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Winchell Has Strong Hand With Midnight Bourbon, Silver State At Parx

Winchell Thoroughbreds LLC's Midnight Bourbon, 3-1 morning line second choice will try to capture his first Grade 1 victory in Saturday's $1 million Pennsylvania Derby, and enters after falling short of victory by a neck in the Grade 1 Travers at Saratoga.

Multiple graded stakes winner Silver State owned by Winchell Thoroughbreds LLC and Willis Horton Racing, will look to begin another win streak in the $200,000 Parx Dirt Mile after his string of six consecutive victories came to an end in the Grade 1 Whitney at Saratoga.

Trained by Hall of Famer Steve Asmussen, both look to be strong contenders according to Winchell's Racing Manager David Fiske.

“I think both spots are really good for them,” Fiske said. “The two-turn mile for Silver State should set him up for the Breeders' Cup Mile. Midnight Bourbon, he keeps knocking on the door. I think eventually he's going to knock one of these off. He's a really cool horse. Big personality. I saw a little video of him schooling in the paddock yesterday. Man, he looked like something else.”

Midnight Bourbon began the year with a victory in the Grade 3 Lecomte at Fair Grounds and then added a third-place finish in the Grade 2 Risen Star, also in Louisiana.

Next came a second in the Louisiana Derby before finishing sixth in the Kentucky Derby.

The colt by Tiznow then added a runner-up finish in the Preakness, before clipping heels with Hot Rod Charlie in the stretch run during the Grade 1 Haskell and losing jockey Paco Lopez.

“Hopefully, Saturday is his turn,” said Fiske. “It's been a peculiar year. Most years, the field for the Kentucky Derby evaporates the day after the Derby. This year we've had Essential Quality, Midnight Bourbon, Hot Rod Charlie, Medina Spirit — even though he scratched — he's still going. There are a lot of them out there and they're all quality colts.”

As far as Midnight Bourbon goes, Fiske knows this:

“He's a cool horse,” he said. “He seems to show up every time. He ran well in the Preakness, ran well in the Travers, ran well in the Derby. He's just a cool customer. He's a high energy guy. You need to be on your toes around him all the time.”

Silver State ended his 3-year-old year with a seventh-place finish in the Grade 2 Louisiana Derby, then returned the following year with a seven-length victory against allowance competition at Keeneland. From there the son of Hard Spun added three more victories before returning to face graded stakes competition where he won the Grade 2 Oaklawn Handicap and Grade 1 Metropolitan Handicap

“It's unusual for any horse to win that many races in a row,” Fiske said. “We had a horse a long time ago that won an Eclipse Award named Tight Spot. He won eight in a row. Then, we had a little horse that ran fourth in the Derby [1981 Kentucky Derby] named Classic Go Go that Tony Black rode. He won seven in a row. One of those was at the old Keystone Park as a matter of fact. He would win a race on Saturday then win a race at Keystone on Thursday. He made 26 starts as a 3-year-old. You do the math on that.”

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Siblings to New Juvenile GI Winners Highlight KEESEP

Three yearlings in the Keeneland September Sale catalogue received big updates over the weekend when their year-older siblings captured Grade Is at two of America's premiere race meets over the holiday weekend. GI Runhappy Del Mar Futurity S. winner Pinehurst's (Twirling Candy) yearling half-brother by Cairo Prince sold prior to the juvenile's breakout score, bringing $120,000 from pinhooker Randy Bradshaw at Fasig-Tipton's New York-Bred Yearling Sale in mid-August. However, the winners of the GI TVG Del Mar Debutante S., GI Spinaway S. and GI Hopeful S. will be represented by half or full siblings next week at Keeneland.

Pinehurst's stablemate Grace Adler (Curlin) threw her hat in the ring for top juvenile filly honors with an ultra-impressive score in the GI Del Mar Debutante Sunday (video). Campaigned by Michael Lund Petersen and Willow Grace Farm, the $700,000 FTKSEL buy won her debut for Bob Baffert at the seaside oval July 31. Given a 4-1 chance in the Debutante, the chestnut unleashed a powerful late rally, sling-shotting to the lead and storming clear for an 11 1/4-length score.

