Making his first start since placing a very solid third in the GI Kentucky Derby, Gun Runner was hustled from his inside draw and left little doubt about the outcome here as the overwhelming 1-10 favorite.
The GII Risen Star S. and GII TwinSpires.com Louisiana Derby hero doled out fractions of :23.99 and :47.73 beneath Florent Geroux. Momentarily confronted by Gray Sky on the far turn, the chestnut easily dispatched that rival and was ridden out to punch his ticket to the $1-million GI Betfair.com Haskell Invitational at Monmouth Park July 31. The final time for 1 1/16 miles was 1:41.12, breaking the stakes record and just missing the Successful Dan's track record for the distance by .08 seconds.
“Visually, looking at him I think that the horse has matured,” trainer Steve Asmussen commented. “He's stronger than he was. He was beautiful in the gates and went away smoothly. I thought he handled nicely and he's got beautiful speed. His confidence should be exactly where we're hoping for going into an extremely competitive Haskell it looks like. I do think that he is of the highest quality and this is only his seventh lifetime race. He is faster now than he has ever been and that's a great thing.”
Gun Runner also made three starts as a juvenile. After opening his career with a pair of wins at Churchill and Keeneland, he made his stakes debut with a fourth-place finish in a sloppy renewal of the GII Kentucky Jockey Club S. beneath the Twin Spires Nov. 28.
Gun Runner is the first foal from his graded stakes winning dam. The 9-year-old Quiet Giant, a half-sister to Horse of the Year Saint Liam (Saint Ballado), has also produced a 2-year-old Malibu Moon filly named Quiet Flirt; and yearling and weanling fillies by leading sire Tapit. She was purchased by Ben Leon's Besilu Stables for $3 million from the Ned Evans dispersal at the 2011 Keeneland November sale.
Saturday, Churchill Downs
MATT WINN S.-GIII, $100,000, CD, 6-18, 3yo, 1 1/16m, 1:41.12, ft.
1–GUN RUNNER, 123, c, 3, by Candy Ride (Arg)
1st Dam: Quiet Giant (GSW, $405,389), by Giant's Causeway
2nd Dam: Quiet Dance, by Quiet American
3rd Dam: Misty Dancer, by Lyphard
O-Winchell Thoroughbreds LLC, Three Chimneys Farm, LLC &
Besilu Stables; B-Besilu Stables, LLC (KY); T-Steven M.
Asmussen; J-Florent Geroux. $61,380. Lifetime Record:
7-5-0-1, $1,168,300.
Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree. Werk Nick
Rating: A+++. *Triple Plus*.[bullet ad=”ea-bloodstock-2-yo-selection”][bullet ad=”ea-equine-analysis-systems”][bullet ad=”niall-brennan-nbs-graduate”][bullet ad=”bridlewood-farm-training-graduate”][bullet ad=”kbif-g2g3″]2–Gray Sky, 118, c, 3, Tapit–Trickski, by Peteski. ($400,000 Wlg
'13 FTKNOV; $700,000 Ylg '14 KEESEP). O-Robert C. Baker &
William L. Mack; B-Mike Abraham (KY); T-D. Wayne Lukas.
$19,800.[bullet ad=”dromoland-salesgrad”][bullet ad=”bradshaw-randy-shell”][bullet ad=”darbydan-shell”]3–Texas Chrome, 118, c, 3, Grasshopper–Margarita Mistress, by
Naevus. ($10,000 Ylg '14 TEXOCT). O-Keene Thoroughbreds
LLC; B-Craig D. Upham (TX); T-J. R. Caldwell. $9,900.
Margins: 5 1/4, HF, 2 1/4. Odds: 0.10, 16.70, 9.20.
Also Ran: Virtual Machine, Yo Carm, Cutacorner. Scratched: Unbridled Outlaw. Click for the Equibase.com chart, the TJCIS.com PPs or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. VIDEO, sponsored by Fasig-Tipton.
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