American Horse of the Year (2017)
American Champion Older Dirt Male Horse (2017)
Sire Candy Ride
Grandsire Ride The Rails
Dam Quiet Giant
Damsire Giant's Causeway
Sex Stallion
Foaled March 8, 2013
Country United States
Color Chestnut
Breeder Besilu Stables LLC
Owner Winchell Thoroughbreds LLC and Three Chimneys Farm
Trainer Steve Asmussen
Record 19: 12–3–2
Earnings US$15,988,500
Major races:
Risen Star Stakes (2016), Louisiana Derby (2016), Matt Winn Stakes (2016), Clark Handicap (2016), Razorback Handicap (2017), Stephen Foster Handicap (2017), Whitney Handicap (2017), Woodward Stakes (2017), Pegasus World Cup (2018), Breeders' Cup Classic (2017
March 8 - Gun Runner
This is Gun Runner winning the Whitney at Saratoga. The race gathered some notoriety not just for the way Gun Runner dominated the competition . . . but because he finished the race with a horseshoe stuck in his tail. I painted this at the Keeneland yearling sale, and everyone wanted to make sure I included the horse shoe in the painting. I did - with one change, I turned the horse up so the good luck doesn't fall out.
Of the people that stopped by while I was painting, one was his trainer, Steve Asmussen. When asked about the shoe in the tail, he gave me the full story of when they first saw it and what happened with it, then he finished the quote that we will probably use in the upcoming expansion of A Brush With Greatness . . . "I'm undefeated when they let me run with five shoes."
Gun Runner was a tough, brilliant champion who became 2017 Horse of the Year and one of the most important sires in America today. He was foaled in 2013 and trained by Steve Asmussen for Three Chimneys Farm and Winchell Thoroughbreds. His sire was Candy Ride, the brilliant unbeaten Argentine champion, and his dam was Quiet Giant, a daughter of Giant's Causeway and a half sister to the great mare Rachel Alexandra. He was bred for speed and class, and he showed both throughout his career.
Gun Runner had a strong three year old season in 2016. He won the Risen Star Stakes and the Louisiana Derby on the Triple Crown trail and finished third in the 2016 Kentucky Derby behind Nyquist and Exaggerator. He came back later in the year and won the Clark Handicap, but it was at four years old that he became a true champion. His 2017 season was a near perfect campaign.
He started 2017 with a brave second behind the international superstar Arrogate in the Dubai World Cup. After that, he never lost again. He came home and won the Stephen Foster Handicap, the Whitney Stakes at Saratoga, and the Woodward Stakes in dominant fashion. The biggest moment came in the 2017 Breeders Cup Classic at Del Mar, where he beat the Triple Crown winning American Pharoah's brother Collected to claim the championship trophy. Gun Runner was named the 2017 Horse of the Year and Champion Older Dirt Male.
He came back for one more start as a five year old in the inaugural 2018 Pegasus World Cup, where he ran off to a brilliant win and capped his career as the all time leading earner among Three Chimneys runners. He retired with 12 wins from 19 starts and earnings of over 15.9 million dollars. Gun Runner went to stud at Three Chimneys and immediately became a sensation. He has sired Eclipse champions like Echo Zulu, classic winners like Early Voting and Cyberknife, and Breeders Cup winners like Taiba. Gun Runner is now one of the leading sires in the world, and his influence on the breed grows every year.
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