Saturday Sires: Gun Runner

Believe it or not, it was just three years ago this month–a mere 36 months ago–that Gun Runner got his first stakes winner as a sire. The Three Chimneys stallion shot to the top so quickly and has such a long list of elite performers that no one would be blamed for mistaking his tenure as far longer.

To refresh all of our memories, that initial stakes winner for Gun Runner was a graded winner, as Pappacap won the GII Best Pal Stakes, only to be followed up the next day with Wicked Halo winning the GII Adirondack Stakes on the opposite coast. Although a remarkable start, it turns out Gun Runner was just warming up, as a month later, he got a Grade I weekend double with Echo Zulu in the Spinaway Stakes and Gunite in the Hopeful Stakes. He hasn't taken a deep breath since.

“He was the model of consistency as a racehorse and it's exciting that we're seeing the same now for him as a sire,” said Three Chimneys Farm's Director of Stallion Nominations Rebecca Nicholson. “He's already been the sire of ten Grade I winners with his oldest runners being just five.”

Few stallions have had an initial three years like the first three Gun Runner years. In 36 months, with his first three crops, he has a mind-boggling 33 black-type winners (an average of almost one per month!). His 24 graded winners include one Eclipse champion and 10 Grade I winners.

Ten Grade I winners would be an excellent career for the majority of stallions. It's so exceptional it bears repeating: Gun Runner has done it in his first three crops.

“It's amazing how he keeps firing away with each crop,” continued Nicholson. “He's so well bred and he was a very durable racehorse with a long career. I think we've always hoped for the best, but he's exceeded every expectation.”

And there were high expectations when Gun Runner retired. He was a Horse of the Year and a six-time Grade I winner by Candy Ride (Arg) out of an exceptional female family. Even so, Gun Runner's start at stud has been the stuff of dreams.

It goes without saying he led first-crop sires of 2021 by a wide margin in just about every category possible. He repeated the feat as second-crop sire in 2022 and third-crop sire last year. More telling is his performance on the general sire list: he's currently third, was also third last year, and was top five in 2022. His 60 stakes performers overall contribute to the sort of heady percentages of top sires of yesteryear: 21% stakes performers to runners in those first three crops.

“I think one of the things that's so special about Gun Runner is his versatility as a sire and what he's been able to accomplish so far. He can get sprinters, but also two-turn horses that are running at the highest level,” said Nicholson. “In addition, he's also suiting a wide variety of mares.

“Gun Runner is a very intelligent horse and we certainly see that he's passing on that attribute to his progeny. I think he also passes along athleticism and durability along with a sound mind. We hope his progeny, like him, continue to improve with age.”

Although he was precocious enough to win his first two starts at two and captured his first Grade I at three, in addition to placing in the GI Kentucky Derby, GI Travers Stakes, and GI Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile, it was at four that Gun Runner honed his Hall of Fame career. His only loss that year was a second in Arrogate's otherworldly G1 Dubai World Cup Win. Gun Runner cleaned up just about everything else, culminating with victories in the GI Breeders' Cup Classic and GI Pegasus World Cup.

“A large part of Gun Runner's success should be credited to co-owners Ron Winchell and Three Chimneys's Goncalo Torrealba, who have supported the stallion strongly since his retirement at stud,” said Nicholson. “Together, they have bred or campaigned four of his Grade I winners and numerous stakes winners; not to mention Steve Asmussen, who trained Gun Runner and has done a tremendous job placing and developing many of his top progeny.

“He was a horse that really just continued to excel at he got older. He was the model of consistency as a race horse.”

The same could be said for Gun Runner as a sire. The 11-year-old had his stamp all over last Saturday, with six stakes performers on the board. At Saratoga, Society won the GI Ballerina Handicap, while Vahva finished third in the same race. Gun Pilot was second in the GI Forego Stakes; Sierra Leone finished third in the GI Travers Stakes. Gun Song, already a graded winner this year like Vahva, Gun Pilot, and Sierra Leone, captured the Cathryn Sophia Stakes at Parx while Wonder Ride was third. As icing on the cake, Don Alberto homebred Senza Parole kicked off the party Friday as a new 'TDN Rising Star' off a wildly impressive Spa debut. She was Gun Runner's 14th 'Rising Star'.

“Senza Parole got a 94 Beyer, which is the highest 2-year-old Beyer by a filly this year,” said Nicholson. “The exciting thing is this current crop of 2-year-olds was from his cheapest year at stud, bred in 2021 on $50,000 stud fee.”

Gun Runner entered stud in 2018, immediately following that Pegasus win, for $70,000, which was his advertised fee for his first three years. And then, like the majority of stallions, his fee was discounted for his fourth year as breeders waited to see how that first crop did at the races. The rest, as they say, is history. He was advertised at $125,000 on the heels of his first juveniles, which included a champion and Breeders' Cup winner in Echo Zulu, and has been private ever since.

“He can really do it all as a sire,” said Nicholson. “He fits such a wide variety of mares. As his offspring are showing what he can do, he's attracting those top-class mares. I believe he's going to nick very well with those good Into Mischief, Curlin, and Justify fillies running now.

“We're really seeing a lot of different nicks that work for Gun Runner. [Recent GII Amsterdam Stakes winner] World Record is out of an Exceed And Excel (Aus) mare. We've seen him work with Tiznow, Malibu Moon, Scat Daddy, Indian Charlie, Harlan's Holiday, Street Cry (Ire). He's really proving to be versatile.”

Nicholson said Gun Runner bred 200 mares this year, “a nice, healthy number.” She said he bred around 170 mares each of his first two years at stud and went up to 248 for 2022.

Society wins Saturday's Ballerina, her second GI score | Sarah Andrew

A significant number of Gun Runner's yearlings have gone through the sales ring, with the headliner being Sierra Leone, who topped the 2022 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga sale for $2.3 million. A total of 251 yearlings by the Hall of Famer have sold for a gross of more than $90 million. That's an average of nearly $360,000, currently the highest among all active stallions in North America.

“We're really excited about his yearling crop this year,” said Nicholson. “Gun Runner is coming off a strong sale at Saratoga, where three yearlings sold for $1.5 million or more.”

Is it any wonder his yearlings sell so well? Gun Runner leads all North American sires this year by individual Grade I winners with four. He's got nine individual graded winners in 2024, second only to Into Mischief. He leads all U.S. stallions in 2024 by AEI (average-earnings index) and is currently second by CI (comparable index).

A stallion doesn't reach those heights without the physical to match.

“He stands at 16.1, a very well-balanced, athletic horse,” said Nicholson. “I think one of the most notable things about him is his stride, his walk. He has a big, loose walk on him and it's one of those traits you see passed on to his yearlings. He moves like a panther.”