Business as Usual for Gun Runner in Half-Mile Work

For his last major work in advance of what now ranks as the most significant race in a career already ripe with achievement, Gun Runner went through a routine that is a microcosm for everything that has brought him to this stage.

Uncomplicated. Smooth. Willing to deliver whatever was asked of him in the moment. This all describes the easy-half mile breeze the son of Candy Ride  clocked over the Del Mar surface in advance of his expected run in the Nov. 4 Breeders' Cup Classic (G1). 

These descriptions also sum up why the 4-year-old chestnut colt is heading one of the deepest editions of the 1 1/4-mile test with the heaviest of expectations upon him. Like practically every one of his works before, Gun Runner delivered a rock-solid exercise that one would be pressed to find fault with as he covered four furlongs in :49 2/5 Monday under exercise rider Angel Garcia.

Accompanied to the track by Scott Blasi, assistant to trainer Steve Asmussen, Gun Runner went his usual wash-rinse-repeat routine of getting his job done with minimal fuss. After breaking off solo, the multiple grade 1 winner wasn't asked by Garcia at any point, extending himself down the lane and finishing up with good energy—typical for the horse who is expected to be the favorite in the Classic over the likes of champion and defending race winner Arrogate and grade 1 winner Collected.

"I thought his work was beautiful," Blasi said. "He's just been so consistent this year. What I like about Gun Runner is how generous he is still to do whatever you ask him to do. Sometimes when these stud horses get a little older, they get a little lazier. But he is just so generous with everything that he does.

"That being said, he's relaxed and classy. He is just very manageable."

Gun Runner's consistency has rarely taken a day off. The only time he has been worse than fourth in 17 starts came when he ran fifth over a rain-soaked track in the 2016 betfair.com Haskell Invitational Stakes (G1). He has been remarkably free of physical issues. He never throws in a lackluster training session. Even his copper-colored coat doesn't bear so much as a rub of hair growing in the wrong direction.

Where horses have returned from a trip to Dubai and held form, Gun Runner has come back from his overseas run—freakishly—stronger than when he left. Since his second-place finish to Arrogate in the March 25 Dubai World Cup Sponsored by Emirates Airline (G1), Gun Runner has delivered a trio of blowout victories in the Stephen Foster Handicap (G1), Whitney Stakes (G1), and his most recent 10 1/4-length romp in the Woodward Stakes Presented by NYRA Bets (G1).

"I'm going to say it's unprecedented in my career to have a horse that good that maintains his form for that long and takes care of himself like he does," said David Fiske, manager of Winchell Thoroughbreds, which co-owners Gun Runner along with Three Chimneys Farm. "I've never had another one like him or been associated with one like him."

Fiske was at the Grand Canyon Monday when his phone buzzed to inform him of how well Gun Runner's final preparations had gone.

"I told Steve (Asmussen) the Grand Canyon might be the second-most amazing thing I see this week," Fiske cracked.

Heading a potential championship-clinching run, Gun Runner has already been a marvel for his refusal to crack.

"He's running really fast right now. We just need that kind of race out of him like he's given us all year on the big days," Blasi said. "And he gives us confidence in that with the way he trains."

Monday also saw fellow Classic contender Win the Space work four furlongs in :49 3/5 over the Del Mar track.

Multiple grade/group 1 winner Mind Your Biscuits joined the list of Breeders' Cup contenders putting in their final moves, blowing out three furlongs in :36 2/5 in advance of the TwinSpires Breeders' Cup Sprint (G1). Fellow Sprint contender Calculator worked five furlongs in :59 4/5 while Turf Sprint (G1T) contender Hogy worked four furlongs in :50 on the main track.

Golden Dragon, likely for the Sentient Jet Juvenile (G1) worked five furlongs in :59 while fellow Juvenile contender Bahamian went four furlongs in :49. 

Breeders' Cup Mile (G1T) contender Ballagh Rocks worked a half-mile on the Del Mar course, going in :49 3/5.