Gun Runner

7th-CD, $120K, Msw, 2yo, 1m, 3:50 p.m. At Churchill Downs Sunday, drawn to the extreme outside is BLOWN COVER (Gun Runner) who will make his first start for an ownership group which includes Spendthrift Farm and Gandharvi Racing. A $650,000 Keeneland September Yearling Sale purchase, the dark bay colt, bred by Machmer Hall and trained by Brad Cox, is the second offspring to make the races out of a dam who is a half-sister to GII Oaklawn H. hero Cyber Secret (Broken Vow). Also debuting here is Track Phantom (Quality...

6th-BAQ, $90K, Msw, 2yo, 1m, 3:36 p.m. One of only a pair of first-time starters in the field, DIGITAL OPS (Nyquist) is the second foal out of MSW/GISP Flora Dora (First Dude). Picked up on a final bid of $600,000 at this Spring's OBS March sale, the colt is a half-brother to 'TDN Rising Star' Spun Intended (Hard Spun). Drawn outside is fellow first timer and stablemate Unique Insight (Gun Runner). This one, a $360,000 Fasig-Tipton October pickup by Klaravich Stables, is a half to runaway Albany S. winner Drake's...

Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert will look for a record fifth victory when he sends out 3-1 morning-line favorite Reincarnate (Good Magic) in Saturday's GI betPARX Pennsylvania Derby. "This race is going to be a good step up for him," Baffert said. "He ran really well at Los Alamitos. He is going to have to break well and show up. That's the main thing. If he shows up, I don't see why he wouldn't run well." The field of 11 also includes 7-2 second choice Saudi Crown (Always Dreaming)...

Grade I winners and 'TDN Rising Stars' Taiba (Gun Runner) and Arabian Lion (Justify) will join Zandon (Upstart) and stand at Spendthrift Farm for the 2024 breeding season. Spendthrift announced the news Saturday. "We are really excited to be bringing in three new stallion prospects of the caliber of Taiba, Arabian Lion and Zandon for the 2024 breeding season," said Spendthrift general manager Ned Toffey. "All three are superior physicals, and all three displayed immense talent in winning some of America's biggest 3-year-old races on dirt. Obviously, the Breeders' Cup...

by Jessica Martini & Christina Bossinakis LEXINGTON, KY - The Keeneland September Yearling Sale continued to match the figures from its blockbuster 2022 renewal with colts by Curlin and Not This Time bringing seven figures during a competitive concluding Book 2 section Thursday. "Today was a very steady, good healthy market," said Keeneland Vice President of Sales Tony Lacy. "We were tracking the median all through the day and it never moved at all. It was very, very steady. Overall, I think people were very happy. I think there was...

Three Chimneys Farm's Gun Runner threw down the gauntlet at Wednesday's session of the Keeneland September Yearling Sale with a $1.15-million colt to lead the day's top-priced receipts about two-thirds of the way through Wednesday's selling. Hip 614, bred in Kentucky by Runnymede Farm, LLC and Peter J. Callahan, is out of Margate Gardens (Speightstown), a full-sister to GSW Bridgetown. Runneymede consigned the Apr. 28-foaled chestnut, who was purchased by Mike Repole's Repole Stables and Spendthrift Farm. The mare's current 2-year-old, Wilson Q (Constitution), was second in the Bashford Manor...

by Jessica Martini & Christina Bossinakis LEXINGTON, KY - With the very first horse through the ring bringing $1.3 million, the second session of the Keeneland September Yearling Sale was off to the races Tuesday and the action didn't slow down throughout the day as the second-to-last offering brought $1.25 million. In between, 13 other yearlings sold for seven figures, including a colt by Into Mischief who brought top price of $3 million from the partnership of Chuck Sonson, West Point Thoroughbreds and Woodford. With eight million-dollar yearlings Monday, the...

In this continuing series, we take a look ahead at US-bred and/or conceived runners entered for the upcoming weekend at the tracks on the Japan Racing Association circuit, with a focus on pedigree and/or performance in the sales ring. Here are the horses of interest for this weekend running at Hanshin and Nakayama Racecourses: Saturday, September 9, 2023 4th-HSN, ¥13,720,000 ($93k), Newcomers, 2yo, 1800m LUDIQUE (c, 2, Into Mischief--Miss Besilu, by Medaglia d'Oro), whose dam was third in the GI Alabama S. and GI CCA Oaks in 2014 and was...

Oussama Aboughazale's Sumaya Stable, now into its seventh year based in Kentucky, is hoping to make a big impact at the Keeneland September Yearling Sale, starting with seven standout offerings in the auction's boutique Book 1 section next Monday and Tuesday. "We have a very strong group this year, physically, and we've got some good sire power behind us," Aboughazale's bloodstock manager Frances Relihan said. "The vets have been kind to us as well. We are looking forward to the sale next week. We had a good start to the...

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - With this smashing victory in the fifth race Friday, Locked (Gun Runner) graduated summa cum laude with 'TDN Rising Star' honors from the 2-year-old maiden special weight ranks at Saratoga Race Course. A month after his career debut went awry, Locked turned in a top-notch performance under Jose Ortiz, scoring by 7 1/4 lengths and covering the mile in 1:36. Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher said it is likely that the chestnut colt will run next in the GI Champagne S. or the GI Breeders'...

6th-ELP, $70K, Msw, 2yo, 1m, 3:18 p.m. A trio of colts make their much-anticipated debuts Monday beginning with Stonestreet homebred BENVOLIO (Tapit). Out of GI La Troienne S. winner Molly Morgan (Ghostzapper) who was purchased by Stonestreet for $1.35m out of the 2015 Fasig-Tipton Kentucky Fall Mixed Sale, the bay is a half to $1.8m yearling Vintage Print (Curlin). He'll face a pair of expensive yearlings including a stablemate in Army Officer (Not This Time), picked up for $475,000 out of last year's Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Select Sale by Qatar Racing....

L and N Racing and Winchell Thoroughbreds's Echo Zulu (Gun Runner), second to Goodnight Olive (Ghostzapper) when that one solidified her champion female sprinter honors in last year's GI Breeders' Cup F/M Sprint, asserted her position atop that division this year with a convincing tally over that same rival in Saturday's GI Ballerina H. at Saratoga. She was also the second Grade I winner for her connections sired by Gun Runner on the card. An Eclipse winner herself in 2021 with a perfect four-for-four 2-year-old season that included romping victories...