Gun Runner demolishes foes in runaway Whitney win
A heavy favorite coming home a winner in a stakes race at “The Graveyard of Champions” is never a guaranteed thing, but Gun Runner simply said, “What curse???” in route to a facile victory in the $1.2 million, 1 1/8 mile, Grade 1 Whitney Stakes at Saratoga.
Cautious Giant won the break and went out to try to put Gun Runner to the test on the front end. Gun Runner settled just off his outside flank in second with Breaking Lucky in third followed by Tu Brutus, War Story, Discreet Lover, and Suburban upset winner Keen Ice bringing up the rear.
Initially Cautious Giant led the field through easy splits of :23.89 and :48.31 for the opening two calls. Sensing the slow pace, jockey Florent Geroux sent Gun Runner past Cautious Giant in the backstretch to take over the lead. The heavy favorite spurted off to a two length advantage, but Breaking Lucky moved up on him in the far turn.
Try as he might, Breaking Lucky just could not make any headway against Gun Runner, who continued to lengthen his lead throughout the stretch. From the back of the field, Keen Ice closed strongly and passed Breaking Lucky, who ran his eyeballs out, for second. War Story completed the superfecta, and Discreet Lover, Tu Brutus, and Cautious Giant completed the order of finish.
Gun Runner’s final time was a sharp 1:47.71 with a winning margin of 5 ¼-lengths. The fact that he came back with a shoe caught in his tail obviously did nothing to slow him down.
Winning jockey Florent Geroux said afterwards, "My horse broke super sharp today from the gate. I could have gone to the lead if I wanted to, but I just stayed cover until the five-eighths pole and from there the race was pretty much over."
"I was like 'pick it up a notch,' Geroux said about pacesetting Cautious Giant. "But at the five-eighths pole, I [said] 'I am going to take over from here. You are trying to slow me down.' I wanted to keep my horse to a nice breeze. I didn't want to fight with him."
As the 3-5 favorite, Gun Runner paid $3.20, $2.30, and $2.10 for his victory. Three-to-one second choice Keen Ice returned $3.20 and $2.50 for the place, and 12-1 longshot Breaking Lucky returned $3.50 for the show. The $2 exacta paid $9.50, the $2 trifecta returned $32.80, and the $2 superfecta was worth $61.50.
"He's spoiling us," winning trainer Steve Asmussen stated. "He really is. He went about his business and Florent gave him a flawless ride. We talked about the pace scenario with a possible rabbit, but we wanted him to wait and not take away from what got him here. He got away cleanly, he handled nicely, he didn't let that horse disrupt the rhythm he was in. Florent showed a lot of confidence in him to take the lead when he did. There's a lot of pressure under those circumstances when there's a horse entered for pace for him. When he let him drop off into the second turn there, he showed a lot of confidence in the horse. As you saw how he went by the wire, Florent knows him really well."
"He broke perfect, ran perfect, [he] just ran into a very tough race," stated Reade Baker, trainer of third place finisher Breaking Lucky. "We tried to win it. If he [Contreras] rode to be second, he would've been second. We showed up. We have enough money to get back home, and we'll start over."
By Candy Ride and out of the Giant’s Causeway mare Quiet Giant, Gun Runner was bred by Besilu Stables and is owned in partnership by Winchell Thoroughbreds and Three Chimneys Farm. This year alone, Gun Runner has won the G3 Razorback and the G1 Stephen Foster along with today’s Whitney as well as running second to Arrogate in the Group 1 Dubai World Cup. He is now 16: 9-3-2 for total earnings of $5,358,500.
"He's beat us both times [Arrogate]. Hopefully, the stars will align and we'll have another opportunity at the end of the year," Asmussen said in regards to facing Arrogate again.
The Whitney was a "Win and You're In" race for the Breeders' Cup Classic. Asmussen indicated that Gun Runner would likely prep for the Classic in the Woodward (September 2, Saratoga). Neolithic, who won today's finale at Saratoga, and Shaman Ghost, beaten favorite in the Suburban, are also targeting the Woodward.