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Road To Kentucky Derby: Track Phantom Impresses In Gun Runner In Year’s Final Derby Prep

Track Phantom left heavy favorite Nash toiling in his wake nearing the stretch and continued on to win the $100,000 Gun Runner on Saturday at Fair Grounds. The son of Quality Road, trained by Steve Asmussen, earned 10 points toward a spot in the 150th Kentucky Derby (G1) next May.

After pressing the speed-and-fade Next Level through the :23.61 first point of call, Track Phantom made a deft move at the three-furlong pole and sustained the momentum to lead through the first half-mile in a swift :46.93. Although he had the 1-2 favorite Nash and Snead in pursuit across Fair Grounds' long homestretch, the rising star held sway to the wire, stopping the clock at 1:44.42 for 1 1/16 miles. Snead was second, 1 3/4 lengths in front of 1-2 favorite Nash in third.

L and N Racing, Clark Brewster, Jerry Caroom, and breeder Breeze Easy's Track Phantom returned $11.80 for the victory.

“It's impressive that both of his two turn races have been victories, and it was a good field today,” Asmussen said. “I actually thought they went too fast in the middle, you know, :46 4/5 here in a two-turn race, you don't see horses see it out very often. He's obviously a very good horse who has some room to physically develop and we have him right where want to be at this stage of his career.”

Named for one of the all-time greats, the initial Gun Runner was won by the Asmussen-trained Epicenter two years ago. That colt would later take down both the Risen Star (G2) and Louisiana Derby (G2) in advance of a runner-up performance in the Kentucky Derby.

“Gun Runner was such a special horse for us,” said Asmussen, who conditioned the 2017 Horse of the Year. “He got started during his 2-year-old, 3-year-old season here, which put him on the map, and the things he went on to do were obviously very special.”

In town to ride just this one race, Christian Torres piloted Track Phantom to the 1 1/4-length win over Snead. It was the up-and-coming jockey's first career Fair Grounds win from just three local mounts.

“He broke sharp for us like we expected,” Torres said. “Going into the first turn I was trying to let the one horse (Next Level) go and save (my horse). On the backside, he kind of relaxed a little bit, but I knew we were going a little bit fast. The way he was traveling, he felt comfortable and he was well in hand. I just waited until we turned for home to really ask him and when he did, he just took off.”

After settling near the back through the opening half mile, Snead made a wide move with intention though the far turn, setting his sights on the leaders, and making quick work of Nash. Trained by Brendan Walsh and guided by Jareth Loveberry, Snead kept coming at Track Phantom but fell short. The son of Nyquist earned five Derby qualifying points.

“That was a huge one,” Walsh said. “I'm delighted. You'd like to think he'd improve more because he's that type of horse and that the further he goes the better he'll get. He ran at that horse again right at the end. I don't think the pennies dropped with this horse still. He's so laid back. When things really click with him, who knows (what he could do) if he keeps going the right way.”

Nash stalked the front-runners and tried to muster a bid in the homestretch but could never find a run to match strides with the top two. The son of Medaglia d'Oro earned three points toward a possible start in the Run for the Roses.

“I thought he got a good trip,” Cox said. “Sat behind what we thought was a hot pace. Horse on the lead kept going. No excuses that I can see. He was getting passed by a horse on the outside. I don't know. We'll see how he comes out of it. Disappointing. We'll see if we can bounce back. I thought he'd show a little more today.”

Footprint finished in fourth for trainer Ken McPeek to receive two points, and Track Phantom's stablemate Risk It earned one point for his fifth place finish. Neat and Next Level rounded out the order of finish.

Having broken his maiden last out on Churchill Downs' “Stars of Tomorrow II” card, the newly minted stakes winner now boasts a record of 4-2-1-1 record and $165,000 in the bank along with a promise note for more.

The Kentucky-bred is out of the Into Mischief mare Miss Sunset. Consigned to the 2022 Keeneland September Yearling Sale by Taylor Made Sales Agency, the bay colt sold to L&N Racing for $500,000.

The Road to the Kentucky Derby through Fair Grounds picks back up on Jan. 20 with the 1 1/8 miles Lecomte (G3). On Feb. 17, the Derby dreamers will be tasked with 1 1/8 miles in the Risen Star (G2), and the last New Orleans stop before the first weekend in May comes on March 23 with the Twinspires.com Louisiana Derby (G2) which is run at 1 3/16 miles.