“It was amazing,” said Adam Corndorf, President and General Manager of Blue Heaven Farm, breeder of Grace Adler. “When she started breezing several months ago, we started dreaming about what could be. Looking at the schedule for Del Mar, we thought how amazing it would be if she could run in that race and hit the board. You think about how many 2-year-olds there are every year and how many win that race and the odds are astronomical. It was incredible and a dream come true for us.”

Blue Heaven Farm consigns an Into Mischief half-brother to Grace Adler as Hip 99 in Book 1 of KEESEP. He RNA'd for $350,000 as a weanling at last year's Keeneland November Sale. Bonnie Baskin's operation went to $600,000 to acquire their dam, GSW Our Khrysty (Newfoundland), a half-sister too GISW Bullsbay (Tiznow), in foal to Tiznow at the 2011 FTKNOV sale. Her GSP daughter Virginia Key (Distorted Humor) remains in their care.

“He has a different body type [than his sister],” Corndorf said. “He is a little bigger, a little leggier, but similar in terms of his competitive spirit. The thing that is most impressive to us is that you just can't get to the bottom of him. As we have been prepping him for the sale, he has shown limitless energy. He can go all day long and never loses focus. He likes the work and is a pleasure to be around. Even when we walk the yearlings together, he wants to be out in front. Everything is a race to him.”

Meanwhile, across the country, it was the Gun Runner show at Saratoga over Labor Day weekend with members of his first crop taking both of the venue's banner juvenile events. First up was Echo Zulu, who was a decisive winner of the GI Spinaway S. Sunday at the Spa (video). The $300,000 KEESEP buy is trained by her sire's conditioner Steve Asmussen and co-owned by one of his owners Winchell Thoroughbreds in partnership with L and N Racing LLC.

Echo Zulu was tabbed a 'TDN Rising Star' after graduating by 5 1/2 lengths in her career bow on opening day of the Saratoga meet July 15. Heavily favored to repeat in the Spinaway, the bay was pressed through quick early fractions and drew away in the lane for a good-looking score.

Bill Betz, who was part of the group who bred Echo Zulu, offers her American Pharoah half-sister as Hip 43 in his Betz Thoroughbreds consignment. Their Grade II-winning dam Letgomyecho (Menifee) also produced L and N Racing's Asmussen-trained GI Runhappy Allen Jerkens S. winner Echo Town (Speightstown); GSW J Boys Echo (Mineshaft); GSP Unbridled Outlaw (Unbridled's Song); and MSP Dragic (Broken Vow).

“She is a lovely filly,” Betz said. “She has strength, balance, good movement and temperament. She also has pedigree. Obviously the mother was a graded stakes winner and produced graded stakes horses, including Echo Town, who won the Jerkens last year at Saratoga. So, now with Echo Zulu, it's a pretty nice package.”

The horseman continued, “Anytime you get something current happening in the pedigree it is a pretty big plus. In her case, it is icing on the cake because you already had all that to begin with. To have a half-sister as exciting as Echo Zulu just solidifies her place as an elite filly.”

Betz's KEESEP consignment got another big update at Saratoga the week prior when Yaupon (Uncle Mo) fended off an aggressive attack from Firenze Fire (Friesan Fire) to win the GI Forego S. Aug. 28 (video). Betz–who bred Yaupon in another partnership– offers a Good Magic half-brother to that future Spendthrift stallion as Hip 73. Out of GISP Modification (Vindication), the dark bay colt is also a half-brother to MGSP Sawyer's Hill (Spring At Last).

“Good timing is everything,” Betz said. “In Yaupon's case, it was his first Grade I win. He was an established sprinter in the past, but the fact he has progressed from three to four and beat five Grade I winners in the Forego is a great accomplishment for him. Hopefully it will propel him right into the Breeders' Cup. You can never really plan on something like that happening, but when it does, you just enjoy it.”

