Vino Rosso, Without Parole help cap another good year for Gunthers

It would be impossible to top the year the Glennwood Farm of father-daughter team John and Tanya Gunther had in 2018, earning an Eclipse Award after breeding and raising unbeaten Triple Crown winner Justify. But the 2019 Breeders’ Cup proved to be a fine exclamation point to another fine season for the Gunthers. Vino Rosso, whom the family bred, concluded an outstanding season by winning the Breeders’ Cup Classic, and earlier in the day, the farm’s homebred Without Parole finished a creditable third in the Mile.

Vino Rosso, by Curlin and out of the winning Street Cry mare Mythical Bride, was raised alongside Justify at Glennwood. The colt was a $410,000 Keeneland September yearling purchase by Repole Stable and St. Elias Stable. Last year, Vino Rosso won the Grade 2 Wood Memorial before finishing ninth behind Justify in the Kentucky Derby and fourth in the Belmont Stakes as his former Glennwood stablemate swept the Triple Crown. This year, Vino Rosso has bloomed, with a pair of Grade 1 victories in the Gold Cup at Santa Anita and the Classic. He also crossed the line first in the Grade 1 Jockey Club Gold Cup but was disqualified to second behind Code of Honor.

“Well, John and Tanya Gunther, obviously, are great breeders,” said Mike Repole, who previously purchased multiple Grade 1 winner Stay Thirsty from Glennwood. “And just think, Justify and Vino Rosso, in the same crop, in the same pen, it’s pretty special – a Triple Crown winner and a Classic winner, side by side for the first couple years of their life. It’s pretty special.”

Without Parole, by Frankel and out of the unraced Lemon Drop Kid mare Without You Babe, scored a victory at the Royal Ascot meeting in the Gunthers’s silks last year, winning the Group 1 St. James’s Palace Stakes. Saturday’s Breeders’ Cup Mile marked his first start in more than five months, and first in the U.S. for trainer Chad Brown. The colt rallied from ninth in midstretch to finish third, beaten less than three lengths by victorious Uni.

“Tanya and I talked about it and felt that we should aim toward the Breeders’ Cup and take a shot, which is why we originally shipped him over from [John] Gosden to Chad Brown,” John Gunther said. “We were expecting to run in the Shadwell Mile at Keeneland as a prep, but Chad said he needed a couple more works. He has been working with Bricks and Mortar and has been really impressive. He wouldn’t let him get by in the breezes . . . Chad hopes to run him in the Pegasus [World Cup Turf] in January.”