Gun Runner and Classic Empire each gets first winner

Champions Gun Runner and Classic Empire each sired his first winner in the past week at Churchill Downs.

Gun Runner, the 2017 Horse of the Year, is the sire of Red Run, who was sent away favored in his May 9 debut and scored by 1 3/4 lengths on a sloppy track. Red Run, like his six-time Grade 1-winning sire, is trained by Steve Asmussen. He races as a homebred for Winchell Thoroughbreds, which co-campaigned his sire with Three Chimneys Farm. Gun Runner, by Candy Ride, now stands at Three Chimneys.

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Red Run, who was the third starter for Gun Runner, has additional ties to the Winchell program. He is out of the Tapit mare Red House, a full sister to that outfit’s champion Untapable.

On May 7, Classic Empire’s second starter Old Town Road prevailed at first asking, winning by 2 1/2 lengths at Churchill. The colt is trained by Wesley Ward for Colonel Stable.

Classic Empire was the 2016 Eclipse Award champion 2-year-old male, and the following season was second in the Preakness Stakes. He stands for Coolmore’s Ashford Stud.

The only North American resident freshman sires with multiple winners are Ashford’s Caravaggio, with three winners, all in Europe, and Spendthrift Farm’s Gormley, with two winners. Along with Gun Runner and Classic Empire, freshmen American Freedom, Keen Ice, and Stanford each has one winner.