Plenty of gifts for the horseplayer remain under the tree for Sunday's “Road to the Derby Kickoff Day” card at Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots. There are six stakes to feast upon on the 13-race program, which gets underway at noon CT.
The wagering menu includes a trio of Pick Five wagers, starting in races 1, 7 and 9. The sequence that begins in race seven is an “All Stakes Pick Five” with a $100,000 guaranteed pool.
With no perfect tickets in either early or late Pick Five when last we raced on Monday, the combined carryover of $103,891 landed in Sunday's late Pick Five, which begins in race 9.
Sunday's card unveils the inaugural running of the $100,000 Gun Runner and its sister race, the $100,000 Untapable. Both 2-year-old races events are named for Winchell Thoroughbred stars who were trained by Steve Asmussen. Kentucky Derby and Kentucky Oaks points will be awarded to the top four finishers (10-4-2-1).
“If nothing else it shows we are getting old,” Asmussen said with a chuckle. “It's very exciting for Fair Grounds to have an Untapable and a Gun Runner Stakes. Those two (horses) are great examples of the Winchell program and how successful it has been. I'm just extremely fortunate to have been a part of it.”
With the game's all-time leading trainer at the helm, it seems only fitting that Winchell Thoroughbreds would send out the 5-2 morning-line favorite in the 1 1/16 miles event in Epicenter.
“It would be very special to win the first running of the Gun Runner,” Asmussen admitted.
Sixth at odds of 13-1 after setting the pace in his career debut at Churchill on Sept. 18, Epicenter looked like a completely different racehorse in his second career start 3 ½ weeks later. Stretched out from seven furlongs to a mile, he battled the lead from post ten, took command late on the backstretch, and drew off to a 3 ½ length win.
“Nice horse, lot of talent,” Asmussen said. “I do believe with Churchill closing (the backstretch) this summer and us training the majority of our fall 2-year-olds at Turfway on synthetic, I didn't have a great read on him, or a lot of them, for their first runs. I thought his debut was a good race. He showed a little bit of ability and got a lot out of it, but he definitely got tired. He trained impressively off of it and his second race went exactly how we were hoping it and he looked well. That day Joel (rider Rosario) put him in the position to succeed and it will be a lot different going two turns at the Fair Grounds.”
By Not This Time, Epicenter is out of the Candy Ride mare Silent Candy, who was a stakes winning turf router during her career.
“I think two turns is his future,” Asmussen said of Epicenter. “He's got a nice pace about him and a pretty and sustainable way of traveling. The way he galloped out in his last start. He's been very consistent in his motion all along and I think two turns is what he wants to do moving forward.
With Brian Hernandez, Jr. calling the shots, Epicenter drew post one for the Gun Runner.
“I like the rail draw for the Fair Grounds,” Asmussen said. “Tight turns. Gun Runner himself had plenty of success from the one-hole at the Fair Grounds. The horse has been away from the gates in both of his races and I'd be surprised if he wasn't again.”
With three wins and three seconds from eight starts, Tom Durant's Tejano Twist (3-1 morning line) is the most experienced and accomplished 2-year-old in the Gun Runner field. The impressive, off-the pace winner of the Lively Shively Stakes last out at Churchill Downs, the son of first-crop stallion Practical Joke will test his merits around two turns for the first time on Saturday.
“The timing of this race and the chance to try two turns is perfect for us,” Calhoun said. “That's absolutely why we are here. I could have gone to the Springboard Mile for four times the money and I think that he would have fit very, very well in there, but at the end of the day it's time to find out how far this horse can run.”
Regular rider Joe Rocco, Jr. will invade to pilot Tejano Twist from post six.
“Do we need to start looking forward at the Road to the Kentucky Derby races or do we need to back off, freshen him, and make a sprinter out of him, that's the question he has to answer,” Calhoun said. “Pedigree-wise, on the bottom side, I'm a little bit suspicious. He's continued to move forward physically and mentally and has become a professional racehorse. With his style, he should be able to settle and relax, which should give him every opportunity to stretch out, if he can physically do it, if he's got it in him. That's what we are going to try and find out.”
A winner at first asking over seven furlongs at Churchill Downs on Nov. 19, Frank Fletcher Racing Operations and Ten Strike Racing's Rocket Dawg will also be asked the two-turn question for the first time by trainer Brad Cox.
“He surprised a little bit with how well he ran [on debut], as easy as he won,” Cox admitted. “We did like him, but thought he might need a race. He did win first time going 7/8s, I thought he did it the right way. He did it with a wide trip. I thought it was a very impressive race. He received a big Rag number. He is going to be up against it a little bit in regards to experience, most of these colts have three or four runs underneath of him. There is one colt (Tejano Twist) that has 8 races underneath him. We're hoping Dawg can make up in talent what he lacks in experience.”
At 3-1 in the morning line, Rocket Dawg will leave from gate three with Florent Geroux astride.
“In a perfect world I would like to run this horse in a first level allowance, get a foundation underneath him. He does things the right way. He acts like the further the better. We have always thought he was a horse that could stretch (out). He is going give us an opportunity on Sunday. I'm not necessarily thinking he has to win to have a race he can build off of.”
With a post time of 5:06 p.m. CT, the Gun Runner is scheduled as race 11 on the 13-race card. The remainder of the field with post position, jockey/trainer and morning line odds is as follows: Cypress Creek Equine's Waita Minute Hayes (post 2, Ashley Broussard/Ricky Courville, 8-1 ML), recently disqualified from the win in the Jean Laffitte Stakes at Delta Downs; Mark Stanley and Nancy Stanley's Surfer Dude (post 4, Reylu Gutierrez/Dallas Stewart, 5-1 ML), a game maiden winner over a one-turn mile at Churchill Downs last out; Michael McLaughlin's Kevin's Folly (post 5, James Graham/Tom Amoss, 8-1 ML), third in the Hopeful (G1) at Saratoga in early September; and Rich Strike (post 7, Sonny Leon/Eric Reed), claimed for $30K out of a 17 ¼-length maiden breaking win two starts back at Churchill Downs.
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