Gun Runner

by Jessica Martini, Christina Bossinakis and Jill Williams LEXINGTON, KY - The Keeneland September Yearling Sale continued to churn out double-digit year-on-year gains as its second Book 2 session concluded Thursday night with yet another son of Gun Runner leading the way. Through four sessions of the 12-day auction, 671 yearlings have grossed $307,639,000. At this same point a year ago, 640 head had sold for $252,528,000. Asked about the gross surpassing the $300-million mark after day four, Keeneland Senior Director of Sales Operations Cormac Breathnach laughed and said, "It's...

The Gun Runner show continued to roll on at the Keeneland September sale when Coolmore's M.V. Magnier went to $1.55 million to acquire a son of the Three Chimneys stallion (hip 969) Thursday. The yearling, bred by Three Chimneys and consigned by Four Star Sales, is out of graded winner Twenty Carat (Into Mischief). His third dam, Silk n' Sapphire (Smart Strike), produced Grade I winner Shared Account, dam of another Grade I winner in Sharing. Yearlings by Gun Runner have attracted the top price at the first three days...

by Jessica Martini, Christina Bossinakis, and Jill Williams LEXINGTON, KY -The only thing that could slow down the momentum of the Keeneland September Yearling Sale was a brief interruption in Wednesday's action when the fire alarms late in the day caused the evacuation of the pavilion. "We joked in the back ring the market was so hot, it set the fire alarms off," Keeneland's Vice President of Sales Tony Lacy said with a chuckle after the dust had settled on another competitive day of bidding at the first of two...

After Three Chimneys sensation Gun Runner sired the session toppers of the Keeneland September sale both Monday and Tuesday, he was back at it again Wednesday. With approximately 30 hips left to go, a Gun Runner colt hammered for $1.9 million Wednesday to Spendthrift Farm. Consigned by Hill 'n' Dale at Xalapa, agent, hip 731 is out of stakes-placed Ginga (Quality Road). The mare is a half-sister to 2014 GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies runner-up Top Decile (Congrats), who sold to Shadai Farm for $950,000 at the 2017 Keeneland November...

by Jessica Martini, Christina Bossinakis, and Jill Williams LEXINGTON, KY - The Keeneland September Yearling Sale, which opened with a record-setting session Monday, continued with an action-packed second Book 1 session Tuesday, establishing yet another September session record average and median. Twenty horses sold for $1 million or more during the session, led by a colt by Gun Runner and a filly by Flightline who brought matching $2.2 million price tags. "It was a good day at the sale, for sure," said Keeneland President Shannon Arvin. "We built on what...

Mike Repole, huddled with his team at the reserved seating tables at the back of the pavilion, went to $1.5 million to acquire a colt by Gun Runner out of multiple Grade I winner Cavorting (Bernardini) (hip 278) from the Indian Creek consignment Tuesday at the Keeneland September sale. The colt, a half-brother to last year's $5-million September topping son of Curlin, as well as to Grade I winner Clairiere (Curlin), was bred by Barbara Banke's Stonestreet. Repole was active during Monday's first session of the auction, but kicked into...

Trainer Wesley Ward, bidding on behalf of a partnership, signed the ticket at $2.2 million to acquire a colt by Gun Runner (hip 243) from the Taylor Made Sales Agency consignment during the second session of the Keeneland September Yearling Sale Tuesday in Lexington. Bred by Three Chimneys Farm, the bay is a full-brother to GI Preakness Stakes winner Early Voting. Hip 243 is the sixth yearling by Three Chimneys' Gun Runner to reach seven figures at the auction.

by Jessica Martini, Christina Bossinakis and Jill Williams LEXINGTON, KY - Led by a $3.3-million son of Gun Runner, the Keeneland September Yearling Sale powered through a record-setting opening session Monday in Lexington. When the dust had settled after the first of two elite Book 1 sessions, 106 yearlings had sold for $69,240,000. The average was $653,208--the highest ever at a single September session--and the median was $537,500. With just 28 horses reported not sold, the buy-back rate was 20.90%. Those figures are ahead of last year's opening session, when...

A Gun Runner son (hip 177) of 'TDN Rising Star' Thoughtfully (Tapit) set off late fireworks just four hips from the end of Monday's opening session at Keeneland September when Peter Brant, signing on behalf of M.V. Magnier & White Birch Farm, outlasted all comers to sign the ticket at $3,300,000. Bred by Hill n Dale Equine Holdings, Inc & Determined Stud, the colt's dam brought $950,000 herself as a broodmare at FTKNOV in 2019. M.V. Magnier and White Birch also bought her first foal, a now 2-year-old son of...

Peter Brant, Mrs. John Magnier, Michael Tabor, Derrick Smith, Westerberg and Brook T. Smith's Sierra Leone (Gun Runner), who finished second in a problematic edition of the GI Jockey Club Gold Cup, will train up to the GI Breeders' Cup Classic at Del Mar, according to trainer Chad Brown. The GI Whiney winner, who tried to avoid fallen Irad Ortiz Jr. just steps out of the gate, traveled in last--18 lengths off the pace--before making a wide run down the lane to finish 1 1/2-lengths behind winner Antiquarian. "Thankfully, Irad...

With multiple Grade I winner and second choice Mindframe (Constitution) wiped out at the break, it was Centennial Farms' longshot Antiquarian (Preservationist) holding favored Sierra Leone (Gun Runner) at bay late to win the GI Jockey Club Gold Cup at Saratoga Sunday, earning an automatic berth in the GI Breeders' Cup Classic in November. Just a day after Fierceness (City of Light) overcame an adventurous beginning of his own making to win the GI Pacific Classic at Del Mar, stablemate Mindframe was less lucky at Saratoga, catching the worst of...

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. -- Earlier this week, owner Mike Repole took to X, formerly known as Twitter, to ask for help. He wanted to know what he should do with the two of the best older horses in the country, both, coincidentally, that he owns. Mindframe (Constitution) and Fierceness (City of Light). What to do with them next weekend? The options are simple enough. The $1 million GI Pacific Classic is being run at Del Mar in California next Saturday. The $1 million GI Jockey Club Gold Cup is being...