The first stretch of the Fair Grounds road toward the Kentucky Derby passed through familiar terrain – the barn of trainer Brad Cox. After winning 2-year sprint stakes earlier Monday with Corona Bolt and Dazzling Blue, Cox sent Jace’s Road out to a front-running victory in the 1 1/16-mile Gun Runner Stakes. Making the lead before the first turn under Florent Geroux, who rode all the Cox winners, Jace’s Road went a moderate tempo – 24.46, 48.16, and 1:12.54 – before turning away odds-on favorite Determinedly and going on to a 5 1/2-length win in the $100,000 Gun Runner. The second win in four starts for Jace’s Road earned him 10 qualifying points toward the Kentucky Derby. Raise Cain edged Determinedly for second and got 4 points, Determinedly tw2o, and fourth-place Hayes Strike, who’d been third last out in the Grade 2 Kentucky Jockey Club, earned 1 point. Jace’s Road, a son of Quality Road and Out Post, by Silver Deputy, paid $6.80 as the second choice. He was timed in 1:44.84 for 1 1/16 miles over a fast track. Earlier on the card, a 2-year-old named Banishing was a good-looking maiden winner going the same distance in 1:44.80. Jace’s Road, owned by West Point Thoroughbreds and Albaugh Family Stables, notched an eye-catching debut sprint win Aug. 6 at Ellis Park before performing decently when third in the 1 1/16-mile Iroquois Stakes six weeks later. Racing on a sloppy track Oct. 30 in the Street Sense Stakes, Jace’s Road threw a dud, finishing eighth by more than 30 lengths.  :: DRF Bets players have exclusive access to FREE DRF Past Performances - Classic or Formulator! Join today.  “Last time he was very anxious before the race,” Geroux said. “Today he was much better warming up. I could tell his head was clear and he was focused.” Determinedly, crazily bet down to 4-5 following a seven-furlong Churchill Downs maiden win in his sixth start, chased the leader down the backstretch and came under strong urging from Luis Saez at the three-furlong marker while Geroux had yet to ask Jace’s Road. And as it appeared, it was Jace’s Road who had more in the tank, drawing steadily clear to win convincingly. “On [past performances] it didn’t seem like there was much speed. I thought if my horse would break well, I’d take it from there,” Geroux said. Jace’s Road did break well – and then he broke Determinedly. “We backed off him after the Street Sense. That was a complete throw-out,” Cox said. “I wasn’t really pointing him for this race, but he breezed well here the last two weeks, and we needed to have something in this race since we have several horses marching toward the Derby.” Cox has better ones – so far, at least - than Jace’s Road, but he was plenty good enough for the Gun Runner. Untapable Stakes Pretty Mischievous got a great trip under Brian Hernandez Jr. and won the $100,000 Untapable Stakes for 2-year-old fillies by 3 1/4 lengths over The Alys Look. Heavily favored Vahva did not get a great trip, stumbling badly at the start, racing from last in her two-turn debut, plugging along gamely to finish third. Brendan Walsh, who trains Pretty Mischievous for Godolphin, won the inaugural Untapable in 2021 with North County. Walsh on Monday also won the Spanky Broussard Memorial with Moon Swag as well as a 2-year-old maiden route race with Banishing, who looked like a serious prospect for Godolphin. :: Get Daily Racing Form Past Performances – the exclusive home of Beyer Speed Figures Pretty Mischievous captured two sprints to start her career and had been third behind talented Hoosier Philly making her route and stakes debut Nov. 26 in the Golden Rod at Churchill. Breaking from post 1, she rated kindly for Hernandez, tracking pacesetting All About Me through a half-mile in a moderate 48.31 seconds. All About Me retreated past the three-furlong marker, Pretty Mischievous going head and head with Hayunevano for a furlong before putting that filly away and running clear. The Alys Look, coming off a Fair Grounds maiden win, caught the eye rallying wide around the turn, but never came close to the winner while second best. Vahva, somewhat difficult to steer through the homestretch, got up for third over a fading Hayunevano. The first four home earned Kentucky Oaks qualifying points distributed 10-4-2-1. Pretty Mischievous stopped the timer in a moderate 1:44.05 for one mile 70 yards and paid $5.80 as the second choice. A homebred, the filly is by Into Mischief out of Pretty City Dancer, by Tapit. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.