haskell exacta offers continuing insight on gun runner’s elevation to leading sire

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bold ruler, bull lea, gun runner, measures of sire greatness, mr prospector

With a one-two finish in the Grade 1 Haskell on July 23, Cyberknife defeating Tiaba by a head, leading sire Gun Runner (by Candy Ride) is wading into the subtle distinctions that separate truly important sires from the select few who transcend the breed and reshape the sport in their own images.

It is too early to say that, with only one crop at age three, but Gun Runner is stacking up accomplishments that bear scrutiny against the great sires of the past.

One of the most important of those accomplishments is getting multiple top-class performers. That’s what makes a sire great – highest-quality offspring – but it’s so rare and difficult to achieve.

Thirty-four years ago, Mr. Prospector (Raise a Native) had the one-two in the 1988 Haskell. In one of the great rivalries of the 1980s, Forty Niner, the previous year’s champion juvenile colt, and Seeking the Gold, a lightly raced and improving 3-year-old, showed the speed and determination that made Mr. Prospector one of the greatest sires in history.

The sons of Mr. Prospector – the chestnut and the bay – turned the 1988 Haskell into one of the best horse races in history. It was a truly thrilling event rarely matched in sport, and yet the same pair of colts came back three weeks later in the Travers at Saratoga and restaged their epic duel with the same result.

In both races, Forty Niner was the winner by a nose.

Twenty-two years earlier, Bold Ruler (Nasrullah) had the one-two finishers in the 1966 Garden State Stakes. Some bold planning in the early 1950s had allowed Garden State Park to boost the purse of their Garden State Stakes to be the richest racing event in the world for 2-year-olds. It drew big fields of the top talent to race over a mile and a sixteenth, and it stood for a generation as a championship deciding event, much in the fashion of the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile today.

Coming into the 1966 Garden State, the leading colt was Successor, a full-brother to 1964 juvenile champion Bold Lad. Successor had defeated Dr. Fager (Rough’n Tumble) in the Champagne Stakes, then had a shocking reverse in the Pimlico Futurity when second by a neck to In Reality (Intentionally). Yet a success in the lucrative race in Jersey probably would clinch the divisional championship for the bay colt. (Dr. Fager did not race again in 1966 after the Champagne, which was his only loss at two.)

In the Garden State, Successor ran one of the very best races of his career and won by three lengths over the Bold Ruler son Bold Hour, who had six lengths on the colt in third. Earlier that year, Bold Hour had won the Hopeful and the Futurity; so his second in the Garden State was positively good form. As a 4-year-old, Bold Hour also won a race at Garden State Park called the Amory L. Haskell Handicap, well before that race swapped names with the Monmouth Invitational.

Successor profited from his extra racing at 2 to become the divisional champion of 1966, although he struggled thereafter. Dr. Fager, Damascus, In Reality, and Bold Hour made life tough for everyone else in the division too.

Of all the one-two finishes by great sires of the past, the greatest pairing in the greatest race came in 1948.

Juvenile champion Citation had not met the 3-year-old sensation Coaltown until the Kentucky Derby, when trainers Ben and Jimmy Jones sent both sons of Bull Lea (Bull Dog) out together on one of the worst tracks ever for the Kentucky classic. Churchill Downs that day was a muddy mess.

Coaltown possessed exceptional speed, which he had willingly displayed during his spring preps in Kentucky, and his front-running efforts at Keeneland had swayed local horsemen and observers to believe that not even Citation could cope with his kinsman’s ability to turn on the speed early and continue through to the finish.

Both owned by Calumet Farm, Coaltown and Citation ran coupled for betting and were odds-on in the field of six. The unbeaten Coaltown broke alertly and sped away to an open lead by the time he passed under the finish wire the first time. Coaltown continued to lead through quick fractions of :23 2/5 and :46 3/5, by which point Coaltown had whistled away to a six-length lead over the sloppy track.

Citation was racing in second under the capable hands of Eddie Arcaro, however, and the master jockey wasn’t going to be trapped into a speed duel with a stablemate. He understood pace far too well. Coaltown’s next two quarter-mile fractions of six furlongs in 1:11 2/5 and a mile in 1:38 brought him back to the field, and Arcaro had only to use a hand ride to catch Coaltown by the time he reached the stretch call.

Citation drew off to win “handily” by 3 ½ lengths in 2:05 2/5, and yet none of the other horses could close effectively over the tiring track. That left Bull Lea’s two great sons to take the first two positions in the Derby, and Citation went on to win the Triple Crown impressively. The next season, when Citation was on the sidelines regaining soundness, Coaltown took over as champion of the division and Horse of the Year in one of the year-end polls.

One of the barriers to clear comparisons between sires of the past and those of the present is that none of these older sires covered books nearly so large as those of the present. A book of 25 to 40 mares was considered adequate, even preferable, but stallions today are presented with a minimum of 125 mares annually, and some cover close to double that number.