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‘He Really Has A Turn Of Foot’: Brad Cox-Trained Nash Favored To Earn Derby Points In Gun Runner

Off a dominant win in his second career start, the Godolphin homebred Nash has been installed as Mike Diliberto's 7-5 morning line favorite against seven rivals in Saturday's $100,000 Gun Runner Stakes. In addition to the $100,000 purse, the Gun Runner will offer 2-year-olds, soon to be three, 10-5-3-2-1 points on the Road to the Kentucky Derby 150 presented by Woodford Reserve.

Epicenter, the winner of inaugural Gun Runner two years ago, would later take down both the Risen Star (G2) and Louisiana Derby (G2) in advance of a runner-up performance in the Kentucky Derby.

Brad Cox, who trained Jace's Road to a Gun Runner score last year, will tighten the girth around Nash. By Medaglia d'Oro out of the multiple stakes winning Malibu Moon mare Sara Louise, Nash has a strong pedigree in his corner.

“This is a good horse, he's very intelligent, does everything right, a super work horse,” Cox said. “He had a good move (at Fair Grounds) on Friday and we're looking forward to facing winners for the first time on Saturday.”

Sprinting on debut on October 7 at Keeneland, Nash sat a pocket trip and finished a clear second behind the gate to wire winner Booth. Stretched out to 1 1/16 miles for his follow-up start five weeks later at Churchill Downs, Nash went right to the lead and extended his margin of victory to the wire with every stride, romping up 10 ¼ lengths in front of his closest pursuer. He earned a 97 Brisnet Speed figure for his efforts.

“He's a good colt–we've liked him a lot,” Cox said. “It was a dominant performance (going two turns for the first time). He's given us confidence. Based off how he works, he appears to have multiple gears. He really has a turn of foot. When the rider calls upon him, he accelerates quickly. We're still trying to figure him out with only two runs under his belt but he's a nice talent.”

Florent Geroux will have the return call aboard Nash from post 6.

Albaugh Family Stable's Catching Freedom, Cox's other Gun Runner entrant, also merits respect. Despite a compromised start and an extremely wide turn for home over a one-turn mile in his career debut at Churchill on October 1, the son of Constitution rolled home to win by 3 ¾ lengths.

“He's somewhat of an average workhorse in the morning but he seems to be one that should get better as the distance gets longer,” Cox said. “And he's a colt that will get better the more he does it, he'll get a lot from running in the afternoon and the experience that comes from more racing.”

Stretched out to 1 1/16 miles for his follow-up start four weeks later, Catching Freedom once again got the worst of it at the start, and his journey didn't get any easier from there. Covered up at the rail near the back of the back early, he was stuck in tight between horses on the far turn. Blocked behind a wall of runners, he was forced to check, and by the time he finally shook free, the race was over. His fourth-place finish behind Parchment Party will surely darken his form going into Saturday.

“He's still learning,” Cox said. “I thought he was very green in his last run. He was kind of leaning in and not responding to where his rider wanted him to go. If he had his mind more on going forward as opposed to leaning in, he could've gotten there, but overall, he's still learning. I'm hopeful that he learned a lot from that race.”

Installed at odds of 5-1 on the morning line, Catching Freedom will leave from post 2 with Corey Lanerie aboard for the first time.

Steve Asmussen, who trained Gun Runner for whom the race was named and won the inaugural edition with Epicenter, has two live runners in the race on Saturday.

It took L and N Racing, Clark Brewster, Jerry Caroom and Breeze Easy's Track Phantom three tries to break his maiden, but after finishing third then second over the one-turn mile at Churchill, he took his game to a new level in his first route try last time out. In a perfect pressing position early on, he took full command late on the backstretch and drew away to a convincing 4 ¾ length win.

“He has a very high cruising speed and obviously I like the result of his only two-turn race,” Asmussen said. “He did seem to overcome the bias that day, but he was very relaxed down the back side and obviously had plenty left to finish up.”

Christian Torres, who was aboard the Quality Road colt in his first two starts, gets the call on Saturday and the team will leave from the far outside in post 8 as the 7-2 second choice in the morning line.

“He needs to be away from there cleanly,” Asmussen said. “I would rather him not be on the far outside, horses often move to the open area just a bit. It's way too competitive of a race to give away a step anywhere. He has broke alertly in all of his races, I would expect him to do the same.”

