Torrealba takes on all comers

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Whether it’s reinvigorating Three Chimneys Farm or taking on champions like Songbird or Arrogate, Goncalo Torrealba enjoys a challenge.

“I don’t run from a challenge,” Torrealba said. “I definitely don’t.”

As co-owner of Gun Runner, Torrealba might find that others are running from him. Gun Runner enters Saturday’s Grade 1, $750,000 Woodward at Saratoga as arguably the top older male in training following two losses by Arrogate this summer at Del Mar. Gun Runner will face only four rivals in the Woodward, his final race before the $6 million Breeders’ Cup Classic at Del Mar on Nov. 4.

In the Classic, Gun Runner is expected to again face Arrogate, the last horse to defeat Gun Runner. He beat Gun Runner in remarkable fashion in the $10 million Dubai World Cup in March. Torrealba, whose Three Chimneys Farm owns Gun Runner in partnership with Ron Winchell’s Winchell Thoroughbreds, covets another meeting with Arrogate. And he wants Arrogate to be at his best.

“I’m a sucker for that – I ran three times with Carina Mia against Songbird,” Torrealba said. “You want to defeat the giant.”

Torrealba added that Arrogate’s poor finish in the San Diego Handicap in July at Del Mar “was nothing short of depressing.”

Torrealba certainly has had nothing to be depressed about lately with Gun Runner. A 4-year-old son of Candy Ride trained by Steve Asmussen, Gun Runner has won four of his last five starts dating to last November’s Grade 1 Clark Handicap. He began this year with a 5 3/4-length victory in the Razorback Handicap at Oaklawn Park, which was Plan B after the horse had to miss the Pegasus World Cup and a meeting with Arrogate due to quarantine issues at Fair Grounds, where Gun Runner wintered.

In the Dubai World Cup, Gun Runner had the lead in midstretch before being overtaken by Arrogate, losing by 2 1/4 lengths while finishing five lengths clear of third.

While Arrogate has struggled in his two starts since Dubai, Gun Runner has flourished. He won the Grade 1 Stephen Foster at Churchill Downs by seven lengths in June. He took the Grade 1 Whitney by 5 1/4 lengths, sitting off another horse for three furlongs before taking over and dominating.

“Very frankly speaking, I expected it,” Torrealba said of the Whitney. “The way Steve speaks of him, the way he says he’s feeling, not taking anything away from anyone else, but the only horse we need to respect nowadays in America is Arrogate.”

Torrealba got involved in racing in his native Brazil, where his business, the Libra Group, owns shipping terminals in several cities. Torrealba raced under the banner Stud TNT, which produced Leroidesanimaux, the U.S. champion turf male of 2005 who sired Kentucky Derby winner Animal Kingdom.

In 2013, Torrealba purchased a controlling interest in Three Chimneys from Robert Clay. A short time after that, Torrealba purchased the majority of the horses owned by Benjamin Leon of Besilu Stables. Leon is the breeder of Gun Runner. Leon had purchased much of the bloodstock from the estate of Edward Evans, including Quiet Giant, the dam of Gun Runner.

“We’re here today because of Mr. Leon and Mr. Evans,” Torrealba said.

Torrealba said the deal to buy approximately 50 horses from Leon “fast forwarded Three Chimneys’s operation 10 years, at least.”

“When I did the deal with Robert, Three Chimneys was a stallion and boarding operation and a consignment operation,” Torrealba said. “The broodmare band was virtually nonexistent.”

Three Chimneys stands six stallions – Caleb’s Posse, Fast Anna, Palace Malice, Will Take Charge, Strong Mandate, and Sky Mesa.

Someday, Gun Runner will join that roster. When is not exactly clear. Torrealba said he and Winchell both enjoy racing, and how the rest of this year plays out could determine if Gun Runner is retired or comes back to race at 5 with potential starts in the Pegasus at Gulfstream in January or the Dubai World Cup in March, or maybe both.

“Anything can happen,” Torrealba said. “If we didn’t enjoy racing, he wouldn’t be racing as a 4-year-old because he already had done enough at 3 to be a stallion. Fortunately, we don’t need to make this decision right now. We go from one race to the other. But I can for sure tell you that both of us love racing.”