The eight 2-year-olds entered in the 1 1/16-mile Gun Runner qualify for an entry-level allowance. Only Crown the Buckeye has more than one win, and his Ohio-bred races wouldn’t count against allowance eligibility. Two things the $100,000 Gun Runner offers that an allowance doesn’t: a trophy and Kentucky Derby qualifying points distributed 10,5,3,2, and 1 to the first five finishers. No one in the race seems higher on their horse than Kenny McPeek, who, in addition to Liberty National, sends out Very Connected, who exits a couple of mild stakes performances. McPeek hopes he can step it up a level, and he hopes Liberty National can emulate Mystik Dan, whom McPeek trained to win the 2024 Derby “This could be any kind of horse,” McPeek said of Liberty National. “Physically, he’s just imposing. This is a lot more horse than Mystik Dan.” :: Big Action in the Big Easy at Fair Grounds! DRF Past Performances and Picks are available now. Liberty National ran in his seven-furlong debut like many McPeek first-time starters – a horse who had not been pushed and needed the race physically and mentally while racing over a sprint distance short of his best. Second time out, jockey Brian Hernandez Jr. engineered a great route trip for Liberty National, slipping through along the rail after turning for home. His mount made the most of it. Facing 11 foes of at least decent quality, the visually impressive Liberty National pulled away to a 4 1/4-length win. “The way he stretched out the last three-sixteenths was very impressive. I think he’s begging for more ground. Third start, I think he’s primed for his best,” McPeek said. Taking all of that into account, Liberty National could go off lower than his morning-line odds of 7-2. So could Chip Honcho, listed at 9-2 and four places better than Liberty National in their common debut. Chip Honcho also went on to a second-start maiden win, his coming at a one-turn mile. In his first two-turn try Saturday, Chip Honcho adds blinkers after ducking sharply into the main-track gap while leaving the backstretch chute last out. “I think the horse has good ability and a lot of room to improve, and I think he will be fine with how far we’re going,” said trainer Steve Asmussen. Mesquite debuted sprinting in the strongest 2-year-old maiden race of the Keeneland meet, finding late stride to finish sixth and gallop out past the winner. Second out, he won a Churchill route despite several mistakes – breaking poorly, racing greenly, and idling after making the lead at the furlong grounds. “Just immaturity,” trainer Cherie DeVaux said. “He seems to have moved forward. Hopefully there’s a lot of improvement in there over time and with racing.” Trainer Brad Cox entered three. There’s a decent chance Arabia Wild doesn’t run, and Quality Mischief looks too slow, but Mister Punch, despite winning his maiden race for a $100,000 claiming tag, rates a chance. He figures to be forwardly placed near Crown the Buckeye and did finish nicely winning his second-start dirt debut, galloping out a mile in front. :: Subscribe to the DRF Post Time Email Newsletter: Get the news you need to play today's races!  “I like him, and he’s trained well out of that,” said Cox, who ships Mister Punch from Payson Park in Florida. It’s December. These 2-year-olds are still sorting themselves out. The Gun Runner’s that kind of race. The Untapable Hit Parade began her career losing a Horseshoe Indianapolis turf race before winning a $50,000 maiden-claiming contest in her second start, yet she still looks like the horse to beat in the $100,000 Untapable. The Untapable, a Kentucky Oaks qualifier (points awarded 10, 5, 3, 2, and 1 to the top five finishers) contested over one mile and 70 yards, drew a modest group of eight 2-year-old fillies, though Hurricane Kate is expected to be scratched in favor of a Delta Downs race. The trainers of two other cross-entered horses, Funny Bunny and Miss Call, will run them in the Untapable. Hit Parade’s 47 Beyer Speed Figure doesn’t do her second-start maiden win justice. Caught in traffic, steadied, and checked while racing behind a glacial route pace, Hit Parade still got up by two lengths, and her Beyer jumped to an 81 when trainer Brad Cox ran her back under starter-allowance conditions in a one-turn mile “She’s overcome some things, always acted like a filly who’d be better the farther she’d go,” Cox said. “She is eligible for a [first-level allowance]. She needs to step up.” Does she? Luv Your Neighbor makes her two-turn debut after a decent second sprinting in a Fair Grounds allowance. Have Faith, class-wise, is a slower version of Hit Parade without the two-turn experience. Two-start maiden Funny Bunny looks steeply overmatched, and Hit Parade already beat Last Call. Actis won the My Trusty Cat at Delta but already has raced six times, leaving Pashmina as the main competition. Trainer Rob Atras didn’t debut Pashmina on turf strictly because he thought she was a grass horse, and off that sixth-place grass finish, Pashmina switched to dirt and won a Fair Grounds maiden route by more than 10 lengths under Ben Curtis. Suspect competition, but a good-looking filly. “I thought she showed a lot of raw talent,” Atras said. “She’s still green, but Ben was pretty happy with her. Every time he asked her to pick it up, she responded.” She need not pick it up all that much more to top the Untapable. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.