As for how the Good Magic colt compares to Yaupon, Betz said, “They are the same color, have the same balance and great movement. He is very correct with an excellent scope and X-rays. He is a May foal, but you'd never know it looking at him. He has grown up well and has good muscle. He is a very nice individual, so we have our fingers crossed there as well.”

The day after Echo Zulu gave her leading freshman sire his first Grade I winner, her barnmate Gunite (Gun Runner) became his second with an 11-1 upset in Saratoga's GI Hopeful S. on closing day of the meet (video). Bred by Winchell Thoroughbreds, the dark bay earned his diploma at third asking at Churchill Downs June 26 and was second to 'TDN Rising Star' High Oak (Gormley) next out in the GII Saratoga Special S. Aug. 14. Battling for the lead early in the Hopeful, Gunite shook free of his foes in the lane and rolled clear for a dominant score over 3-5 favorite Wit (Practical Joke).

“That's just the way we planned it,” David Fiske, longtime Winchell advisor, quipped. “It's just dumb luck, but we will take it! Echo Zulu was a purchase and Gunite was a homebred. It was just a big weekend over all.”

Winchell offers a full-sister to Gunite as Hip 539 in the Gainesway consignment. The dark bay is out of fellow Winchell homebred stakes winner Simple Surprise (Cowboy Cal), who in turn is a daughter of SW & GSP Simplify (Pulpit).

“He was always pretty and she has always been pretty,” Fiske said. “They kind of look like their mother to some extent. She is also a dark bay. That's not a bad thing because she is a pretty attractive mare.”

Fiske added, “I think if anyone has a Gun Runner in the sale they are in pretty good shape.”

The Keeneland September Sale kicks off Monday, Sept. 13.

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Bloodlines: Gun Runner Sets A Blistering Pace In Freshman Sire Race

After his offspring won both of the Grade 1 stakes for 2-year-olds on the Labor Day weekend at Saratoga, freshman sire Gun Runner (by Candy Ride) has rebroken on his competition, and the Three Chimneys Farm stallion has a margin of more than $400,000 in progeny earnings over second-place Practical Joke (Into Mischief), who stands at Coolmore's Ashford Stud in Kentucky.

The third- and fourth-place positions on the freshman sire rankings are taken by fellow Ashford stallions Classic Empire (Pioneerof the Nile) and Caravaggio (Scat Daddy). Then, well-separated from the leading quartet, are a six-pack of young sires who have progeny earnings within $100,000 of each other. These are Connect (Curlin) at Lane's End, Klimt (Quality Road) at Darby Dan, Unified (Candy Ride) at Lane's End, Mohaymen (Tapit) at Shadwell, Gormley (Malibu Moon) at Spendthrift, and Stanford (Malibu Moon) at Tommy Town Thoroughbreds in California.

The weekend results added emphasis to the unexpectedly precocious showing of the first-crop racers by Gun Runner, who was a good racer at two but improved greatly at three and thereafter. Now the sire of four stakes winners from his first crop, all graded winners, Gun Runner has had three of those stakes winners at Saratoga, the fourth at Del Mar.

A tidy four-length victory in the Spinaway Stakes at Saratoga made Echo Zulu the first Grade 1 winner for her sire, and then Gunite powered through the stretch to win the Hopeful by 5 3/4 lengths on Labor Day to become a second Grade 1 winner for Gun Runner, the 2017 Horse of the Year and champion older horse for Winchell Thoroughbreds LLC and Three Chimneys Farm.

Having Gunite as a homebred, Winchell Thoroughbreds bought Echo Zulu for $300,000 at the 2020 Keeneland September yearling sale. Echo Zulu was one of two Gun Runner yearlings that Winchell Thoroughbreds bought last year. After racing Gun Runner with partner Three Chimneys, Winchell Thoroughbreds already had several young prospects coming along last year.

