Can Gun Runner Topple Arrogate? The Week in Review

When 'TDN Rising Star' Arrogate (Unbridled's Song) crossed the wire in front in the March 25 G1 Dubai World Cup it appeared that the Horse of the Year race was over. It didn't matter that there were eight months left in the year and many, many important races yet to be run. Arrogate, also the winner of the GI Pegasus World Cup in January, was invincible and there was nothing standing in his way on his way to an undefeated season, year-end hardware and statues being erected in his honor.

Then again…

Some 4 1/2 months since the World Cup, here is what has happened: Arrogate didn't lift a hoof in the GII San Diego H. and World Cup Gun Runner (Candy Ride {Arg}) has romped in successive Grade I races, the GI Stephen Foster H. and Saturday's GI Whitney S. Though there were no Arrogates among the competitors in either stakes, Gun Runner won both races with a flourish. In the Whitney, he dealt with the presence of the rabbit Cautious Giant (Giant's Causeway), eased by that outclassed rival with about a half-mile to go and then opened up on the others. From a very good horse, it was exactly what you expected–an easy 5 1/4-length win.

Arrogate remains on top, not only in the polls but in perception. A dud in the San Diego or not, what he did prior to his last race was extraordinary. The sweep of the GI Travers S., GI Breeders' Cup Classic, the Pegasus and the World Cup cemented his status as a legend. But will it be enough to ensure that he will be named 2017 Horse of the Year? Probably. Not definitely. Not when you consider how good Gun Runner has been since Dubai and that no one knows if Arrogate will be Arrogate again.

Arrogate is headed to the GI Pacific Classic at Del Mar and it's likely that he will bounce back. He has beaten Gun Runner easily the two times the two have met and it could be that he is simply the better horse. But even with a win by Arrogate in the Pacific Classic, the door would remain open for Gun Runner to still be Horse of the Year. What if he beats Arrogate in this year's Breeders' Cup Classic? That would mean the two had split their season series, with Gun Runner having won the one race on U.S. soil and the race considered to be the closest thing the sport has to a championship-defining event. It would also mean the voters would have a very difficult decision to make.

Whether he is named Horse of the Year or not, Gun Runner has emerged as an exceptional horse. In most any other year, he would be hailed as the sport's brightest star. It's just that he came around in the year of Arrogate. Maybe it's not too late for this to become the year of Gun Runner.

Passing the Test

Owner Kaleem Shah did the unthinkable when he fired trainer Bob Baffert, which is kind of like firing the coach after his team wins the Super Bowl. But in at least one case it has worked out.

Shah's homebred American Gal (Concord Point) picked up a Grade I win Saturday in the Test S. at Saratoga. She had a good year for Baffert in 2016, winning the Anoakia S. and finishing third in the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies. After she ran second in the GI Starlet S., American Gal was turned over to trainer Simon Callaghan. Since, she's 2 for 2, winning the GIII Victory Ride S. and now the Test.

When it comes to Callaghan and Baffert, the Test was a race rich with ironies.

Callaghan picked up American Gal when Baffert was fired. The second-place finisher in the Test was Faypien (Ghostzapper), who is trained by Baffert. The best filly in Baffert's barn is not Faypien, but multiple Grade I winner Abel Tasman (Quality Road).

Is His Full Brother Daffy Duck?

Canadian owner-breeder Frank Di Giulio Jr. spent a lot of time during his youth watching Bugs Bunny cartoons. So when he bred his mare Advanced Green to the sire Silent Name ({Jpn}) he couldn't resist naming the offspring after one of the most iconic lines to ever be uttered on television on Saturday mornings across North America. The horse is named Be Vewy Vewy Quiet.

If you are younger than 40 or spent your formative years living under a rock, you may not get it. But anyone not falling into either category surely does. “Be vewy, vewy quiet, I'm hunting wabbits,” is what Elmer Fudd would say when preparing to shoot poor Bugs, which he never managed to do pull off.

“I am in my 50s and most people from that era would watch the Bugs Bunny cartoons when they were kids,” Di Giulio said. “On Saturday mornings here in Toronto, Bugs Bunny was always on television and I was a big fan. Bugs Bunny was my favorite. It was a name I had saved for a certain kind of horse and with his being by that sire the name fit.”

Oh, and the horse can run.

After breaking his maiden by 11 1/4 lengths, Be Vewy Vewy Quiet beat fellow Ontario-breds in Saturday's Clarendon S. at Woodbine, winning by 2 1/4 lengths.

“I've gotten a lot of good response over the name,” said Di Giulio, who adds that he has also named horses after the Three Stooges. “I think it makes people chuckle, especially when you try to say it. You might sound a little ridiculous saying it. The fact that the horse can run makes it a little more prominent. If he had run last his first two starts I don't know if people would be paying much attention to the name.”

Di Giulio said there are no plans to leave Canada with the horse but he may show up against open company in the GII Summer S. on Sept. 17.

Orbs on the Grass

While he is just a freshman sire and only a handful of his offspring have gotten to the races so far, Orb is clearly on his way to not just being a good sire but an outstanding turf sire. Three of his four winners to date have come in grass races and the latest looks like a very promising filly. In Sunday's second race at Saratoga, trainer Christophe Clement unveiled Golden Orb (Orb), a first-time starter who cost $320,000 at Barretts. With Irad Ortiz, Jr. riding, she took a while to get rolling, but once she did, it was impressive. She rocketed past horses on the far turn and took aim on the leaders. She won by a half-length.

It was the second win on the grass at the meet for Orb, also the sire of Orbolution (Orb). That filly looked sharp winning a July 23 maiden race on the turf for Todd Pletcher and the Star Ladies Racing team.

Orb never raced on the grass.

Sartorial Splendor at the Hall of Fame

The highlight of last week's Hall of Fame induction ceremonies was not a speech or a moment or anything that had to do with the careers of the inductees. It was Victor Espinoza's jacket.

Smoking jackets haven't been in style since the 1850s or thereabouts and about the only one who could get away with wearing one since was Hugh Hefner. But somehow Espinoza not only found one but actually looked good wearing one. Hey, you have to give a man credit for having the gumption for showing up in public wearing a bow tie and a black and burgundy jacket that looks like it was last worn by Wyatt Earp.