Gun Runner comes out blazing, leads freshman sires

Gun Runner, the 2017 Horse of the Year, has made a fine start to his second career as a sire. Not only is he the early leader of his freshman sire class by earnings, he leads all North American juvenile sires through the first half of 2021.

Gun Runner is represented by five individual winners, including stakes-placed Wicked Halo, from 10 first-crop starters to date, with his runners bankrolling $325,703 through June 27. He leads all 2-year-old sires, with Coolmore’s Munnings second at $252,574, with four winners from 11 starters this year.

Officially, this is the halfway point of 2021; however, as juvenile racing in North America only began in April, these statistics are early on the curve, especially with the boutique summer meets at Saratoga and Del Mar, featuring rich maidens and well-supported 2-year-old stakes, still to come.

Second to Gun Runner, who stands at Three Chimneys Farm, on the freshman earnings list is Coolmore’s Caravaggio, with $210,984. He is leading freshman sires with eight winners from a sizable 34 starters to date, including French stakes winner Dizzy Bleu. His winners have come in Europe, where the young stallion stood his first three seasons before moving to Coolmore’s Kentucky location this year.

Gun Runner is one of five stallions in this freshman sire class for Candy Ride. That veteran sire stands at Lane’s End Farm, which also stands his son Unified. The latter was represented by a first-crop stakes winner on Saturday as Behave Virginia won the Debutante Stakes at Churchill Downs – with Wicked Halo, by Gun Runner, third.