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Asmussen Hopes for Gun Runner Double on Saturday

A few weeks before the opening of the Saratoga meet, Steve Asmussen paid a visit to Lexington to see an old friend. The Hall of Fame conditioner stopped by Three Chimneys Farm, as he does regularly, to check in on Gun Runner.

“It's Three Chimneys,” Asmussen explained with a shrug from his barn at the Oklahoma earlier this week. “It's a beautiful place and Gun Runner deserves the adulation. He is a very special horse.”

A few hours after he made that statement, Asmussen's star filly Echo Zulu, of course a daughter of Gun Runner, earned her seventh career graded stakes victory in the GII Honorable Miss H. on Wednesday. The 'TDN Rising Star' and champion juvenile was gearing down at the wire as she won by 7 1/4 lengths.

The Asmussen and Winchell Thoroughbreds camp is hoping that win was just the start of a big weekend for their Horse of the Year-turned-sire sensation.

On Saturday, two sons of Gun Runner will sport the Winchell silks at Saratoga while facing graded stakes company. Gunite looks to get his second career Grade I victory in the Alfred G. Vanderbilt S. while Disarm returns to the track where he first saw the winner's circle for the GII Jim Dandy S.

Disarm has struggled to cross the wire first as a 3-year-old, but he put in solid efforts throughout the year when he was second in the GII Louisiana Derby, third in the GIII Lexington S. and fourth in the GI Kentucky Derby. He got his first win on the year over a sloppy track in the GIII Matt Winn S. on June 11.

“It was good to see him win,” said Asmussen. “He has run competitively, but has not been in the winner's circle since his maiden race, which was here in Saratoga last summer. With the fact that he has run at Saratoga and won, we're comfortable with how he'll handle the circumstances on the racetrack, but it's a very talented group for the Jim Dandy.”

As defining of a race for the 3-year-old crop as ever, the Jim Dandy drew the third, fourth and fifth-place finishers of this year's GI Kentucky Derby with Angel of Empire (Classic Empire), Disarm and Hit Show (Candy Ride {Arg}), but they'll all have to face reigning juvenile champion and GI Belmont S. runner-up Forte (Violence). Disarm and Forte will stand together in the starting gate, drawing the first and second post positions, respectively, for Saturday's mile and an eighth contest.

The ever-consistent Gunite has always put in strong performances at the Spa. As a juvenile he was second there in the GII Saratoga Special S. and went on to dominate in the GI Hopeful S. Last year at three, he claimed the GII Amsterdam S. at odds of 7-1 and then finished second to Jack Christopher (Munnings) in the GI H. Allen Jerkens Memorial S.

Disarm breaks his maiden in Saratoga last summer | Sarah Andrew

This year, Gunite returns to Saratoga with a two-for-four record as a 4-year-old and is coming off a win in the June 3 Aristides S. at Churchill Downs.

The seven-horse Vanderbilt field includes Juddmonte's champion sprinter Elite Power (Curlin), who bested Gunite earlier this year in the G3 Riyadh Dirt Sprint in February, but Asmussen is as confident as ever in his star sprinter.

“He's coming off probably his fastest race ever with his win at Churchill,” he said. “He gets to run against Elite Power again, but Gunite has seen the best and it doesn't bother him. He brings it all the time.”

Asmussen has always a big believer in Gunite and the grit the dark bay has shown throughout his career. He recalled how Gunite made the trip west for the Breeders' Cup in 2021 not to compete himself, but to help prepare Echo Zulu for her winning bid in the Juvenile Fillies.

“We took him to California because I didn't want to change Echo Zulu's workmate before the Breeders' Cup,” Asmussen explained. “For him to still be running at this level is so rare.”

Asmussen finds several similarities in these two sons of Gun Runner.

“As far as what their specialty is, that might separate them, but their similarities are their attitude and their approach to training,” he explained. “They're extremely hardy–their appetite, how they take pressure. It's a quality that I think they definitely get from Gun Runner.”

