Gunite, Wit Square Off Again in Champagne Stakes

Graded stakes winners Gunite  and Wit  are the heavyweights leading a field of six in the Oct. 2 $500,000 Champagne Stakes (G1) at Belmont Park that includes a couple of brilliant maiden winners but no other stakes winners.

Winchell Thoroughbreds' homebred Gunite got the best of Wit in their previous start, the seven-furlong Hopeful Stakes (G1) at Saratoga Race Course, where the son of Gun Runner   prevailed by 5 3/4 lengths. Gunite is trained by Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen, who also trained 2017 Horse of the Year and current leading freshman sire Gun Runner.

"He'll be the horse in the field with the most experience so hopefully that does him well," said Winchell Thoroughbreds racing and bloodstock adviser David Fiske. "Typically, horses that come out of Steve's parents' training center (El Primero Training Center) in Laredo tend to break well from the gate. Facing all that adversity, that's something some of the other ones haven't faced. Hopefully, he's learned something from all of it."

The Champagne is a "Win And You're In" qualifying event for the $2 million Breeders' Cup Juvenile (G1) on Nov.5 at Del Mar, which will be run two-turns at 1 1/16 miles. Fiske said the timing of Champagne works out better for Gunite than would be a start in the two-turn Claiborne Breeders' Futurity (G1) at Keeneland Oct. 9.

"The timing is better in New York and Steve has some decisions to make with other horses," Fiske said. "He has a lot of horses and it's not easy to figure where to run them."

As for Gunite eventually handling the extra distance, Fiske said he had no concern.

"Last year, someone on the broadcast said that not having two-turn experience going into the Breeders' Cup is not a hindrance, based off a lot of the previous horses that won it," he said. "About half of them that won it only had one-turn experience. I don't think it's an impediment for him."

Asmussen expressed the same confidence following the Hopeful.

"The (Hopeful) distance; it was a little too short. (Gunite's) from a solid sprint family of the Winchells with Gun Runner giving him some endurance. He's very durable, mentally and physically," Asmussen said. "I love his style for the Juvenile."

Asmussen seeks his second straight Champagne win after scoring last year with Jackie's Warrior .

Repole Stable, St. Elias Stable, and Gainesway Stable's Wit endured his first defeat in the Hopeful where the dark bay or brown colt stumbled at the start and was forced out of position, but made up ground down the backstretch to finish second.

Wit won his first two starts by a combined 14 lengths, capturing his debut June 5 at Belmont Park en route to an impressive triumph in the six-furlong Sanford Stakes (G3) July 17 at Saratoga.

"He's got learning experience in all three of his races," said Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher. "He's gotten well-accustomed to getting some dirt in his face and dealing with some traffic. We're just hoping for a cleaner start. We tried to break well in his last race, he just grabbed himself a little bit and had to play catch up from there. The track wasn't kind to closers as well."

Wit, a son of 2016 Champagne winner and freshman sire Practical Joke  , is out of the unraced Medaglia d'Oro   mare Numero d'Oro . He was purchased for $575,000 at the 2020 Keeneland September Yearling Sale, where he was consigned by breeder Rosilyn Polan.

Other intriguing Champagne contenders include big-margin maiden winners My Prankster  and Jack Christopher .

Robert and Lawana Low's My Prankster makes his first stakes start following a 10-length score going 6 1/2-furlongs when he made his racing debut Aug. 21 at Saratoga. The son of leading sire Into Mischief   won with a hand ride from jockey Luis Saez and earned a 95 Equibase Speed Figure. Agent Jacob West went to $600,000 to acquire the colt for the Lows at the 2020 Fasig-Tipton Selected Yearlings Showcase. My Prankster was bred by Stonestreet Thoroughbred Holdings and consigned by Summerfield.

Three of Pletcher's six Champagne winners were victorious off debut wins: Uncle Mo   (by 14 1/4 lengths in 2010), Havana  (by 2 3/4 lengths in 2013), and Daredevil   (by 6 1/4 lengths in 2014).

Pletcher said My Prankster touted his first-out effort with a swift half-mile breeze from the gate preceding his Saratoga debut.

"He's not an overzealous work horse," Pletcher said. "If you hadn't seen that gate work, you might not have expected the debut he had, but he's a pretty laid-back colt. It's always a big stretch to go from a one-start maiden to a grade 1 stake, but we've had some success doing that."

Jack Christopher graduated in his debut going six furlongs Aug. 28 at Saratoga by 8 3/4 lengths. Trainer Chad Brown will seek his third Champagne victory after saddling previous winners Practical Joke in 2016 and Complexity   in 2018.

"Just off one race, he's going to have to take another step forward, but he was so brilliant with his debut," Brown said of Jack Christopher. "We've had horses have success here before doing that—Complexity comes to mind. Off just one race he ran very well in the Champagne and won."

Jack Christopher is a son of Munnings  , currently the sixth-leading North American sire by progeny earnings, and out of the Half Ours   mare Rushin No Blushin , who is a half sister to multiple grade 1 winner and sire Street Boss  . The 2-year-old races for Jim Bakke, Gerald Isbister, Coolmore Stud, and Peter Brant.

Kavod  and Commandperformance  complete the field.

Entries: Champagne S. (G1)

Belmont Park, Saturday, October 02, 2021, Race 8

• Grade I
• 1m
• Dirt
• $500,000
• 2 yo
• 4:40 PM (local)

PP	Horse	Jockey	Wgt	Trainer	M/L
1	1Wit (KY)	Irad Ortiz, Jr.	122	Todd A. Pletcher	2/1
2	2My Prankster (KY)	Luis Saez	122	Todd A. Pletcher	5/2
3	3Jack Christopher (KY)	Jose L. Ortiz	122	Chad C. Brown	9/5
4	4Kavod (KY)	Charles Roberts	122	James K. Chapman	50/1
5	5Gunite (KY)	Ricardo Santana, Jr.	122	Steven M. Asmussen	4/1
6	6Commandperformance (KY)	Tyler Gaffalione	122	Todd A. Pletcher	10/1