Clearly, there could be some dilution of quality in the mates with such policies, as well as concentration of the top breeding stock in a smaller circle of bloodlines. But it does allow a stallion with the genetic and phenotypic excellence to be a super sire to get more top horses earlier than ever before.

Among contemporary sires, both Tapit (Pulpit) and Into Mischief (Harlan’s Holiday) started off far from the perceived “best” stallion prospects of their crops and had some relatively small early crops from relatively moderate mares. Even Curlin (Smart Strike) had quite a bit of commercial pushback until his early crops began to display consistent classic potential.

Uncle Mo (Indian Charlie) and Gun Runner have had the steadiest volume in their books of mares and the best results for quality among the stallions with very large books from the start of their breeding careers. Uncle Mo has proven himself both a commercial star and sire of champions, and there seems no reason to expect anything less from the chestnut newcomer to the ranks of leading sires.

a kingdom for this horse: gun runner adds fifth g1 winner with preakness victor early voting

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christopher chenery, early voting, gun runner, hildene, Kentucky Derby

“Now is the winter of our discontent

Made glorious summer by this sun of … Gun Runner”

— William Shakespeare, King Richard III

“Frank, are you misquoting Shakespeare again?”

“Well, sort of. I prefer to think of it as expanding the context of the immortal Bard, Ray.”

“I don’t believe the greatest writer in the language needs you to improve him. Consider your poetic license revoked.”

“Now don’t be hasty, Ray. I’m searching for an angle to write about the greatest young stallion in contemporary breeding … ahem, Gun Runner.”

“Oh, Secretariat! Not that again.”

But, yes, the chestnut shark from Three Chimneys has surfaced once again, this time carrying off a classic.

Gun Runner (by Candy Ride) picked up his first classic winner when Early Voting won the 2022 Preakness Stakes at Pimlico on May 21 by 1 ¼ lengths over Epicenter (Not This Time). Early Voting also became the fifth Grade 1 winner for his sire, following juvenile champion Echo Zulu, 2021 Hopeful Stakes winner Gunite, then a trio in the past two months: Taiba (Santa Anita Derby), Cyberknife (Arkansas Derby), and the Preakness winner.

Of course, Gun Runner isn’t doing all this by himself. He was bred to some very nice mares, such as the dam of Early Voting, the Tiznow mare Amour d’Ete. As a 2013 Keeneland yearling, Amour d’Ete sold for $1.75 million to Borges Torrealba Holdings. As sometimes happens, the well-regarded filly never raced and then was bought back at the 2016 Keeneland November sale for $725,000 when in foal to Kentucky Derby winner Super Saver (Maria’s Mon).

One reason for the appeal of the mare as a yearling and broodmare is that she’s a full sister to Irap, winner of the G2 Blue Grass Stakes and G3 Ohio Derby and Indiana Derby, as well as being the second-place finisher in the G1 Pennsylvania Derby and Los Alamitos Futurity.

A further reason is that Irap and Amour d’Ete are half-siblings to champion sprinter Speightstown (Gone West), a leading national sire standing at WinStar Farm, as Tiznow had done. All three siblings are out of Silken Cat (Storm Cat), a winner in three of her four starts and champion 2-year-old filly in Canada. Silken Cat produced four daughters who have gone on to be broodmares, and Amour d’Ete is the third to produce a graded stakes winner.

The others are the unplaced (in two starts) Cableknit (Unbridled’s Song), the dam of Capezzano (Bernardini), winner of the G1 Al Maktoum Challenge Round 3; and the unraced Gone Purrfect (Gone West), who is the dam of Golden Hawk (Tapit), winner of the G3 Grey Stakes.

The dam of Silken Cat is the Chieftain stakes winner Silken Doll, a half-sister to Grade 1 winner Turk Passer (Turkoman).

This family traces back through some distinguished racers and producers to a bay daughter of 1926 Kentucky Derby winner Bubbling Over (North Star III). Her name was Hildene.

Bred in 1938 by the Xalapa Farm of Edward F. Simms, Hildene sold as a yearling for $750 to engineer and entrepreneur Christopher Chenery, and she was once third from eight starts. At stud, however, she was something else.

Chenery sent his broodmare to a young sire standing in Virginia at Arthur B. Hancock’s neighboring Ellerslie Stud. The young stallion was named Princequillo, and the offspring from the mating of 1946 was a bay colt of 1947 that Chenery named Hill Prince.

Voted the top juvenile colt of 1949 in the Racing Form poll, Hill Prince was highly regarded for the 1950 classics and won the Wood Memorial on his way to the Kentucky Derby. Middleground (Bold Venture) won the Derby, with Hill Prince second. Then Hill Prince won the 1950 Preakness by five lengths from Middleground.

Racing through the rest of the year, Hill Prince won the American Derby and Jockey Club Gold Cup, among other good races, and was named champion of his division, as well as Horse of the Year.

