Gun Runner has Grade 2 winners on both coasts

Horse of the Year Gun Runner succeeded from coast to coast, with six Grade 1 tallies including the Whitney and Woodward at Saratoga and the Breeders’ Cup Classic at Del Mar. A freshman sire, Gun Runner was represented by graded stakes winners at both Saratoga and Del Mar over the weekend.

After Gun Runner’s son Pappacap won the Grade 2 Best Pal on Saturday at Del Mar, his daughter Just Wicked captured the Grade 2 Adirondack on Sunday at Saratoga. Just Wicked is trained by Steve Asmussen, who trained Gun Runner, and is owned by Ron Winchell’s Winchell Thoroughbreds, which co-owned Gun Runner.

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“Ron giving us horses like this makes all the accolades possible,” Asmussen said. “This filly, her mother won the Adirondack and what a great sire Gun Runner is proving to be.”

The freshman sire Mohaymen, who stands for Shadwell in Kentucky, had his first graded winner on Friday, when Elm Drive won the Grade 2 Sorrento at Del Mar. Freshman sire Caravaggio, who stands for the Coolmore group in Kentucky, was represented by his third stakes winner as Her World made a smashing debut in the Tyro Stakes at Monmouth. She was Caravaggio’s first U.S. stakes winner, following Group 3 Silver Flash winner Agartha in Ireland and French stakes winner Dizzy Bizu.

When the dust settled on the week’s juvenile activity, Gun Runner was atop the North American freshman earnings list with a bankroll of $714,097 through Sunday. He was followed by Coolmore sire Practical Joke, the sire of Grade 3 Sanford winner Wit, at $449,433. Caravaggio, who leads the way by individual winners with 14, was next on the earnings list at $437,961.