David Fiske, the racing manager for Winchell Thoroughbreds LLC, said that “we had taken the position that you don't go out on a limb with a young stallion” prior to Gun Runner. But he thought “if we were ever going to breed a bunch of mares to a single stallion, this was the one. I managed to convince Ron of this, and to his credit, Ron loves to gamble, and we ended up with 17 foals from the first crop.

“The good news was they all looked alike. None of them were bad; all looked like they'd be trainable, and of the 15 that survived to go into training, I told a fellow last year that I thought we could win with every one of them. They grew up well, kept good proportions, stayed sound, and appeared to have good minds.

“Off the results of that group, we bred another 17 mares to him the second year, didn't sell any mares in foal, have hung onto the ones we've had, and we're getting rewarded for doing that.

“Because Gun Runner is having a fairytale beginning to his stud career,” Fiske concluded.

The fairytale has only begun, but it is getting seriously exciting for all involved.

Although he improved markedly at three and four, Gun Runner was unbeaten at two in his first two starts, winning a maiden special at Churchill Downs on Sept. 11, then an allowance at Keeneland on Oct. 17. The effect of those two performances was enough for bettors to make the chestnut colt the third favorite at 4.9-to-1 in the G3 Iroquois for his third start. After laying up with the pace, Gun Runner had a narrow lead at the stretch call, then was ambushed by winner Airoforce (Colonel John), Mor Spirit (Eskendereya), and Mo Tom (Uncle Mo) to finish fourth, beaten 3 1/4 lengths by the winner.

None of those made progress comparable to Gun Runner over the coming months, who won both the G2 Risen Star Stakes and Louisiana Derby, and the son of Candy Ride finished third in the Kentucky Derby behind juvenile champion Nyquist (Uncle Mo) and subsequent Preakness winner Exaggerator (Curlin).

Subsequently third in the G1 Travers and second in the G1 Breeders' Cup Mile, Gun Runner won the G1 Clark at the end of his second season, and of the final eight races in his career, Gun Runner lost only one, when second in the G1 Dubai World Cup to Arrogate, who performed miracles after a dodgy start to get up and win the race by 2 1/4 lengths.

After winning the Breeders' Cup Classic and the Horse of the Year award, Gun Runner signed off on his racing career at five with a victory in the second running of the Pegasus Stakes at Gulfstream, retiring to stud at Three Chimneys. For his fourth season at stud in 2021, Gun Runner stood for $50,000 live foal. That is virtually certain to increase for 2022.

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Gunite’s Hopeful Triumph Completes Grade 1 Saratoga Weekend Double For Gun Runner

Winchell Thoroughbreds' Gunite provided Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen his third consecutive score in the Grade 1, $300,000 Hopeful, a seven-furlong sprint for juveniles, on Closing Day Monday at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, N.Y.

Asmussen, who won the Hopeful with Basin [2019] and Jackie's Warrior [2020], was joined by Gunite jockey Ricardo Santana Jr. in securing their respective fifth Grade 1 win of the 40-day Spa summer meet.

Wit, the 3-5 mutuel favorite out of a convincing score in the Grade 3 Sanford here July 17, stumbled at the break and dropped back to ninth in the 11-horse field as Headline Report led through an opening quarter-mile in 22.23 seconds on the good and harrowed main track.

Gunite, runner-up to Hopeful-rival High Oak last out in the Grade 2 Saratoga Special, was jostled at the start exiting post 3 but quickly rushed into contention by Santana, Jr. to mark the half-mile in 44.49.

Wit, with Irad Ortiz,Jr. up, advanced into fourth position through the turn as Gunite put away pace-pressers Headline Report and Defend, opening up a 2 1/2-length advantage at the stretch call with High Oak launching his bid from fifth and Kevin's Folly, hugging the rail under Jose Lezcano, advancing with menace.

Gunite continued to find more down the lane under Santana, Jr.'s right-handed encouragement and drew off impressively to win by 5 3/4-lengths in a final time of 1:23.08. Wit stayed on strong to complete the exacta by three-lengths over Kevin's Folly.

