Gun Runner Tops Three Chimneys Stallion Roster

Gun Runner (Candy Ride {Arg})–the leading sire on the general sire list by percentage of Grade I winners, Grade I horses, graded stakes winners, graded stakes horses, black-type winners and black-type horses from starters–anchors the stallion roster at Three Chimneys Farm, where he will cover mares at a private fee for 2023.

Building on his leading freshman sire campaign in 2021, the 9-year-old is the sire of 11 stakes winners this season, including eight at the graded level and four Grade I scorers, including 'TDN Rising Star' and GI Longines Breeders' Cup third Taiba; GI Arkansas Derby and GI Haskell S. hero Cyberknife, who was just edged in the GI Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile over the weekend; and Early Voting, who became his first Classic winner in the GI Preakness S. this past May. Ten of his starters have earned Grade I black-type this term, while no fewer than 25 have been placed at stakes level. Gun Runner is also the leading sire of 3-year-olds, with nearly double the progeny earnings of his next-closest rival. Gun Runner's third-crop yearlings sold for up to $975,000 this year, while eight Gun Runner foals of 2022 have averaged better than $418,000 at this week's breeding stock sales.

Sharp Azteca (Freud), the leading freshman sire of 22 by winners with 30, gets a bump to $15,000 from $5,000 this past year. The fourth-leading member of his crop by progeny earnings, he is the sire of the brilliant Tyler's Tribe, who won his first five trips to the post by a combined 62 lengths and a pair of additional black-type winners.

The 2023 Three Chimneys stallion roster is as follows:

Gun Runner–Private

Sharp Azteca–$15,000

Volatile–$12,500

Sky Mesa–$10,000

Palace Malice–$10,000

Funtastic–$5,000

 

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“As Exciting as Winning a Race,” Steve Cauthen Talks Keeneland September Score

Steve Cauthen sat in the shade of Barn 42 at the Four Star Sales consignment Tuesday afternoon, basking not in the memory of his glory days as a Hall of Fame jockey, but in quiet celebration after selling one of the top-priced yearlings of the day at the Keeneland September Sale.

The colt, a flashy son of Sharp Azteca out of the stakes-placed mare She's Roughin It (Forest Camp), sold for $250,000 to Jerry Namy and Garry Simms.

“This is as exciting as winning a race,” Cauthen declared. “When you get a good one and people like it enough to fight for it, it's great.”

Cauthen has been involved in the breeding side of the industry since back when he was riding, when he owned a few mares that stayed with his father at the farm in Walton, Kentucky. After retiring from the saddle in 1992, the Sports Illustrated Sportsman of the Year took up golf for a while, but got bored after a few years. So, he decided to go out and find a few more broodmares to get more involved as a breeder.

Today, Cauthen has eight mares at his Dreamfields Farm in Kentucky. Most of the broodmares are owned in partnership with various friends. They focus on breeding to sell, but have also raced several homebreds over the years.

“We've done quite well,” Cauthen said. “We've breed some nice stakes horses. We bred a nice colt called Pegasus Wind (Fusaichi Pegasus) that ran in the 2006 GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile.”

Cauthen picked out She's Roughin It, the dam of this most recent yearling success, at the 2007 Keeneland November Sale for $80,000. The daughter of Forest Camp had placed in a pair of stakes as a juvenile and won once as a sophomore for Steve Asmussen before landing with Cauthen.

She's Roughin It's first foal, The Truth and K G ( Successful Appeal), won over $200,000 and placed in a Grade III. She has since produced five more winners including Francesco Appeal, another stakes-placed son of Successful Appeal.

“She has had a lot of good foals,” Cauthen noted. “They're all really typey and the great thing is, her last three foals have been the best foals she has had.”

In addition to this Sharp Azteca colt, the mare also has a juvenile filly by the same sire named T. T.'s Women who ran fourth in her debut earlier this month as well as a weanling filly by Cloud Computing.

Cauthen was first drawn to Three Chimneys sire Sharp Azteca when the Grade I winner retired to stud. Doug Cauthen, a member of the advisor board at Three Chimneys, encouraged his brother to go visit the new stallion. Now a standout young sire, Sharp Azteca currently leads his class of first-crop sires by winners.

Sharp Azteca is a big, beautiful stallion,” Cauthen said. “He's a striking individual and did plenty on the track, so I was happy to get involved and now I have a breeding right to him. I think with the fact that he has had MSW Tyler's Tribe, GSP Honed and SW Sharp Aza Tack, his horses are going for the top races and that's what gives people confidence to say maybe this horse can be a top stallion.”