With two graded stakes tries already on the resume, Asmussen's other runner, the Gun Runner colt Risk It, is the class of the field. A dominant winner on August 19 at Saratoga first out of the box sprinting, Risk It stretched out to a one-turn mile for the Iroquois (G3) four weeks later at Churchill. Sent off as the 1.35-1 favorite, Risk It enjoyed a clear, stalking trip, but he could only manage second behind the 12-1 longshot West Saratoga. Stretched out to two-turns for the first time in the Kentucky Jockey Club (G2) last out, he was a bit rank early on and was forced to check repeatedly on the backstretch. He found clear sailing on the far turn, but finished a well-beaten fourth behind Honor Marie.

“In the Kentucky Jockey Club they went away from the gates with intention and he was in a really good spot around the first turn,” Asmussen said. “(Tyler Gaffalione) said he was handling nicely but then halfway around the backside he took off. It was his first two-turn run so a little confusion from him most likely. He has trained nicely since, has handled nicely in company and I would be surprised if he was that rank again, mainly with it being his second two-turn race.”

From post 3, Joel Rosario will be aboard Risk It at 5-1 in the morning line.

With a post time of 5:30 p.m. CT, the Gun Runner is scheduled as the 12th and final race on Saturday's “Road to the Derby Kickoff Day” card. The program also features the Untapable, a points race on the road to the Longines Kentucky Oaks, and six other stakes. First post is noon CT.

Here is the complete field for the Gun Runner from the rail out (with jockey, trainer and morning line odds): 1. Next Level (David Cohen, Keith Desormeaux, 20-1); 2. Catching Freedom (Corey Lanerie, Brad Cox, 5-1); 3. Risk It (Joel Rosario, Steve Asmussen, 5-1); 4. Neat (Rey Gutierrez, Rob Atras, 12-1); 5. Footprint (Brian Hernandez, Jr., Ken McPeek, 20-1); 6. Nash (Florent Geroux, Brad Cox, 7-5); 7. Snead (Jareth Loveberry, Brendan Walsh, 6-1); 8. Track Phantom (Christian Torres, Steve Asmussen, 7-2).

Additional Quotes:

Brendan Walsh, trainer of Snead

“As he goes forward he's going to continue to put himself in a better early position. I think he's learning more with each race than anything else. It looks like he stays the distance pretty good so that's always a big asset going into this time of year.”

“He's always seemed like a horse that wanted to go long, so we decided to start him on the turf because it would be better experience for him and he'd learn as he goes along. It's worked pretty good for him up until now and hopefully he's learning the game and will keep moving forward. He's still got a long way to go. It's a piece-by-piece thing. It seems like he's putting the pieces together. We'll find out more on Saturday.”

Keith Desormeaux, trainer of Next Level

“He's always indicated to me that he has this level of talent. Although the numbers don't back it up–his Beyers are just so-so opposed to a couple of horses in the Gun Runner. The speed figure (in his maiden win) is low because he set a very slow pace. That's not his fault. He's not going to go any faster than he has to. But the question is will he be able to finish after he sets a pace of 47 (seconds) or 47 and change, which is two seconds faster than his last race. That's going to be the question. That's a conundrum for the gamblers. But he's always showed class and talent. Physically he looks like a horse that can run all day.”

“Talentwise he's as good as any (Derby horses) I've had (over the years). But we're going to test his heart. Confidence Game was a little more developed early on, a little more athletic. This is more of a rangier and likely later developing horse, but I can see the talent it's there. If this horse has some grit, if he has some heart, he's going to be a really good horse.”

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Connections Considering Jerome, KY Derby Points For Debut Winner Dune Road

Blue Devil Racing Stable's homebred debut winner Dune Road is possible to make his next start in the $150,000 Jerome on Jan. 6 at Aqueduct Racetrack. The one-turn mile for sophomores offers 10-5-3-2-1 Kentucky Derby (G1) qualifying points to the top-five finishers.

Trained by Carlos Martin, the Kentucky-bred Speightstown gelding graduated Dec. 8 with a gate-to-wire performance under Kendrick Carmouche in a one-turn mile maiden claimer. The dark bay marked fractions of :22.97, :46.53 and 1:12.39 through six furlongs over the fast main track, then kicked clear at the quarter pole en route to a 2 1/2-length score in a final time of 1:38.10. He garnered a 68 Beyer Speed Figure.

“I was surprised he showed that much speed. In the morning, he had always been steady and didn't show 22 and change speed, but he broke so sharp that Kendrick just left him alone,” Martin said. “I was pretty happy. He was ready to run but the way we usually prepare our horses, you would hope they keep improving moving forward. We don't crank them to the gills first time out, so I'm optimistic that was a pretty good effort all things considered.”

Martin said he is hopeful that Dune Road will continue to improve with racing experience.

