Gun Runner

Siena Farm and WinStar Farm's 'TDN Rising Star' World Record (Gun Runner), third last out in the Maxfield Stakes at Churchill Downs June 30, received a much more aggressive ride from Flavien Prat Friday and ran a compact--but talented--field off their feet in the GII Amsterdam Stakes at the Spa. Off at odds of 6-1 while adding blinkers, the bay was on the engine from his rail draw and sizzled through fractions of :21.56 and :44.64. He kicked for home as the one to catch and kept on motoring down...

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - Jockey Manny Franco was on Honor Marie's (Honor Code) back when the colt hit the Oklahoma Training Track at 7:30 Saturday morning. That doesn't mean Franco will be there when Honor Marie runs in the GI Travers Stakes on Aug. 24. Honor Marie worked four furlongs in :48.75 with 2-year-old stablemate Fiddling Felix (Mendelssohn) as he continues to train up to the Midsummer Derby. Franco answered the call to work the horse because trainer Whit Beckman doesn't have an abundance of exercise riders at his disposal...

Carlos Rosas is running out of fingers to count on as he rattles off the names of Breeders' Cup champions he has sat on over the years. As an exercise rider for Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen for the past two decades, Rosas has played a role in developing an impressive list of superstars. There's 2014 Distaff winner Untapable and 2011 Juvenile Fillies heroine My Miss Aurelia, plus Breeders' Cup runner-ups Midnight Bisou and Tapiture. The list goes on from there. Curlin was one of his earliest claim to...

HOKKAIDO, Japan--Expectation rather than trepidation. Pre-JRHA Select Sale nerves are different to the ones we go through back in Europe, that's for sure.  A quick scan through the over 500-strong catalogue of foals and yearlings will remind you just how small the world is with many familiar names cropping up on any given page.  However, a morning spent in the company of JRHA chairman and Shadai Farm boss Teruya Yoshida followed by a trip to Northern Farm, which will consign a massive 180 lots at the sale, pegs into light...

Three members from the much-anticipated first crop by undefeated Horse of the Year Flightline (Tapit) are scheduled to go under the hammer during the foal session of the Japan Racing Horse Association (JRHA) Select Sale on Tuesday, July 9, on the northern island of Hokkaido. The foal sale is preceded by the Select Yearling Sale on Monday, July 8. TDN European Sales Editor Brian Sheerin will be providing on-site coverage. Flightline has every chance to make an enormous first impression when lot 347 becomes the first of the three offerings...

A pair of noteworthy names were spotted on the work tab over the weekend at Saratoga, GISW Sierra Leone (Gun Runner) on Sunday and MGISW Thorpedo Anna (Fast Anna) on Saturday, both cruising over the Oklahoma dirt training track for the first time since their respective efforts during the Belmont at Saratoga festival. From the Chad Brown barn, the 'TDN Rising Star' put in a solo half-mile move with blinkers on in :49.66 (6/30) and galloped out into the backstretch while being encouraged by the exercise rider. When asked, Brown...

The wagering public knew they wanted a daughter of Gun Runner to win the GIII Chicago Stakes. In one corner was Vahva, the 2-5 favorite, coming off a career-best 103 Beyer Speed Figure when in control of the Derby City Distaff Stakes on Derby Day at Churchill May 4. Opposite her was the rail-drawn speed of 2-1 shot Society, the defending Chicago Stakes winner but unraced since a tiring fourth in the GI Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Sprint at Santa Anita last November. Ultimately it was Vahva for trainer...

7th-LRC, $41K, Msw, 3yo/up, f/m, 6 1/2f, 7:04 p.m. ET. The members of Three Amigos--Mike Pegram, Karl Watson and Paul Weitman--went to $500,000 during Keeneland September to acquire RELATABLE (Arrogate), who is part of her sire's final 3-year-old crop. The filly is out of the Canadian bred GSP Aunt Els (Consolidator)--dam to a 2-year-old filly by Higher Power and a yearling filly by Silver State. The Bob Baffert trainee sports a strong set of works under her belt, which includes a final six panel drill (1:12.80, 1/4) alongside stablemate Normandy...

SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY - So far, a colt named Mindframe (Constitution) has been nothing short of mind blowing. Two starts. Two wins. By a combined margin of 21 1/4 lengths. His connections think so much of him that start No. 3 will be the GI Belmont S. Saturday at Saratoga. Trainer Todd Pletcher and co-owner Mike Repole are confident the lightly raced horse will make a credible showing in the 1 1/4-mile Belmont. Despite having little experience, Mindframe was made the 7-2 second choice by New York Racing Association linemaker...

Beaten just a neck into third while earning a competitive 75 Beyer Speed Figure on six-furlong debut at Keeneland Apr. 26, Siena Farm LLC and WinStar Farm LLC's World Record (c, 3, Gun Runner--Marwa {GB}, by Exceed and Excel {Aus}) added an eighth of a mile for this second go and turned it into a one-horse show in the stretch, becoming the newest 'TDN Rising Star' for his boom sire. Drawn the fence as the 8-5 chalk, the $410,000 Keeneland November weanling--the most expensive of his sire's 23 foals reported...

Observations on the European Racing Scene turns the spotlight on the best European races of the day, highlighting well-pedigreed horses early in their careers, horses of note returning to action and young runners that achieved notable results in the sales ring. Saturday's Observations features a Wootton Bassett (GB) half-brother to standout fillies Tenebrism (Caravaggio) and Statuette (Justify). 13.20 Curragh, Mdn, €25,000, 2yo, c/g, 6fT HENRI MATISSE (IRE) (Wootton Bassett {GB}) injects instant spark into an already talent-stacked Curragh card as the sixth foal out of the G1 Coronation S. and...

4th-Churchill Downs, $123,820, Alw (NW2$X)/Opt. Clm ($80,000), 5-18, 3yo/up, 1 1/16m, 1:45.88, ft, 1 1/2 lengths. DISARM (c, 4, Gun Runner--Easy Tap, by Tapit), a 'TDN Rising Star', was a major player on last year's Triple Crown trail, hitting the board in both the GII Louisiana Derby and the GIII Lexington S. before running fourth behind Mage (Good Magic) in the GI Kentucky Derby. Fourth again in the GII Jim Dandy S., he chased home champion 3-year-old male Arcangelo (Arrogate) to be second in the GI Travers S. in his...