Racing for the same trainer and owner that campaigned Gun Runner to a Horse of the Year campaign in 2017, Winchell Thoroughbreds Epicenter, trained by Hall of Famer Steve Asmussen, raced to a 6 1/2-length victory in Sunday's inaugural running of the $100,000 Gun Runner Stakes at Fair Grounds in New Orleans, La.
The Gun Runner is an official qualifying points race for the Kentucky Derby, awarding 10-4-2-1 to the top four finishers. The race is named after Gun Runner, who first came to prominence at Fair Grounds, where he won the Grade 2 Risen Star Stakes and G2 Louisiana Derby in 2016. While he finished third in the G1 Kentucky Derby, Gun Runner would race consistently throughout his 3-year-old season and was nearly perfect at 4 and 5, winning six of his seven final career starts, including the G1 Breeders' Cup Classic and G1 Pegasus World Cup Invitational Stakes. As a sire, Gun Runner has gotten off to an historic start in 2021, setting a record for progeny earnings from his first crop of foals.
Epicenter, the 5-2 second choice ridden by Brian Hernandez Jr., paid $7.80 for the win after covering 1 1/16 miles on a fast track in 1:44.19. Tejano Twist finished second, with Surfer Dude third in the field of seven 2-year-olds. Rocket Dawg, the 4-5 favorite from the barn of Brad Cox, was never a factor, after being unsettled and rank in the early portion of the race.
A son of Not This Time out of Silent Candy, by Candy Ride, Epicenter was winning for the second time in three starts. He ran sixth in his debut at Churchill Downs last September, then broke his maiden by 3 1/2 lengths at the Louisville, Ky., track next out on Nov. 13.
In the Gun Runner, Epicenter sat just off the early pace behind Surfer Dude, who set fractions of :24.41, :47.76 and 1:12.57 for the first six furlongs. Epicenter took command in the stretch, passing the mile marker in 1:37.63 and drew off in the final sixteenth of a mile.
Epicenter was bred in Kentucky by Westwind Farms and was purchased as a yearling for $260,000.
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