Daily Racing Form National Digital Edition
Gun Runner settling in well
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Gun Runner settled in perfectly Thursday night at Gulfstream Park and was sent through an easy gallop Friday as final preparations begin for the likely 2017 Horse of the Year to make the last start of his brilliant career next Saturday in the $16 million Pegasus World Cup.
Accompanied on a flight from New Orleans by Scott Blasi, the longtime assistant to trainer Steve Asmussen, Gun Runner arrived shortly before 7 p.m. Eastern Thursday. The flight was about seven hours behind schedule because of weather conditions in New Orleans, but the delay was of no consequence.
The pre-dawn gallop of about a mile also was uneventful. Having breezed seven times at Fair Grounds since he capped his sensational 2017 campaign by winning the Nov. 4 Breeders’ Cup Classic at Del Mar, Gun Runner is scheduled to have his final breeze here Sunday with Asmussen on hand. The 5-year-old son of Candy Ride has earned nearly $9 million.
“He handles everything like a pro,” said Blasi. “It’s just nice to get him settled in.”
Gun Runner, owned by Winchell Thoroughbreds and Three Chimneys Farm, is expected to a heavy favorite in a full field of 12 in the second running of the Pegasus, a 1 1/8-mile race for which all starters have now been confirmed. Singing Bullet, trained by Dale Romans for track owner Frank Stronach, became the last known starter Friday.
In alphabetical order, the other 10 Pegasus starters will be Collected, Fear the Cowboy, Giant Expectations, Gunnevera, Seeking the Soul, Sharp Azteca, Stellar Wind, Toast of New York, War Story, and West Coast. An also-eligibles list of up to two more horses may also be used when entries are taken and drawn here Wednesday.
Toast of New York also arrived safely Thursday in Miami following an overseas flight and was expected at Gulfstream no later than Saturday after clearing quarantine. Seeking the Soul and the three California runners – Giant Expectations and the Bob Baffert duo of Collected and West Coast – are expected here Wednesday. All others are at various venues in Florida, including Fear the Cowboy, also expected Wednesday from Ocala.
Trainer Chad Brown confirmed Friday that Joel Rosario will ride Stellar Wind in the Pegasus, slated to be the last race of her career. With rain in the forecast on Sunday, Brown said he planned to move Stellar Wind’s final work up a day to Saturday morning at Palm Meadows.
The Pegasus, which will be televised live by NBC Sports on a 90-minute show, will anchor a blockbuster card that will include seven other stakes, including four Grade 3 events: the Fred Hooper, W.L. McKnight, La Prevoyante, and Hurricane Bertie.
Total handle on the inaugural Pegasus card last January was $40.2 million, an all-time track record. Although admission normally is free to Gulfstream, tickets for Pegasus Day start at $75.
Two riders injured in spills
Three spills in a span of three racing days at Gulfstream have left two jockeys sidelined with injuries.
Richard Mitchell was hospitalized with facial injuries sustained when his mount, Perfect State, clipped heels and fell, throwing the rider to the turf in the final turn of the 10th race Thursday. Two other jockeys were thrown from their mounts but were not seriously hurt, nor were any of the three horses, according to track officials.
Mitchell has ridden sparingly on this circuit since moving here in April 2016 from Northern California, where he began his career in December 2014. He has 19 wins from 421 career mounts in North America.
Earlier Thursday, apprentice Carlos Jimenez suffered a fractured upper vertebra in a fifthrace spill and will wear a neck brace for about four weeks, according to agent Cliff Collier. Jimenez fell near the outer rail of the turf course as his mount, Forty Lengths, swerved outward and over the rail. The 3-year-old gelding had to be euthanized due to his injuries. No other jockeys or horses were involved.
On Monday, a three-horse spill on the main track led to Double Cabernet being euthanized, with no riders or other horses being seriously injured. Double Cabernet was ridden by Jose Ortiz, a finalist for the 2017 Eclipse Award for outstanding jockey.
None of the races were available on replay in accordance with track policy.
Allowances featured Sunday
A pair of allowances (races 5 and 10) for older horses will serve as the nominal features on an 11-race Sunday card at Gulfstream Park, which begins at noon Eastern. As usual, the most compelling storyline of the day involves the Rainbow 6 sequence, which runs from races 6 to 11.
Entering Friday action, the Rainbow 6 jackpot had swelled to $2,571,483, with Dec. 7 being the last time a solo winning ticket had emptied the pool. A mandatory pool dispersal is set for next Sunday, Jan. 28.
◗ Breeders’ Cup Juvenile winner Good Magic is set to have his first work since the race on Sunday at Palm Meadows, weather permitting. The colt was freshened after the Breeders’ Cup and rejoined trainer Chad Brown’s stable at Palm Meadows earlier this month.
Rain is forecast for the region on Sunday.
“I’ll have to take a chance on the weather with Good Magic because I need an extra day with him,” Brown said.