“I loved how he went through the wire. He didn't get away great today. Ricardo said there was just a little bit of bumping,” Asmussen said. “Going 22 and 1 to 44 and 2, and to look how he did it to the wire, it's going to be exciting going forward. I was concerned we weren't where we expected to be in the first hundred yards. But I watched the race from up the stretch and Ricardo, coming into the stretch, moved his hands a bit but had him plenty gathered up. I felt really good then.

“It's state of mind,” added Asmussen regarding Gunite's development. “We've been aggressive with him and he's put on weight and gotten stronger the whole time. We've been through the roof with how well he's doing.”

The Asmussen-trained and Santana, Jr. piloted Echo Zulu provided Gun Runner – the 2017 Horse of the Year under Asmussen's care – with his first Grade 1-winner as a sire by capturing Sunday's Grade 1 Spinaway at the Spa and Gunite doubled that number with a dominant Hopeful score.

Asmussen said Gunite, who graduated at third asking sprinting six furlongs at Churchill Downs on June 26, improved with added ground.

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“The distance; it was a little too short,” Asmussen said of Gunite's first two starts. “But we were anxious to get the Gun Runners running. He's from a solid sprint family of the Winchells with Gun Runner giving him some endurance. But he's very durable, mentally and physically. As much pressure as we put on him, he accepted it.”

Ortiz, Jr. tipped his cap to the winner after a troubled trip aboard the previously undefeated Wit.

“He got beat by a nice horse. He stumbled a little bit at the beginning and he tried hard to overcome that,” Ortiz, Jr. said. “I had to hustle him and ask him to get position to get there on time, but it was too much. It looks like he can [stretch out].”

Pletcher said Wit performed well under difficult circumstances.

“He probably compromised himself,” Pletcher said. “I thought he put in a good, sustained run. It was a tough spot to come from.

“He took a decent chunk out of both quarters,” added Pletcher. “I'm not saying he felt it during the race. It was the result of stumbling away from there.”

Asmussen became North American racing's all-time winningest conditioner in August when Stellar Tap won on Whitney Day to provide the Hall of Famer his 9,446th win, eclipsing the mark of 9,445 victories held by the late Dale Baird.

The 55-year-old Asmussen, who was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2016, enjoyed a stellar Spa summer meet, additionally winning Grade 1s with Jackie's Warrior [H. Allen Jerkens Memorial], Yaupon [Forego] and Max Player [Jockey Club Gold Cup].

Santana, Jr, who was aboard for the Grade 1 wins with Yaupon and Max Player, also engineered a top-flight victory with Maracuja in the Coaching Club American Oaks.

The 28-year-old Santana, Jr. said he was in awe of his accomplishments at Saratoga this summer.

“It's special. Saratoga is one of the best tracks in North America. I'm really blessed. Five Grade 1 wins in one meet is unreal,” Santana, Jr. said.

High Oak, Power Agenda, Big Scully, Volcanic, Headline Report, Kitodan, Defend and Street Fight rounded out the order of finish.

Out of the stakes winning Cowboy Cal mare Simple Surprise, Gunite, a Kentucky homebred, banked $165,000 in victory while improving his record to 5-2-2-1. He returned $25.20 for a $2 win ticket.

Asmussen said Gunite will now target the one-mile Grade 1, $500,000 Champagne on October 2 at Belmont Park, which offers a “Win and You're In” berth to the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Juvenile in November at Del Mar.

“I love him for more 2-year-old races this year. We know what we want his next two races to be and we feel really good about them,” Asmussen said. “The Champagne and the Breeders' Cup are what we're hoping his next two races are. I love his style for the Juvenile. He's going to travel and we'll try to take it. We're very proud of him.”

Live racing returns Thursday, September 16 for Opening Day of the 28-day fall meet at Belmont Park, featuring the Grade 1, $150,000 Lonesome Glory, a 2 1/2-mile steeplechase handicap for 4-year-olds and up.

The Belmont Park fall meet, which will run from Thursday, September 16 through Sunday, October 31, will include five Grade 1 races and five “Win and You're In” qualifiers to the Breeders' Cup in November at Del Mar.

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