Gun Runner towers over Razorback Handicap rivals

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – The long shadow Gun Runner casts over the Grade 3, $500,000 Razorback Handicap is hardly lost on the connections of the seven rivals he will face when he launches his 4-year-old season on Monday at Oaklawn Park.

“Obviously, Gun Runner is a superstar,” said Bob Hess Jr., who trains Southern California invader Blue Tone. “We’re realistically hoping to run second.”

Danny Caldwell, who owns Domain’s Rap, the second highweight, joked that he isn’t even going to let his horse know that he’s facing an earner of more than $2 million.

“Tall task,” said Caldwell.

The Razorback will share a card with the Grade 3, $500,000 Southwest Stakes.

Razorback (Race 7)

KEY CONTENDERS

Gun Runner, by Candy Ride
Last 3 Beyers: 104-101-104

◗ He moves into the ranks of older horses Monday, but he already defeated them in his 3-year-old finale Nov. 25, when he proved 2 3/4 lengths best in the Grade 1 Clark Handicap at Churchill Downs. The race came one start after Gun Runner was second in the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile at Santa Anita.

“I think his victory in the Clark is one of my prouder moments in training simply because he danced every dance all year, represented himself very admirably in the preps to the Derby, in the Derby, in the Travers, in the Breeders’ Cup,” said Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen. “In this day and age, after a campaign as hard as that, and to beat multiple older Grade 1 winners – three weeks after [shipping] cross country – he’s very special. His physical ability, as well as his mentality, is very special.”

◗ Gun Runner is the 122-pound highweight for the Razorback following a season in which he won the Louisiana Derby and ran third in the Kentucky Derby and Travers. He arrived from Fair Grounds on Feb. 8 and in his final prep for the Razorback worked a bullet five-eighths in 59.80 seconds Feb. 13.

“Very excited, if not encouraged, by his work at Oaklawn,” said Asmussen, who trains Gun Runner for Winchell Thoroughbreds and Three Chimneys Farm.

◗ Gun Runner, ranked fourth among North America’s older males in the latest ratings from Daily Racing Form national handicapper Mike Watchmaker, will break from the rail under regular rider Florent Geroux.

“We try to play to his strengths,” Asmussen said of Gun Runner. “He’s got a nice cruising speed that very few horses match.”

Blue Tone, by Birdstone
Last 3 Beyers: 89-90-94

◗ Hess said there were a couple of reasons to send in Blue Tone, who won the off-the-turf Grade 3 San Gabriel in the slop Jan. 7 at Santa Anita.

“It’s a good purse, the horse is ready to run, and if the track comes up off, he likes that as well,” said Hess.

◗ Blue Tone set a pressured pace in the San Gabriel, then moved clear for a 1 1/4-length win. It was the horse’s first graded stakes victory.

“I thought he ran dynamite,” Hess said. “He was really competitive, and I’m hoping for something similar Monday.”

◗ Blue Tone, who will tote 116 pounds, will break from post 3 under Jose Ortiz.

“We’re quite tactical,” Hess said. “We can play the break.”

Domain’s Rap, by Cherokee Rap
Last 3 Beyers: 95-96-84

◗ He’s won both of his starts at the meet, including the $125,000 Fifth Season on opening day Jan. 13. Overall, he’s 5 for 7 at Oaklawn.

◗ Domain’s Rap is weighted at 117.