Gun Runner Posts Bullet in Breeze for Whitney

Winchell Thoroughbreds and Three Chimneys Farm's Gun Runner turned in his penultimate work July 23 for the $1.2 million Whitney Stakes (G1) Aug. 5, with a five-furlong breeze in 1:00.01 over the main track at Saratoga Race Course.

With regular jockey Florent Geroux aboard, Gun Runner was the fastest of 16 at the distance Sunday. New York Racing Association clockers caught the 4-year-old Candy Ride   colt, who worked in company, through a quarter-mile in :24 1/5, three-eighths in :36 1/5, and a half-mile in :48. He galloped out to six furlongs in 1:12 3/5 and to seven in 1:26 1/5.

"He looked very good working this morning," said Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen. "He's trained brilliantly all year long and it looked like more of the same to me. Florent had him nice and relaxed off (his workmate) early and he took over around the turn and finished through the wire really well."

The workout was the fourth local breeze for Gun Runner, who arrived at the Spa following his seven-length victory in the grade 1 Stephen Foster Handicap June 17 at Churchill Downs, his first race since finishing second to Arrogate in the Dubai World Cup Sponsored by Emirates Airline (G1) in March.

ANGST: Gun Runner Powers to Easy Stephen Foster Win

As a 3-year-old, the chestnut colt was a contender on the 2016 Triple Crown trail, when he tallied back-to-back grade 2 wins in the Veterans Ford Risen Star Stakes and Twinspires.com Louisiana Derby at Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots before he finished third to Nyquist   in the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (G1).

Gun Runner has not finished worse than third in seven starts following his troubled fifth-place effort in last year's Betfair.com Haskell Invitational Stakes (G1). His first grade 1 victory was earned in the Clark Handicap in November, when he bested a field of older horses with a 2 3/4-length victory to close out his sophomore campaign.

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"He was a very nice horse as a 3-year-old and reached a different level this year, and hopefully it'll continue," Asmussen said. "Obviously we have very big plans for him and we were very happy to see him win the Foster for his first race off the layoff.

"We've always been extremely high on him. Derby week, we thought we had a pretty good chance of winning the Derby. Horses of that quality are very special to begin with and I thought he ran some solid races last year. He did achieve his first grade 1 win in the Clark last year, and I do think that with a little break and some spacing this year, he's just a little faster horse."