“He's still a work in progress. It took his mind a while to come around,” Martin said. “We gelded him three or four months ago and he's a little on the quirky side, but he was very professional in the paddock and in the race. He broke sharp and was on cruise control. I watched the replay and he was a little green not switching leads, so I still believe there's some improvement there.”

Dune Road, a half-brother to stakes winner Kentucky Ghost, is out of the graded stakes-winning After Market mare Closing Range, who is a half-sister to graded stakes winner Stupendous Miss.

“He's a compact horse — more a medium size. He's got a lot of Speightstown in him even though he's not chestnut,” Martin said. “He's a handy, athletic type of horse — well-made and solid.

“The dam has had a couple nice horses like Kentucky Ghost, who has earned over half a million,” Martin added. “He has an interesting pedigree, so he's a horse that hopefully can get better and distance doesn't seem like it will be an issue. He'll run on.”

Martin said he has nominated Dune Road to the Jerome and will keep an eye on how tough the race comes up.

“The 'non-winners of one' is the day before and if the Jerome is coming up light, you have to consider all the options,” Martin said.

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Baffert-Trained Wynstock Pulls 13-1 Upset In Los Alamitos Futurity, Favored Stablemate Third

Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert won his eighth Los Alamitos Futurity (G2) in 10 years on Saturday, but it wasn't with the 2-year-old most were expecting.

Wynstock, the longest-priced entrant of the trio Baffert saddled in the $200,000 race, led virtually all the way at 13-1 odds, then survived a stewards' inquiry to earn his second consecutive win since he was stretched out.

The victory was especially sweet for Baffert because Wynstock, a New York bred son of Solomini and the Flatter mare Timberlea, is owned by Dr. Edward Allred, the owner of Los Alamitos, and F. Jack Liebau, the vice president of the Los Alamitos Racing Association. He was bred by Empire Equines LLC.

After beginning his career by disappointing twice as the favorite in races at 6½ furlongs, Wynstock dominated maidens by 7½ lengths going a mile Oct. 15 in his first collaboration with jockey Kyle Frey.

The surprising result – the chestnut was also 13-1 that day – enabled Frey to retain the mount in the Los Alamitos Futurity, and Wynstock responded with a half-length victory over 4-1 second choice Stronghold. The Baffert-trained Coach Prime, the 4-5 favorite, was another half length back in third.

Stewards Luis Jauregui, David Nuesch and Kim Sawyer conducted an inquiry into some bumping between Wynstock and Stronghold inside the final eighth of a mile, but ruled both horses contributed to the incident and there was no change to the order of finish.

Wine Me Up, the third Baffert entrant and 19-10 second choice, and Ace of Clubs completed the order of finish.

Pushing his earnings to $162,740, Wynstock, who was purchased from the Caliente Thoroughbreds consignment for $700,000 at the OBS April Two-Year-Olds in Training Sale, covered the 1 1/16 miles in 1:43.53. He returned $29.40 for the win making him the highest-priced winner of the Futurity since the race has been run at Los Alamitos.

Stronghold, racing around two turns for the first time, outfinished Coach Prime by a half length for second.

“To have this moment is special,'' said Baffert. “I'm so excited. I'm just so happy (for Dr. Allred). He and I go way back. He bought this horse and trusted me.

“I thought (Wynstock) would be on the lead today because when I sent him long the first time that's how he won. I couldn't believe he got beat twice going short before that because he had shown so much in the morning.

“When he went long we put (Frey) on him and he got him away from there so I told Kyle I'd leave him on this horse because they get along great together.

“This horse looked outstanding coming into the paddock today. He was on his toes and actually looked like he was going to run in the Champion of Champions. He's a stout, beautiful horse.

“(Coach Prime) was sort of in and out the whole way. He got a little warm behind the gate and got shuffled back a bit. He's still green.''

The Los Alamitos Futurity was Frey's first graded stakes success in Southern California and his second stakes win at this venue. He had previously won the Dark Mirage Stakes in 2021 with Samurai Charm.

“Relaxing isn't an issue for this horse,'' said Frey. “Just getting out of the gate is and he did that perfectly today. He has the heart of a lion. He swelled up when (Stronghold) came up on our inside.'' (On the inquiry): “(Stronghold) got us first.''

The Los Alamitos Futurity provided Kentucky Derby (G1) qualifying points on a 10-5-3-2-1 basis, but only Stronghold (5points) and fifth-place finisher Ace of Clubs (1 point) earned points. Baffert-trained runners are ineligible for points because of Churchill Downs Inc.'s ban of the trainer from entering horse in the Derby and other races through 2024.

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