2nd-Churchill Downs, $114,600, Msw, 5-23, 2yo, 5f, :58.36, ft, 2 1/4 lengths.
SPICE RUNNER (c, 2, Gun Runner–Simple Surprise {SW, $185,446}, by Cowboy Cal), a full-brother to Gunite, MGISW-USA, G1SP-UAE, GSP-KSA, $2,493,009, validated 1-4 favoritism with a comfortable debut success Friday afternoon. Drawn widest in a field scratched down from eight to just five juvenile colts, the homebred jumped away very sharply and it appeared that the colt could have made the running if his jockey chose to do so, but instead Jose Ortiz elected to take a hold of him and set up shop three deep just off the early tempo. Going well and ready to strike on the turn, Spice Runner was asked for his best three off the inside in upper stretch, began to pull away while racing on his incorrect lead passing the eighth pole and eventually swapped back over over to post a smooth 2 1/4-length success. Simple Surprise's dam Simplify (Pulpit) was a Saratoga stakes winner and placed in this track's GIII Debutante Stakes in 2009 and bred seven winners from nine to the races, including juvenile stakes winner Optionality–like Gunite–from Gun Runner's first crop and GIII Monmouth Cup third-place finisher Counterspy from his second. Simple Surprise foaled a full-brother to Spice Runner and Gunite this past Feb. 16. Lifetime Record: 1-1-0-0, $69,000. Click for the Equibase.com chart or VIDEO, sponsored by FanDuel TV.
O/B-Winchell Thoroughbreds LLC (KY); T-Steven M Asmussen.
Spice Runner scores in R2 at @churchilldowns under @jose93_ortiz for trainer Steve Asmussen! 💪
🎥 TwinSpiresReplay pic.twitter.com/mNrCoanQSy
— TwinSpires Racing 🏇 (@TwinSpires) May 23, 2025
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