Strategy pays off as Built triumphs in Gun Runner Stakes

After the 2-year-old Hard Spun colt Built won a seven-furlong maiden race, his second start, in October at Keeneland, trainer Wayne Catalano and owner Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners decided to skip the bevy of opportunities at Churchill Downs in November and aim for the $100,000 Gun Runner Stakes at Fair Grounds. Catalano, a New Orleans native who cut his teeth at Fair Grounds, said the plan was to exercise patience and “take our best shot.”

Bull's-eye.

Built ($9.80) made an easy lead Saturday breaking from post 1 under Jareth Loveberry, went a slow opening half-mile in 49.23, and very much made the most of his tactical advantage. Picking up speed to run his quarter-mile around the far turn in 24.44, Built blasted through his fourth quarter in 23.50, dashing far clear of pace-chasing Magnitude. With a final half-furlong in 6.26, Built clocked 1:43.53 for 1 1/16 miles over a fast track, a good raw time made even more impressive by the slow pace.

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“He’s a nice horse. He did everything the right way,” said Loveberry, aboard Built for the first time.

Corey Lanerie, who had ridden Built at Keeneland, had been named on Built but, according to his agent, Jake Romans, missed his flight from Kentucky to Louisiana on Saturday. Loveberry said his agent, Steve Leving, a longtime Catalano friend and associate, told him Saturday morning he’d picked up the mount.

Magnitude, in hand and just behind Built at the half-mile pole, couldn’t come close to matching the winner’s speed, but held second, 6 3/4 lengths behind Built and 2 3/4 lengths in front of third-place Render Judgment. Render Judgment stumbled after the start, but not nearly so severely as did odds-on favorite Admiral Dennis, who tried a wide rally on the far turn but flattened out and finished a distant fourth, beating only overmatched Chris’s Revenge.

Nonetheless, all five runners picked up Kentucky Derby qualifying points, with 10 to the winner, then 5, 3, 2, and 1 for the other four.

Built, bred in Kentucky by Robert Low and Lawana Low, is out of the Curlin mare Sea Garden and, with Hard Spun on top, this is very much a stamina-laden pedigree. Loveberry, for trainer Larry Rivelli, rode another Hard Spun colt, Two Phil’s, to a second-place finish in the 2023 Derby.

Built, even accounting for his favorable trip, looks like the type who could make an impact in more important 3-year-old stakes early next year and into the spring.

“That’s what everybody is in this game for,” Catalano said. “Today was our day.”

Built has raced only three times, just once over a route of ground. It takes a talented young horse to run negative splits in a two-turn dirt race, as Built did Saturday. Even better days might lie ahead.

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