Wicked Halo Prevails in Adirondack Stakes at Saratoga

It's been quite a weekend for trainer Steve Asmussen, owner Ron Winchell, and Gun Runner  .

All three figured quite prominently in the memorable events of Aug. 7-8, when Asmussen won the fifth race Aug. 7 at Saratoga Race Course with Winchell Thoroughbreds and L and N Racing's Stellar Tap  for his 9,446th victory to become North America's all-time winningest  trainer.

Then, a little more than 24 hours later, back at Saratoga, Asmussen and Winchell combined for yet another victory, this one in the $200,000 Adirondack Stakes (G2) for 2-year-old fillies when Winchell's Wicked Halo  prevailed by 3 1/2 lengths over Interstatedaydream  to boost the fledgling stallion career of her sire, the aforementioned Gun Runner.

A 2017 Horse of the Year and $15.9 million earner on the racetrack for Winchell, Three Chimneys Farm, and Asmussen, Gun Runner is off to an auspicious start at Three Chimneys with his first crop of runners. Aside from the homebred Wicked Halo taking the Adirondack, a day earlier, Rustlewood Farm's Pappacap , a son of Gun Runner, won the Best Pal Stakes (G2) at Del Mar for trainer Mark Casse.

All in all, it was a weekend to remember on many fronts.

"Ron giving us horses like this makes all the accolades possible," Asmussen said. "Her mother (Just Wicked ) won the Adirondack and what a sire Gun Runner is proving to be. So, for her to duplicate what her mother did is very special."

Wicked Halo, who was coming off a third in the Debutante Stakes at Churchill Downs, is a daughter of the Tapit   mare Just Wicked, who won the 2015 Adirondack for Winchell and Asmussen carrying the same saddle cloth number (7) as Wicked Halo.

"The Gun Runner part, the homebred part, it's all the stuff you dream about when you have a great horse," Winchell said. "Obviously, Gun Runner has been super impressive (as a sire). His (offspring) do everything right and the scary part is that nobody expects them to run this fast early. They expect them to get better as they get older. So, we're like, to get these kind of results now, what's going to happen when they get a little older and stretch out? That's what makes us so optimistic. It's going to be very interesting at the sales."

Winchell was delayed in returning from a wedding in Cancun and arrived at the racetrack about 20 minutes after Asmussen broke his tie with Dale Baird for the win record, but was in the house to view a stellar performance by his 2-year-old filly.

Wicked Halo dueled for the early lead with Microbiome  in the 6 1/2-furlong stakes through a demanding half-mile in :44.80. As Microbiome yielded turning for home, Wicked Halo and jockey Jose Ortiz opened a clear lead in the stretch and widened her margin in the final eighth of a mile, despite the tough early fractions.

"That's Saratoga time," Asmussen said after his second straight Adirondack win and fourth overall. "The filly on the outside (Microbiome) outbroke her a bit. They ride aggressively here and horses either respond or get beat and she responded. Just the way she acted pre-race and everything, it's a level of class that's hard to come by."

Sent off as the 9-2 fourth choice ($11.40), Wicked Halo covered the distance in 1:17.99 on a fast track. She is the second foal and first winner for Just Wicked, who has a yearling full brother to her and a weanling full sister and was bred back to Gun Runner for 2022. Wicked Halo, who won her June 5 debut at Lone Star Park, is now 2-for-3 and has earned $144,650.

Flurry Racing Stables' Interstatedaydream closed from last in the field of nine to grab second by a half-length over James Chapman and Stuart Tsujimoto's Saucy Lady T .

A Classic Empire   filly, Interstatedaydream was coming off a maiden win at Belmont Park for trainer Brad Cox, while Saucy Lady T, a daughter of Tonalist  , was third earlier in the meet in the Schuylerville Stakes (G3) for Chapman.

Ontheonesandtwos , the 2-1 favorite who was second in the Debutante, bobbled at the start and finished sixth.

Video: Adirondack S. (G2)