Winchell Thoroughbreds homebred Gunite (Gun Runner), winner of the track-and-trip GI Hopeful S. as a juvenile and runner-up in the GI H. Allen Jerkens S. 12 months ago, parlayed a tactical advantage Saturday into a vengeful victory in Saratoga's GI Forego S. The Steve Asmussen pupil had come up a head short of 2022 champion sprinter Elite Power (Curlin) in the GI Alfred G. Vanderbilt H. going a furlong shorter in the slop here July 29, and was 6-5 to get the better of that formidable foe this go around.
Emerging from the early scramble to lead his four rivals early under Tyler Gaffalione, Gunite got the opening quarter in a very reasonable :23.16 as Elite Power drafted in third along the fence. Gunite came far enough off the rail after a :46.20 half to give Elite Power a clear path, but he kept finding more despite only switching leads at the sixteenth pole, and opened up again late to defeat the favorite by 1 3/4 lengths. Longshot High Oak (Gormley) checked in third.
“He broke alertly, put himself in a good spot,” said Gaffalione. “The difference between today and last time was, going the three quarters, you've got to use him a little more than you'd like to. Seven-eighths suits him a little bit better. He's a big colt, just let him get into his stride and let him do his thing.”
Boasting a 6-4-2-0 record at seven panels and 5-2-3-0 mark at the Spa that also included a win in last term's GII Amsterdam S., Gunite concluded his sophomore season in 2022 with a fourth-place finish behind Cody's Wish (Curlin) in the GI Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile. He resurfaced to dominate Oaklawn's King Cotton S. in the slop in January, but traveled all the way to Saudi Arabia to run into Elite Power in the lucrative G3 Riyadh Dirt Sprint in February, finishing 3 1/4 lengths back in second that day. Third beaten only a half-length in Meydan's G1 Dubai Golden Shaheen Mar. 25, he earned a career-best 108 Beyer Speed Figure when defeating a group that included Golden Shaheen winner Sibelius (Not This Time) in Churchill's June 3 Aristides S. He paired that top last time in the Vanderbilt.
“Gunite is just a very special horse to race at the level he has for as long as he has and do it consistently,” said Asmussen, who has now won three of the last five Foregos despite his trainee Jackie's Warrior (Maclean's Music) being upset in the race last year. “It was a very tough defeat for [Gunite] in the Vanderbilt and for him to not blink an eye, come back and lay it down again today just proves what a special horse he actually is.
“Elite Power is a great champion. I can't say how much I respect him, being by the unbelievable Curlin. But Gunite has seen good horses and he doesn't blink. That's what makes him so special. He came out of the box trying to prove who Gun Runner was as a 2-year-old, had six runs as a 2-year-old, two of them were here, and he's still winning Grade 1s at four. Those horses are hard to come by right now.
“The horse gives us a tremendous amount of confidence. Tough defeat in the Vanderbilt, but the next day all he wanted was another chance at him. Today was his chance and he proved how truly good he is.”
Owner/breeder Ron Winchell said, “Very redeeming. Obviously, we came up a little short in the last one after having the lead. So this was definitely redeeming from the last race. I think he's getting better over time. With the Gun Runners, like you see with [superstar filly sprinter and GI Ballerina H. heroine] Echo Zulu also, their last few races just seem to be getting better and better as they get older.”
#2 Gunite defeats Elite Power in the G1 Forego S. at Saratoga! 🏆
The 4-year-old colt is trained by Steve Asmussen, owned by Winchell Thoroughbreds and was piloted by @Tyler_Gaff.
🎥 #TwinSpiresReplay pic.twitter.com/2job1nk4Tp
— TwinSpires Racing 🏇 (@TwinSpires) August 26, 2023
Saturday, Saratoga
FOREGO S.-GI, $485,000, Saratoga, 8-26, 4yo/up, 7f, 1:21.53, ft.
1–GUNITE, 118, c, 4, by Gun Runner
1st Dam: Simple Surprise (SW, $185,446), by Cowboy Cal
2nd Dam: Simplify, by Pulpit
3rd Dam: Classic Olympio, by Olympio
O/B-Winchell Thoroughbreds LLC (KY); T-Steven M. Asmussen; J-Tyler Gaffalione. $275,000. Lifetime Record: 19-9-6-2, $2,094,509. Werk Nick Rating: A+++. *Triple Plus*. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree or free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–Elite Power, 124, h, 5, Curlin–Broadway's Alibi, by Vindication. ($900,000 Ylg '19 KEESEP). O-Juddmonte; B-Alpha Delta Stables, LLC (KY); T-William I. Mott. $100,000.
3–High Oak, 118, c, 4, Gormley–Champagne Sue, by Elusive Quality. 1ST G1 BLACK TYPE. ($37,000 Wlg '19 KEENOV; $70,000 Ylg '20 KEESEP). O-LRE Racing LLC and JEH Racing Stable LLC; B-Catherine Parke (KY); T-William I. Mott. $60,000.
Margins: 1 3/4, 4, 2 1/4. Odds: 1.30, 0.75, 18.60.
Also Ran: Pipeline, Synthesis.
Click for the Equibase.com chart or the TJCIS.com PPs. VIDEO, sponsored by FanDuel TV.
Pedigree Notes:
It's been another huge week for super sire Gun Runner, who was represented on Tuesday by GIII Smarty Jones S. winner Il Miracolo and who had two stakes winners Friday night at Charles Town in GIII Charles Town Oaks heroine Vahva and Pink Ribbon S. romper Society, already a Grade I winner for Asmussen. Earlier this month Asmussen and Winchell took the $500,000 GIII West Virginia Derby with Red Route One, and two races after Gunite's win Saturday they snagged the Ballerina with the aforementioned Echo Zulu.
“It's amazing what Gun Runner is as a sire,” said Asmussen, who of course also trained the Horse of the Year and near $16-million earner. “It brings back great memories. His summer here [in 2017] winning the [GI] Whitney and the [GI] Woodward was just magnificent. For us to be so blessed to get to have multiple Gun Runners. We have three Grade I contenders (with Disarm in the GI Travers the third) and all three are Gun Runners.”
Gunite is one of his sire's six Grade I winners and 14 graded winners. He is one of two Grade I winners (or graded winners of any kind) out of Cowboy Cal mares–the other, GI Preakness S. winner Rombauer (Twirling Candy), hails from the same sire line.
The Candy Ride over Giant's Causeway cross has proven particularly potent thanks to the exploits of Gun Runner himself, as has Candy Ride over other sources of Storm Cat, and Gunite's pedigree doubles up on the Giant's Causeway as Cowboy Cal is by that globetrotting legend. The Giant's Causeway over Candy Ride cross has been strong as well, most notably via Asmussen/Winchell's champion 3-year-old Epicenter (Not This Time).
If it's possible to be bred for Saratoga success, Gunite is. Dam Simple Surprise was a winner of the 2015 Bolton Landing S. over the local lawn for these connections, and second dam Simplify was also a listed stakes winner at the Spa. Simplify is the dam of another Gun Runner stakes winner in Optionality.
An unraced 2-year-old full-sister to Gunite fetched $600,000 from GMP Stables and WinStar Farm at last year's Fasig-Tipton November sale. Simple Surprise has a 2-year-old filly named Copper Top (Copper Bullet), a yearling filly by Tapiture and a Gun Runner colt foaled Mar. 28. She returned to Gun Runner for 2024.
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