Seven years ago, a gray colt named Arrogate (by Unbridled's Song) won the Grade 1 Travers Stakes in a galloping tour de force on his way to becoming the season's champion 3-year-old colt, and on Aug. 26, a gray colt from the second crop by Arrogate followed suit by winning the Saratoga centerpiece.
Arcangelo has now won his last four races (from six lifetime starts), beginning with a maiden victory in March, then ascending to win the G3 Peter Pan Stakes in May, adding a classic in June with the Belmont Stakes, and now affirming his ranking at the top of this division with success in the Travers on Saturday.
This was a strong weekend of racing achievements for the deceased Arrogate. On the same day as the Travers, another of the stallion's second-crop sons, Abeliefinthislivin, won the G3 Canadian Derby at Century Mile Racetrack in Edmonton, Alberta. On the previous day at Saratoga, Arrogate's first-crop star, Kentucky Oaks winner Secret Oath, was second in the G1 Personal Ensign, the filly's third second-place finish in a G1 this season.
Then Arcangelo laid down trumps in the Travers. This race might also be referred to as the “Tapit Travers,” because the first two finishers are out of mares by Tapit (by Pulpit), and the third-place finisher, Tapit Trice, is a son of the three-time leading national sire.
Immediately behind Arcangelo in the Travers was Disarm, whose sire Gun Runner had been third to Arrogate in the 2016 Travers. Arrogate had then proceeded to win the 2016 Breeders' Cup Classic over California Chrome, the 2017 Pegasus, and the 2017 Dubai World Cup, when he overcame a poor start that put him last in the opening furlong and made up many lengths from a very disadvantageous position to catch Gun Runner about 200 yards from the finish and win by open lengths.
After the race in the desert, their careers diverged: Arrogate never won another race from three subsequent starts; Gun Runner never lost another one, from five, all G1s.
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If you appreciate our work, you can support us by subscribing to our Patreon stream. Learn more.Just as they were competitors on the racetrack, so Arrogate and Gun Runner have proven exciting rivals at stud. Despite Arrogate's early death before the end of his third season at stud, both have plentiful representation and have made their marks.
But, just as Arrogate blasted all his rivals to bits in the 2016 Travers, Gun Runner provided a similar display with this first crop of racers in 2021 and 2023, beginning his initial term at stud with juvenile champion Echo Zulu and G1 Hopeful Stakes winner Gunite, and continuing with a second season of stallion success that included G1 Preakness Stakes winner Early Voting; G1 Arkansas Derby and Haskell winner Cyberknife; Santa Anita Derby, Pennsylvania Derby, and Malibu winner Taiba; and G1 Cotillion winner Society. He was the leading freshman sire by a whacking margin, and Gun Runner has continued to show an extraordinary dominance as the leading sire of his third-year cohort.
Yet for all Gun Runner's excelling, there was one shocking fact about this season for the chestnut son of Candy Ride. As of Derby Day, Gun Runner hadn't had a single graded stakes winner in 2023. Not one.
By the end of June, he'd racked up a couple at the G3 level. After the year's midpoint, the tide has turned, and Gun Runner has now had how many graded winners? Six in the last 60 days.
Over the past weekend, Gun Runner had a pair of G1 winners at Saragota: Echo Zulu in the Ballerina and Gunite in the Forego, as well as Vahva in the G3 Charles Town Oaks. Now the tide is floating one boat, the Gun Runner boat.
With the number of the stallion's stock training forwardly and racing effectively, it is almost certain that the Gun Runner tide will be even more overwhelming in the months to come.
Bred in Kentucky by Besilu LLC, Gun Runner is the most successful stallion son of leading sire Candy Ride and is out of the graded stakes winner Quiet Giant, who's a top-quality daughter of leading sire Giant's Causeway. With that pedigree, combined with superior athletic ability, Gun Runner had every opportunity to make a mark at stud, and the handsome chestnut has done just that. Long may he run.
The post Bloodlines Presented By Iowa Thoroughbred Breeders And Owners Association: Travers Stakes Result Extends Rivalry Between Arrogate, Gun Runner appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.
