Gun Runner (Candy Ride {Arg})–the leading sire on the general sire list by percentage of Grade I winners, Grade I horses, graded stakes winners, graded stakes horses, black-type winners and black-type horses from starters–anchors the stallion roster at Three Chimneys Farm, where he will cover mares at a private fee for 2023.
Building on his leading freshman sire campaign in 2021, the 9-year-old is the sire of 11 stakes winners this season, including eight at the graded level and four Grade I scorers, including 'TDN Rising Star' and GI Longines Breeders' Cup third Taiba; GI Arkansas Derby and GI Haskell S. hero Cyberknife, who was just edged in the GI Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile over the weekend; and Early Voting, who became his first Classic winner in the GI Preakness S. this past May. Ten of his starters have earned Grade I black-type this term, while no fewer than 25 have been placed at stakes level. Gun Runner is also the leading sire of 3-year-olds, with nearly double the progeny earnings of his next-closest rival. Gun Runner's third-crop yearlings sold for up to $975,000 this year, while eight Gun Runner foals of 2022 have averaged better than $418,000 at this week's breeding stock sales.
Sharp Azteca (Freud), the leading freshman sire of 22 by winners with 30, gets a bump to $15,000 from $5,000 this past year. The fourth-leading member of his crop by progeny earnings, he is the sire of the brilliant Tyler's Tribe, who won his first five trips to the post by a combined 62 lengths and a pair of additional black-type winners.
The 2023 Three Chimneys stallion roster is as follows:
Gun Runner–Private
Sharp Azteca–$15,000
Volatile–$12,500
Sky Mesa–$10,000
Palace Malice–$10,000
Funtastic–$5,000
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