Winchell Thoroughbreds and Three Chimneys Farm's GI Breeders' Cup Classic hero and likely 2017 Horse of the Year Gun Runner (Candy Ride {Arg}) posted his first work since his win at the World Championships Sunday morning, breezing four furlongs in :51.40 at the Fair Grounds for trainer Steve Asmussen. The drill marked the first in a series of preparations for his expected final career start in the GI Pegasus World Cup at Gulfstream Park Jan. 27.
“I wanted him to not overdo it off of how hard and how fast he was working in California,” Asmussen said. “I just wanted him to be patient. I had considered just skipping an easy half-mile coming back with him. But I thought he was pretty aggressive in his gallops for more than we'd done and just wanted him to settle in and relax and get back into the routine he's had so much success with.”
Asmussen said that Gun Runner will continue his preparations at Fair Grounds before shipping to Gulfstream Park in time to have a work over the track on the Monday prior to the Pegasus. The chestnut put forth a remarkable 2017 campaign, winning five times from six starts–including wins in the GI Stephen Foster H., GI Whitney S. and GI Woodward S. prior to his score in the Breeders' Cup Classic.
“He is everything you want one to be in the fact that he was extremely talented always,” Asmussen said. “But he's incrementally gotten better and more professional and accepted a tremendous amount of pressure from the circumstances and the races and what was expected of him.”
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