Saratoga seems to be a productive place for Gun Runner, who earned two Grade I victories there in 2017 in the Whitney S. and the Woodward S. In 2021, two of the top performers out of his first crop made a statement on closing weekend when Echo Zulu claimed the GI Spinaway S. and the next day, Gunite took home the Hopeful.

“How could you top that one?” Asmussen said with a laugh. “I don't think it's possible, but that actually did happen. You couldn't be a bigger Gun Runner fan than I am, but to see him come out setting records like he does is extremely special.”

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After A Chilly Reception From Stallion Farms, Rombauer Is Making His Way Back To The Races

Back in early 2022 when John and Diane Fradkin announced that their homebred GI Preakness winner Rombauer (Twirling Candy) was being retired after suffering a soft tissue injury they went to work to find him his new home. The horse has a good pedigree and is a Grade I winner, so the expectations were that he'd stand at stud in Kentucky. Regional markets were also considered. Another option was Japan. But no matter where their horse might land, the Fradkins decided that Rombauer's racing career was over.

That was the plan, until the plan went awry. Rombauer's current home is not in Central Kentucky but in South Florida. Based at Gulfstream Park for trainer Saffie Joseph Jr., Rombauer is in training and could make his next start some time next month. He has not raced since finishing third more than two years ago in the 2021 GI Belmont S.

“I never expected this,” John Fradkin said.

The calls began after the decision was made to retire Rombauer and the Fradkins reached out to all the usual suspects. While they were willing to listen to any offers, they felt their horse had done enough to have earned the right to stand in Kentucky. He had also won the El Camino Real Derby and finished second in the GI American Pharoah S. and third in the GII Blue Grass S. while earning $1,040,500. He was a winner on dirt, turf and synthetic. Those are solid credentials, but the Kentucky farms weren't sold.

“The only real market in this country is Kentucky and Kentucky wasn't interested in him, which shocked me,” Fradkin said. “I never received a real offer in writing at any price. I did offer the horse to several places for what I thought was a spectacular deal, where they would almost be guaranteed to get their money back in one year, and they still didn't take it.”

The Japanese weren't interested, either, Fradkin said. He might have been able to find a farm outside of Kentucky to take Rombauer, but he didn't aggressively pursue that avenue. Whether it was from Kentucky, Japan, New York, California, Maryland, Fradkin said he never received an official offer in writing for the horse from anyone.

“The plan was to have him stand in Kentucky,” Fradkin said. “Plan B was Japan. Plan C was to run him again, and that's what we are doing. To borrow a quote from Jena Antonucci, 'when there's no seat at the table, you have to build your own table.'”

Fradkin admits that not everyone among the group that teamed up to win the Preakness was on board with the comeback. Rombauer was trained by Michael McCarthy and the Fradkins offered to give him the horse back. He declined.

“Michael wasn't that receptive to training him for a comeback,” Fradkin said. “His exact comment was that he had done enough and should be a stallion. I don't disagree with that, but the stallion farms weren't interested in him. We couldn't force them to take the horse. Michael is a conservative guy and I respect that. He just didn't want to be responsible if something goes wrong. I have two trainers and Saffie is my East Coast trainer. Saffie was up for it. So he's with Saffie now.”

After the Belmont, Rombauer was training at Del Mar and the Fradkins were looking at races like the GI Haskell S. and the GI Travers S. After McCarthy expressed concerns that the horse wasn't 100 percent, they gave him 90 days off. Back in training and gearing up for a 4-year-old campaign, Rombauer suffered the soft tissue injury and the decision was made to retire him.

After deciding to regroup because of the lack of interest from the stallion farms, the Fradkins put Rombauer back into light training at WinStar Farm on Dec. 1. The next stop was Ocala and from there he went to Joseph's barn at Gulfstream, where he arrived in mid-June. He has had two official workouts for Joseph, both at three furlongs. Fradkin is thrilled with how the horse is doing.

“Rombauer is happy and thriving at the racetrack,” he said. “I am sure that he enjoys being back in training.”