Cauthen's colt was the first Sharp Azteca yearling to go through the ring this year at Keeneland September, with nearly a dozen more to follow as the week progresses.

Cauthen said that he had high hopes for his homebred from the beginning. The youngster spent his early days at Cauthen's farms before going through sales prep with Renee Dailey.

“This colt looked good since the day he was born,” Cauthen shared. “He was always a good type of individual and he just kept growing and improving. From a long time ago, I was hoping to get to $200,000 with him so this is a little better than I was expecting, but of course this has been a crazy good market. It's unbelievably strong and when you get to this point in the sale, there are still some good horses but less really nice individuals, so you hope [the buyers] all end up fighting for them.”

Cauthen is looking forward to watching another one of his yearlings go through the ring later in the week. His Cloud Computing filly out of the Dialed In mare Brilliant Dial sells as Hip 3381 with Fours Star Sales on Thursday. Until then, he'll celebrate today's achievement.

“The highest-priced yearling I've ever sold was $425,000,” he said. “My mares are nice but they're not Grade I winners so for me, this was great.”

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‘Funtastic Again’ Provides First Win For Funtastic

2nd-Saratoga, $101,850, Msw, 8-27, 2yo, 1m (off turf), 1:38.44, ft, 6 1/2 lengths.
FUNTASTIC AGAIN (c, 2, Funtastic–Repeta, by Broken Vow), seventh on debut after chasing the pace and fading late over Belmont's turf course July 1, drew in as a main track only entry Saturday and got the 9-5 nod for his second career start. Despite being difficult through the loading process and breaking last of the field, Funtastic Again, wearing blinkers for the first time, rushed up in a three-wide move to assume command seven furlongs from home. Showing the way from just off the rail down the backstretch, he stayed relaxed even as Triple Start (American Pharoah) came through on the inside to challenge. Given his cue into the far turn, Funtastic Again shook off that rival for good past the quarter pole and drew off, cruising home to win geared down by 6 1/2 lengths. The first winner for his freshman sire (by the late More Than Ready), Funtastic Again is already a half-brother to a pair of stakes horses in Lady Glamour (Discreet Cat), GSP, $126,170 and Mucho Del Oro (Mucho Macho Man), SW, $245,000. His only younger sibling is a weanling half-sister by Volatile, while his dam was bred back to Not This Time for 2023. Funtastic, a half-brother to both the dam of Gun Runner (Candy Ride {Arg}) and horse of the year Saint Liam (Saint Ballado), currently stands at Three Chimneys Farm for a fee of $5,000. Sales History: $60,000 Wlg '20 KEENOV. Lifetime Record: 2-1-0-0, $58,290. Click for the Equibase.com chart or VIDEO, sponsored by TVG.
O-Three Chimneys Farm, LLC (Goncalo B. Torrealba); B-BHMFR, LLC (KY); T-Wesley A. Ward.

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Summer of ‘Love’ Continues for Gun Runner With Latest Spa Debut Winner

6th-Saratoga, $105,000, Msw, 8-21, 2yo, f, 6 1/2f, 1:17.93, ft, 4 3/4 lengths.

GRAND LOVE (f, 2, Gun Runner–Grand Prayer {SW, $145,170}, by Grand Slam) continued the eternal hot streak for her superstar second-crop sire with a speedy debut score Sunday at Saratoga. Tipping her hand with a half-mile gate breeze in :47 2/5 (4/143) over this track July 31, the Three Chimneys homebred was let go as the 47-10 fourth choice and broke like a rocket from her inside post. Quickly two lengths clear, the bay showed the way through a :21.96 quarter while being chased by narrow favorite Rarify (Justify). That rival crept closer entering the bend and it appeared a stretch duel was imminent nearing the turn for home, but Grand Love would have none of it and burst clear again once straightening. Shying in from a right-handed Ricardo Santana, Jr. whip around the eighth pole, she jumped back to her left lead and stayed there for the remainder of the race, dulling her momentum some, but still kicked home a clear 4 3/4-length winner over Rarify in 1:17.93. A half-sister to Malibu Prayer (Malibu Moon), GISW, $618,026; and Valid (Medaglia d'Oro), MGSW & GISP, $1,104,647, Grand Love is the last reported foal for her dam, who sold for $1 million to Besilu Stables at Keeneland November in 2011. Grand Prayer is herself a half-sister to GISW Swagger Jack (Smart Strike) and GSW Tap Dance (Pleasant Tap). Lifetime Record: 1-1-0-0, $57,750. Click for the Equibase.com chart or VIDEO, sponsored by TVG.

O/B-Three Chimneys Farm, LLC (KY); T-Steven M. Asmussen.

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