2018 Eclipse Awards: Gun Runner

Gun Runner was one for the money in 2018, and then he was gone. The 2017 Horse of the Year was kept in training as a 5-year-old long enough to win the Pegasus World Cup at Gulfstream Park on Jan. 27, in a conclusive 2 1/2-length victory over 3-year-old champion West Coast, to put $7 million worth of icing on an exemplary career that touched parts of four seasons.

Once the Pegasus was in the books, Gun Runner entered stud at Three Chimneys Farm in Kentucky, along with his heady bankroll of just under $16 million.

Gun Runner’s appearance as one of the three Eclipse Award finalists for older dirt male is testimony to the enduring good taste he left behind as a racehorse of honesty and just enough durability to be at his best for the biggest events. Of course, nothing that happened in 2017 counts toward his chances for a second older dirt male championship in 2018. But his name on the list certainly classes up the joint.

There is precedent for outstanding horses having a serious impact with fleeting campaigns. Ghostzapper, the 2004 Horse of the Year, ran only once in 2005, but it was spectacular, taking the Met Mile in a near-record 1:33.29. After Native Dancer was outpolled for Horse of the Year in 1953 by the older Tom Fool, he needed only reappear for three starts and one stakes win in 1954 for voters to hail him as the champ. In 1940, when Seabiscuit was past his prime after 85 races, he needed only four starts and a grand finale in the Santa Anita Handicap to remind his fans of his greatness.

Gun Runner’s victory in the nine-furlong Pegasus was accomplished over a field that included not only West Coast but also champion mare Stellar Wind, Breeders’ Cup Classic runner-up Collected, the brilliant miler Sharp Azteca, and Gunnevera, who would go on to finish second in the 2018 Breeders’ Cup Classic to Horse of the Year finalist Accelerate.

The Pegasus marked Gun Runner’s 12th win in 19 starts. The son of Candy Ride and a Giant’s Causeway mare, bred by Besilu Stables, LLC, was trained by Steve Asmussen throughout his career for the partnership of Ron Winchell and Three Chimneys. Florent Geroux had the pleasure of riding Gun Runner in all but his first three starts.

Gun Runner’s inclusion in the third spot among older dirt male finalists with division leaders Accelerate and City of Light suggests that support was spread over several older main-track performers in 2018. They would include Suburban and Whitney winner Diversify, Metropolitan winner Bee Jersey, Kelso and Cigar Mile winner Patternrecognition, Woodward winner Yoshida, and Dubai World Cup winner Thunder Snow, who was also third to Accelerate in the Breeders’ Cup Classic.

– Jay Hovdey