Gun Runner

6th-KEE, $100K, Msw, 3yo, f, 6f, 3:40 p.m. The latest daughter out of champion older mare and MGISW Close Hatches (First Defense), SCYLLA (Tapit) debuts in the silks of Juddmonte Farm for trainer Bill Mott. Already responsible for Scylla's full-brother in MGSW & MGISP Tacitus, Close Hatches is herself a full-sister to MGISP Lockdown, the dam of Latonia S. winner Idiomatic (Curlin). This is also the female line of G1 Tattersalls Irish Two Thousand Guineas hero Siskin (First Defence). Breaking just to Scylla's outside is Brenda (Curlin)--the half-sister to GSW...

Currently on the GI Kentucky Derby bubble with 40 points, rallying GII Louisiana Derby runner-up and 'TDN Rising Star' Disarm (Gun Runner) will look to punch his ticket to the big dance in Saturday's GIII Stonestreet Lexington S. at Keeneland. The Stonestreet Lexington is the final race on the Road to the Kentucky Derby and carries 40 points that will be awarded on a 20-8-6-4-2 basis. A top-three finish by Disarm would secure the Winchell Thoroughbreds homebred a spot in the starting gate on the first Saturday in May. The...

A new kingpin graces the No. 1 slot after a wild, final weekend of 100-point preps. The rankings below are independent from the "Road to the Derby" leaderboard Churchill Downs uses to determine starting berths, with several horses included here who are currently below the cut.   1) PRACTICAL MOVE (c, Practical Joke--Ack Naughty, by Afleet Alex) O-Leslie & Pierre Jean Amestoy & Roger Beasley; B-Chad Brown & Head of Plains Partners (KY); T-Tim Yakteen. Sales history: $90,000 RNA yrl '21 KEESEP; $230,000 2yo '22 OBSAPR. Lifetime Record: GISW, 7-4-1-2,...

A Sunday afternoon in August, back in the 1970s, and a student at U.C. Davis is trying to catch up on his history notes ahead of his final semester. There's a knock at the door. Two girls. "They wanted to know if my roommate Morgan was home," remembers David Fiske. "He was not. Asked if my roommate Jeff was home. He was not. Asked if my roommate Pat was home. He was not." Nothing else for it, so they wondered if Fiske would like to come along to a party....

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 Nakayama and Hanshin Racecourses, the latter of which plays host to the season's first Japanese Classic, the G1 Oka Sho (Japanese 1000 Guineas) for the 3-year-old fillies: Saturday, April 8, 2023 4th-NKY, ¥10,480,000 ($79k), Maiden, 3yo, 1200m WORLDS COLLIDE (c,...

After watching the races just across the street from their home in Del Mar, Joe and Debby McCloskey decided to take the plunge into racehorse ownership with the purchase of a filly by Congrats at the 2014 Keeneland September sale. Now, nearly a decade later, Johannes (Nyquist)--the first foal out of that first filly--has become the couple's first stakes winner and the 3-year-old gave promise of more firsts to come in the near-future with an authoritative second stakes victory in the Pasadena S. at Santa Anita last Sunday. Johannes began...

7th-Oaklawn, $103,000, Alw, 3-30, (NW1RX), 3yo, 1m, 1:37.94, ft, 1 1/4 lengths. ECHO AGAIN (c, 3, Gun Runner--Teardrop {SP}, by Tapit) earned 'TDN Rising Star' status with a commanding 6 3/4-length debut win at Saratoga last summer. Tested for class, he faded to seventh in the GIII Iroquois S. against a stacked field led by Curly Jack (Good Magic), Jace's Road (Quality Road), and Confidence Game (Candy Ride {Arg}). Third in the Remington Springboard Mile S. to cap his juvenile season, he returned to be sixth after setting the pace...

DUBAI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES -- A colt from the third crop of boom American stallion Gun Runner (lot 18) was hammered down to Stephen Hillen, agent for prominent owner Dr Jim Hay, for €543,210 to top Tuesday's second renewal of the Goffs Dubai Breeze-Up Sale, held in the parade ring at Meydan Racecourse. On behalf of the Scotsman, Hillen also acquired the second-dearest offering of the evening, a Justify half-brother to GISW Fog of War (War Front) (lot 2), for the equivalent of €518,519. Following the withdrawal of 10 horses,...

Veronica Reed had just graduated high school when she met Sandy Hatfield, but that short introduction left a life-alerting impact. Born and raised in Colorado, Reed moved to Lexington to pursue a career in the Thoroughbred industry. While working in the yearling division at Three Chimneys Farm, she was sent to pick something up from the stallion barn. Peeking into the breeding shed to scope out who was in charge, she quickly noticed that a woman was in command. She was petite--at least, compared to the powerful studs she handled--with...

There are American pedigrees galore that feature in the 73-strong catalogue for the Goffs Dubai Breeze-Up Sale, which takes place Tuesday afternoon in the saddling enclosure at Meydan Racecourse. With the lowering of COVID-related travel restrictions in 2022, European-based resellers were a noted presence at this country's yearling auctions last summer and fall, and with the increased focus on dirt racing in the Gulf region--not only at the racetracks of the Emirates Racing Association, but also in Saudi Arabia and, to a lesser extent, Qatar--it stands to reason that American-bred...

Sponsored by Alex Nichols Agency 10th-SA, $67K, Msw, 3yo, f, 6 1/2f, 8:01 p.m. The first of a pair of Juddmonte fillies racing for Bob Baffert, PLEASANT (Munnings) is the latest filly to make the races out of Fair Lady (Medaglia d'Oro), herself a daughter of GISW Honest Lady (Seattle Slew) making her a half to GISW First Defense (Unbridled's Song), SW & GSP Honest Mischief (Into Mischief), SW Phantom Rose (Danzig), and SW Honest Quality (Elusive Quality). Pleasant's third dam is none other than Toussaud (El Gran Senor), the...

Six 2-year-olds previously purchased at last year's Keeneland September Sale for a collective $4.875 million through bloodstock agent Richard Knight have been resold, according to a report in Blood-Horse. Keeneland did not reveal the buyers or purchase prices. "All six 2-year-olds were sold in the reoffer," said Tony Lacy, Keeneland's vice president of sales. "The 'invitation to make an offer' format met our goal of being a fair and transparent process for prospective buyers in this unique, one-time situation." Prospective buyers were to submit only one offer on each horse...