Mubtaahij becomes Gun Runner's latest Breeders' Cup Classic challenger

ARCADIA, Calif. – With his victory Saturday in the Awesome Again Stakes at Santa Anita, Mubtaahij won a free roll to the $6 million Breeders’ Cup Classic on Nov. 4 at Del Mar, adding to the power-packed lineup trainer Bob Baffert has pointed to the race.

But even though Baffert has Arrogate, Collected, Cupid, and West Coast also under consideration for the Classic, the potential favorite is Gun Runner, who has won all three of his starts since losing to Arrogate in the Dubai World Cup and who began his countdown to the Classic with a half-mile work in 50.40 seconds Monday at Santa Anita.

Gun Runner won the Whitney and Woodward this summer at Saratoga, briefly returned to Churchill Downs for a pair of works there, then was flown to California last week to do his final training into the Classic. His work Monday was the first of four he is scheduled to have at Santa Anita before heading to Del Mar, where he will have his final work.

Monday’s drill was “nice and smooth,” said Scott Blasi, the assistant to trainer Steve Asmussen who goes wherever Gun Runner goes.

“We weren’t trying to impress anybody,” Blasi said. “Just wanted him to get used to a new surface. We’re trying to keep him turned off for now. There’s lots of time.”

Exercise rider Angel Garcia was aboard for the work, and Blasi had Gun Runner’s opening quarter in 26.40 and final quarter in 24.

Mubtaahij on Saturday was making his first start since finishing fourth in the Dubai World Cup – in which Arrogate and Gun Runner ran one-two – and his first start since being turned over to Baffert. The victory was his first since the 2015 United Arab Emirates Derby; he had lost 10 straight since. He got a Beyer Speed Figure of 102.

“He needed this,”Baffert said. “He got a little tired at the end.”

Cupid was fourth in the Awesome Again as the 6-5 favorite while beaten a little more than two lengths.

“I was disappointed in Cupid,” Baffert said.

Midnight Storm, who finished second by 1 1/2 lengths in the Awesome Again, is a candidate for the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile on Nov. 3 or the BC Mile on turf the following day, trainer Phil D’Amato said. Midnight Storm was third in last year’s Mile on turf at Santa Anita.

“We’ll give it a week and let him relax,” D’Amato said. “We’ll let him go to the track and decide what to do next.”

Win the Space, who finished a head behind Midnight Storm in third, could run in the BC Classic, trainer George Papaprodromou said.

Win the Space closed from last of seven in the Awesome Again.

“I thought he had it for a second,” Papaprodromou said.

Win the Space was eased in the 2016 BC Classic at Santa Anita, then did not race again until Aug. 23, when he finished last of five in the Brubaker at Del Mar, a race won by Cupid.

– additional reporting by Steve Andersen