet ad=”joshstevens-congratulations”][bullet ad=”joshstevens-congratulations”][bullet ad=”schumer-dam-purchased”][bullet ad=”ontario-bred”]Margins: 5 1/4, 1 1/4, 7. Odds: 0.60, 3.45, 12.40.
Also Ran: War Story, Discreet Lover, Tu Brutus (Chi), Cautious Giant.
Click for the Equibase.com chart, the TJCIS.com PPs or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. VIDEO, sponsored by Fasig-Tipton.
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