Gun Runner at center stage for Eclipse Awards

Gun Runner will have a number of rivals when he ends his racing career Saturday in the Pegasus World Cup, but he has no challengers when it comes to Horse of the Year for 2017.

Sure, both Arrogate and World Approval were announced earlier this month as fellow finalists for the Horse of the Year trophy, which will be presented at the conclusion of the 47th annual Eclipse Awards dinner Thursday night at Gulfstream Park, but everyone knows this is a walkover for the Breeders’ Cup Classic winner.

When Gun Runner wins Thursday, it will mark the fourth time in the last 11 years that Hall of Famer Steve Asmussen has trained the Horse of the Year. In the Eclipse Awards era, which began in 1971, that has happened … never.

Elliott Burch trained the Horse of the Year three times in 12 years, between 1959 and 1970, and Carl Hanford won it consecutively from 1960 to 1964, but it helped to have Kelso all five of those years. One has to go back to the 1940s to find the last time a trainer has had the Horse of the Year more frequently than Asmussen: Ben Jones won it five times between 1941 and 1948 with the Calumet juggernaut.

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Gun Runner won five times in six starts last year, his lone loss a second-place finish in the Dubai World Cup against Arrogate, whom Gun Runner walloped in the Breeders’ Cup Classic.

Gun Runner will join previous Asmussen trainees Curlin (2007-08) and Rachel Alexandra (2009) as Horse of the Year. He also will be named champion older male on dirt, with Arrogate and Collected the sacrificial other finalists in the division.

Many other categories look like slam dunks – such as World Approval for male turf, Lady Eli for female turf, Abel Tasman for 3-year-old filly, West Coast for 3-year-old male, Forever Unbridled as top older female on dirt, Roy H for male sprinter, and Evin Roman for apprentice jockey. Chad Brown is favored to win his second straight training title, and Jose Ortiz is favored to win his first riding title.

But a few categories have genuine drama that should help spice up the night, most notably 2-year-old male, in which Good Magic and Bolt d’Oro both have strong support, and female sprinter, in which Bar of Gold, Paulassilverlining, and Unique Bella are the finalists in a wide-open division.

There are 12 equine categories and five for humans, with the winners all determined by first-place votes among members of the National Turf Writers and Broadcasters, Daily Racing Form, and the National Thoroughbred Racing Association. Of the 269 eligible voters, 250 returned ballots.

Also Thursday, Frank Stronach will receive the Eclipse Award of Merit; representatives of San Luis Rey Downs and Camarero race track in Puerto Rico will receive Special Eclipse Awards for responding to unforeseen tragedies at those facilities; and the NTRA will also receive a Special Eclipse Award for pushing legislation that changed federal withholding rules for gamblers. Those awards were previously announced.

In addition, media awards – also previously announced – will be presented to NBC Sports for live programming and television features; Daily Racing Form for audio and multi-media internet; Jason Frakes for feature writing and Denise Steffanus for news writing; and Nancy Rokos for photography.

The popular British broadcaster Nick Luck will be the master of ceremonies for the first time.

The Eclipse Awards ceremony begins at 8 p.m. Eastern and will be televised live on TVG, and is available via livestream at drf.com.