Gun Runner

Dec. 9 Insights: Debuters for Royalty at Oaklawn Park

4th-OP, $115k, Msw, 2yo, 1m, 2:54p.m. ET A $350,000 FTSAUG purchase for HRH Prince Sultan Bin Mishal Al Saud, RIDE FOR SUL (Candy Ride {Arg}) looks to open his tab as 2023 winds down to a close. Out of Southern Honey (Colonel John), winner of the GIII Winning Colors S. and graded-placed on two other occasions, the colt hails from the same female family which yielded MGSW & MGISP Runway Model and her son MGISW McKinzie (Street Sense). Trained by Steve Asmussen and ridden by Keith Asmussen, the morning line...

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Baffert Has Two Chances at Seventh Straight Starlet

Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert will have two opportunities to win his seventh straight GII Starlet S. at Los Alamitos Saturday. The 1 1/16-mile feature has attracted a field of six. The rail-drawn, 9-5 morning-line favorite Nothing Like You (Malibu Moon) enters for Baffert riding a two-race winning streak, including a nose victory in the seven-furlong Desi Arnaz S. at Del Mar last time out Nov. 18. She previously graduated by 6 1/2 lengths over next-out winner Great Forty Eight (Constitution) going a two-turn mile at Santa Anita Oct....

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Gun Runner Filly Does the 'Talk'-ing In the Demoiselle

Dropping out of a pair of Grade I races, Repole Stables and Todd Pletcher's Life Talk (Gun Runner) earned 10 points on the Road to the Kentucky Oaks with an impressive win in the GII Demoiselle S. Second by a head to future GISP Alys Beach (Omaha Beach) on debut, Life Talk came back with a 6 1/2-length win at second asking upstate in August. Unfortunately for daughter of Gun Runner, she then twice ran into likely 2-year-old filly champion Just F Y I (Justify) in both the GI Frizette...

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A Case Apart, Clay Gets the Last Laugh

He'd given himself five years to make it onto Saturday Night Live. But it had now been six years, and Case Clay could see where he might be headed if he wasn't careful. Stick around too much longer, and he could end up like the guy in the comedy club, sitting there on his own every night with a drink at the end of the bar. "He was a fixture, and a beloved fixture," Clay stresses. "Sometimes he'd be on stage with you, performing, but the rest of the time...

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'All Others' Favored at Close of Derby Future Pool 2

The pari-mutuel field of "All Other Colts and Geldings from the 2021 Foal Crop" closed as the 6-5 favorite in Pool 2 of the Kentucky Derby Future Wager, while GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile winner Fierceness (City of Light) was the 8-1 second choice. Other horses who attracted mild interest from bettors: Breeders' Cup Juvenile third Locked (Gun Runner) (14-1); 10 1/4-length maiden winner Nash (Medaglia d'Oro) (18-1); 10 1/2-length debut winner Knightsbridge (Nyquist) (19-1); and maiden special weight winner and full-brother to 2023 Kentucky Derby winner Mage, Dornoch (Good Magic)...

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Gun Runner's Intricate Good as Gold in Golden Rod

Intricate (Gun Runner), a last out maiden winner going two turns at Keeneland Oct. 13, picked up 10 points on the Road to the Kentucky Oaks with a sensational score in Saturday's GII Golden Rod S. at Churchill Downs. It was 5 1/4 lengths back to favored 'TDN Rising Star' Thorpedo Anna (Fast Anna) in second. Central Avenue (Street Sense), second behind unbeaten GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies winner Just F Y I (Justify) in the GI Frizette S., was third. "She's a very easy filly to train and does...

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Sunday Insights: Pricey Maidens Kick Off Churchill Closing Day

8th-CD, $120K, Msw, 2yo, 7f, 4:18 p.m. Expectations are understandably high for HALL OF FAME (Gun Runner) who brought a top-six price as a yearling at last year's Saratoga Sale with a final bid of $1.4m from Coolmore's M.V. Magnier. Unraced dam Flag Day, from the family of GSW Lady Diby (Grand Slam) and MGISW Diversify (Bellamy Road), also dropped Hall of Fame's yearling full-brother who RNA'd for $725,000 as a yearling at the same Saratoga Sale earlier this year. Racing for Steve Asmussen, Hall of Fame put up a...

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Friday Insights: 'Rising Stars' Return at Churchill, Del Mar

8th-CD, $127k, Alw, 3yo/up, f/m, post time: 4:33 p.m. ET Bass Stables' beautifully bred BANDITA (Gun Runner) could not have been more impressive in her lone racetrack appearance to date, as she led every step of the seven furlongs on Gulfstream debut Jan. 29 to score by nearly nine lengths en route to a 'TDN Rising Star' nod (video). The $350,000 Keeneland September grad is unraced since. The bay is out of a daughter of four-time stakes winner and Grade III-placed Simplify (Pulpit), the dam of Bandita's stakes-winning full-sister Optionality...

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Diverse Buying Bench Powers Electric Keeneland November Opener

by Jessica Martini & Christina Bossinakis LEXINGTON, KY - The Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale gained momentum throughout its opening session and concluded a day of competitive bidding Wednesday evening with 11 seven-figure mares and a median up 30% from its 2022 counterpart. "It was a good day. It was a really good day," said Keeneland President Shannon Arvin. "We were really pleased with the session overall. The theme of the century seems to be that the quality sells and there was really high demand for the quality. There was...

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Shadwell at the Fore of Early Weanling Action with $500K Munnings Filly

   Highlighting the early swath of weanlings on offer at Fasig-Tipton's November Sale Tuesday, Shadwell emerged at the forefront, purchasing a pair of fillies, including Hip 62, a daughter of Munnings for $500,000. Consigned by St George Sales, the Ontario-bred foal--bred by Narola and Anderson Farm--is out of Grade III winner Summer in Saratoga (Hard Spun). Out of MSW Diversa (Tabasco Cat), the 7-year-old mare, a $630,000 purchased by Anderson Farms at Fasig-Tipton at this venue in 2021, is a daughter of GI Vanity S. heroine Love Theway Youare (Arch)....

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Gunite Retired to Ashford; Stud Fee Set at $35k

Gunite (Gun Runner--Simple Surprise, by Cowboy Cal), a two-time Grade I winner and runner-up behind champion Elite Power (Curlin) in Saturday's GI Breeders' Cup Sprint at Santa Anita, has been retired from racing and will stand at Coolmore America's Ashford Stud for 2024. His fee has been set at $35,000. Trained by Steve Asmussen, the Winchell Thoroughbreds homebred defeated the aforementioned two-time Breeders' Cup Sprint winner in this summer's GI Forego S. at Saratoga. Gunite also won the GI Hopeful S. during his 2-year-old season and the GII Amsterdam S....

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Sale-Topping Sierra Leone 'Guns' To Rising Stardom

When you sell for a sale-topping $2.3m as a yearling at Fasig-Tipton's New York Saratoga Sale to connections like White Birch Farm and M. V. Magnier, the expectations are going to be sky high. And while Sierra Leone (c, 2, Gun Runner--Heavenly Love, by Malibu Moon) proved he still has a lot to learn but still showed enough ability in the end to graduate at first asking and become the latest 'TDN Rising Star' for Three Chimney's super-stallion Gun Runner. Facing a field of mostly more experienced runners, the 3-1...

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