Tough to look past Gun Runner
Horse many consider to be top in training returns to Spa main track
SARATOGASPRINGS, N. Y. » In this afternoon’s $ 750,000Woodward Stakes ( G1), Saratoga race fans again get to see the horse NTRA voters consider the best in training. Diehard Arrogate fans willing to disregard his two losses at Del Mar might disagree, as might a few supporters of the gallant Lady Eli, but it’s hard to argue with Gun Runner in the top spot. The four- year- old son of Candy Ride exits a smashing 5 ¾ - length score four weeks ago in the Whitney.
Gun Runner, a prohibitive 2/ 5 on the morning line, has won his last four U. S. starts ( three of them Grade 1s) by a combined 20 ¾ lengths, with an average Beyer of 110. The $ 5.2 million earner appears to be in top form, and in the Woodward he’ll be competing at his best distance of 1 1/ 8 miles. It’s always gratifying to see a horse who ran extremely well at three come back even better at four. Makes you wonder how many other top three- year- olds who were retired early would have done the same had they been kept in training.
Rally Cry ( 5/ 2) is given the best chance of an upset of Gun Runner’s four opponents. The four- year- old son of Uncle Mo has been brought along slowly, making only a token appearance on the Triple Crown trail ( he ran sixth in the Gotham), and then being put away for the year following a third in Belmont’s Easy Goer Stakes last June 11. The question is whether Rally Cry’s 8 ¾ - length score in last month’s Alydar Stakes was a breakthrough performance, or whether he just happened to be feeling good that day. We’ll find out tomorrow when, as expected, Gun Runner wheels
into the stretch with a 2- 3- length lead, and Johnny Velazquez asks Rally Cry to go after him.
Neolithic ( 6- 1) is no doubt one of the leastknown $ 2.1 million earners in racing history. And how many other horses have pocketed that much money without winning a stakes race at any level? Most of Neolithic’s bankroll results from his nonthreatening thirds in the Pegasus World Cup and Dubai World Cup. The four- year- old son of Harlan’s Holiday comes in off a neck victory in a seven- furlong optional claimer here on Aug. 5.
War Story ( 8- 1) has had his moments, most recently two races back when he rallied late to take the 1 ½ - mile Brooklyn Stakes by 2 ½ lengths. The five- year- old Northern Afleet gelding then chasedGun Runner home in theWhitney, beaten by 13 ½ lengths. War Story has just one win in seven tries at the Woodward’s 1 1/ 8 miles.
Discreet Lover is the outlier at 30- 1. The fouryearold Repent colt’s biggest claim to fame may be that he his eight previous races in 2017 have all occurred at different tracks. Discreet Lover’s lone win this year came in a mileand70 optional claimer at Parx. He is 0- for- 7 at the Woodward distance.
The roster of horses who have won the 63- year- old race reads like a list of the Hall of Fame’s best. It includes Kelso ( a three- time winner), Buckpasser, Damascus, Forego ( four times!), Seattle Slew, Affirmed, Spectacular Bid, Alysheba, Easy Goer, Holy Bull, Cigar, Skip Away and Ghostzapper.
No Woodward winner has gone to win the Breeders’ Cup Classic since Saint Liam in 2005.