Hildene went on to produce multiple other stakes winners, including champion juvenile First Landing (Turn-to). Among her foals that didn’t win stakes was the dam of champion filly Cicada, all bred by Chenery and racing in his Meadow Stable silks. Hill Prince was the Meadow Stable’s first national champion, and more than 20 years later, Secretariat was its last.

Seventy-two years later, the family has won another Preakness Stakes with another son of a young sire with his first crop of classic age.

a gun runner in every winner’s circle; racing’s version of a chicken in every pot

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arkansas derby, cyberknife, gun runner

The rich get richer, and the Gun Runners get more victories. Or something to that effect.

Gun Runner (by Candy Ride) had his third Grade 1 winner on April 2 when Cyberknife won the Arkansas Derby. It was the winner’s first stakes, his third victory from six starts.

Cyberknife has been maturing steadily since his debut on Sept. 25 last year. He finished first in that race, but was disqualified to second for interference in that maiden special, then finished second in another on Nov. 5. The colt won his maiden on the day after Christmas and kept it.

Starting as the third choice on Jan. 22 at the Fair Grounds, Cyberknife finished sixth in the G3 Lecompte Stakes that Call Me Midnight (Midnight Lute) won by a head from Epicenter (Not This Time). Then on Feb. 19, the son of Gun Runner won a Fair Grounds allowance by three lengths in 1:42.53 for 8 1/2 furlongs.

The Arkansas Derby was the colt’s next race.

Bred in Kentucky by Kenneth L. Ramsey and Sarah K. Ramsey and sold for $400,000 at the Fasig-Tipton select yearling sale of 2020, Cyberknife is out of the Flower Alley mare Awesome Flower. The dam won 11 races out of 33 starts from three to six, including a half-dozen stakes, and was placed second in the G3 Sixty Sails and third in the G2 Chilukki Stakes. She earned $556,593.

Sold to Arnold Heft for $45,000 at the Fasig-Tipton Eastern September yearling sale, Awesome Flower was a $30,000 claim for the Ramseys on Dec. 28, 2012 at the end of her 3-year-old season. Off until April 5, 2013, when she was once again risked for $30,000 claiming, Awesome Flower improved and won four of her next six starts, including the Lady Canterbury Stakes on July 13.

Ten of the mare’s victories and nearly all her half-million in earnings came for the Ramseys and trainer Mike Maker.

That racing record made the chestnut mare one of the top dozen performers by her sire, the Distorted Humor horse Flower Alley.

A good-sized, strongly made son of leading sire Distorted Humor (Forty Niner), Flower Alley sold twice. He had been bred in Kentucky by George Brunacini and Bona Terra Farms, and Flower Alley went through the Paramount Sales consignment for $50,000 as a weanling at the 2002 Keeneland November sale, then returned to Keeneland the following year and sold for $165,000 to Eugene Melnyk. The colt went on to become one of the most successful racers for Melnyk’s stable, winning five races and earning more than $2.5 million.

As a 3-year-old, Flower Alley was at the top of his crop. He ran second in the 2005 Arkansas Derby, then was ninth in the Kentucky Derby, but later in the year Flower Alley won both the G2 Jim Dandy and the G1 Travers, then finished his year with a second in the 2005 Breeders’ Cup Classic, beaten a length by Saint Liam (Saint Ballado).

Flower Alley came back at four, made four starts and was unplaced in three, winning only the G3 Salvator Handicap at Monmouth.

Even so, the classically inclined son of leading sire Distorted Humor went to stud in 2007 at Three Chimneys Farm near Midway, Ky., and sired a quartet of Grade 1 winners. Bullards Alley (Canadian International), Lukes Alley (Gulfstream Park Turf Handicap), and Lilacs and Lace (Ashland) were very good representatives for their sire, but the colt who put Flower Alley’s name in lights on the Las Vegas strip was I’ll Have Another.

Three times a winner at the Grade 1 level, I’ll Have Another was bred in Kentucky by Harvey Clarke, and the good-looking chestnut won the Santa Anita Derby, Kentucky Derby, and Preakness. A winner in five of his seven starts, I’ll Have Another earned more than $2.6 million and was named champion 3-year-old colt of 2012. After being declared out of the Belmont Stakes and the potential for a Triple Crown, I’ll Have Another was sold to stand at stud in Japan; he was sold and was returned to the States for the 2019 breeding season and stands at Ocean Breeze Ranch in California.

Just a few years earlier, Flower Alley had gone the other way. The stallion was sold to stand in South Africa at Wilgerbosdrift Stud for the 2015 breeding season, and he stands there for 80,000 rand (approximately $6,000) live foal.

None of those scenic locales are the destination of Gun Runner, the leading freshman sire of 2021 by a walloping $2 million over his nearest competitor and currently the sire of 10 stakes winners. He remains a homebody at Three Chimneys Farm, with a first crop now age three, and his son Cyberknife will be among the well-regarded starters for the Kentucky Derby on the first Saturday in May.