Gun Runner comes back strong from Risen Star win

It’s like clockwork. Nine days after a race, most high-quality Steve Asmussen-trained horses put in an easy half-mile workout, four furlongs in 51 seconds and change or something in that range. But there on Monday at Fair Grounds, nine days after he won the Risen Star Stakes in his first start at age 3, Gun Runner stepped outside the typical Asmussen pattern, going five furlongs in 1:02.80.

The deviation from norm in this case seemed like nothing but a good sign for Gun Runner, who displayed athleticism and gears in winning the Risen Star by a half-length Feb. 20 in his first race since November, and Asmussen confirmed that Tuesday.

“Nothing but happy with how he went back to the racetrack after the Risen Star,” Asmussen said.

Asmussen said he gave Gun Runner a longer work because the colt had shown so much energy – perhaps a little too much – coming out of his 3-year-old debut.

“He was being pretty playful, and I wanted to settle him,” said Asmussen.

Gun Runner breezed alone Monday, the slowest of eight horses to work the distance at Fair Grounds, and “most likely will work in company” when he breezes again next week. If all goes well, Gun Runner will race next in the Louisiana Derby, and a good showing there puts him in the Kentucky Derby.

Gun Runner, a compact chestnut by Candy Ride out of the Giant’s Causeway mare Quiet Giant, has an interesting history. He was bred by Benjamin Leon’s Besilu Stables, and when Leon decided to disband, Gun Runner was among 32 mares, foals, and yearlings whom Three Chimneys Farm purchased from Besilu in August 2014, according to Doug Cauthen, vice chairman at Three Chimneys. Gun Runner was taken to Ocala, Fla., to be sold as a 2-year-old in training last spring, but Asmussen and owner-breeder Ron Winchell expressed their interest in the colt before the sale and worked out an agreement to buy into him before Gun Runner went through the auction ring, with Three Chimneys retaining an interest.

“He’s an improving colt, pretty versatile, pretty tactical, and from a late-developing family, so hopefully he’ll get better,” Cauthen said. “Whether he’s ready the first Saturday in May to be the one, I don’t know, but hopefully he’ll be heard from for a while.”