Should Rombauer make it back to the races in August that will mean a gap of about 26 months between races. Fradkin believes it's an obstacle he can overcome.

“The world is going to get to see a bigger, faster version of Rombauer,” he said. “One thing people may remember about him is that in his moment of glory in the Preakness he looked like this little horse galloping by these much bigger horses. I think people will be surprised by how big he is now. It's not for sure that we'll make it back. Things could always go wrong. But if he makes it back he's going to make it back at a high level.”

For the Fradkins, the ideal scenario would be for the now 5-year-old to win some major races during his comeback, to do enough that next time around the major Kentucky stallion farms will come knocking on their door. If not, Fradkin is confident he will be able to work out a deal with a farm in another state.

“He will be a stallion some day,” he said. “So far as where, we'll just have to see how things turn out. In the meantime, we're ready to try him on the big stage once again.”

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Classic Winner And Sire Indian Haven Dies At 23

Classic winner Indian Haven (GB) (Indian Ridge {Ire}), a winner of the 2003 G1 Irish 2000 Guineas, died peacefully in his paddock at Chapel Stud on Tuesday. The son of G2 Prix de Royallieu and G2 Park Hill S. heroine Madame Dubois (GB) (Legend Of France) was 23.

Bred by Cliveden Stud, the chestnut was a 62,000gns Tattersalls October yearling, and later brought 95,000gns at the Tattersalls Autumn Horses-in-Training Sale in 2002. Trained by Paul D'Arcy, he was ridden by John Egan for racing owners Peter Gleeson, Julian Smith, and Loz Conway. A first-out juvenile winner at Yarmouth in July of 2002, Indian Haven won the Listed Victor Chandler European Free H. in the spring of his 3-year-old year and landed the Irish 2000 Guineas by a length that May.

Retired to the Irish National Stud in 2005 with three wins from 12 starts and over $300,000 in earnings, he moved to the Bond family's Withyslade Stud in Wiltshire in 2012. Suzi Prichard-Jones leased the stallion from David Bond beginning in 2021 and accordingly he moved to Chapel Stud that year. His 2023 fee was £1,500. Overall, he sired several stakes winners led by group winners Ashram (Ire) and Aspen Darlin (Ire).

Roisin Close, owner and manager of Chapel Stud, said of the late representative of the increasingly rare Byerley Turk line, “It's been an honour to stand Indian Haven on behalf of Suzi Prichard-Jones. He was a pleasure to deal with, and got every mare in-foal during the three seasons he stood with us. He will be greatly missed by us all at Chapel Stud.

“Mostly it is a huge loss to the Thoroughbred racehorse, with another thread in an already diminishing line now gone.”

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Turkish Expatriate El Corredor Dead at 26

GI Cigar Mile H. winner and former Hill 'n' Dale sire El Corredor (Mr. Greeley–Silvery Swan, by Silver Deputy) has died at the age of 26 in Turkey, according to Turkish news source Yaris Dergisi. El Corredor has stood since 2015 at the Turkey Jockey Club's Silivri Stallion Complex until reportedly passing away Tuesday, June 20.

A $110,000 Keeneland September yearling from the first crop of Mr. Greeley, El Corredor was purchased by Bob Baffert and raced in the colors of Hal J. Earnhardt III. The dark bay won the Cigar Mile and GII Del Mar Breeders' Cup H. at three before adding a second edition of the Del Mar Breeders' Cup and the GII Pat O'Brien H. at four. Often brilliant but frequently plagued by quarter cracks, the Needham-Betz Thoroughbreds/Liberation Farm-bred retired with a record of 10-7-1-0 and earnings of $727,920.

After standing several years in Kentucky, as well as stints at Questroyal North in New York and The Stallion Station at Copper Crowne in Louisiana, plus shuttling several seasons to Argentina, El Corredor was purchased to stand in Turkey for the 2015 breeding season. He has 33 black-type winners bred in the Northern Hemisphere, including Grade I winners Adieu, Backseat Rhythm, Crisp, and Dominican, and five other graded winners.

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