Once again, a Steve Asmussen trainee came through for the Hall of Famer at the Fair Grounds, with Track Phantom going on to a 1 1/4-length victory over Snead in the $100,000 Gun Runner Stakes on Saturday.
The race, in its third year, is named for Asmussen’s 2017 Horse of the Year, who won a pair of Kentucky Derby (G1) preps at the Fair Grounds a year earlier to kick off a brilliant career.
The 1 1/16-mile Gun Runner is the final Derby prep for 2-year-olds before their 3-year-old campaigns begins Jan. 1. Track Phantom ($11.80 on a $2 win bet) earned 10 Derby qualifying points, with Snead earning 5 points. The next three finishers in the field of eight – 1-2 favorite Nash, Footprint, and Risk It – earned 3-2-1 points, respectively
Track Phantom, who broke his maiden on Nov. 25 by 4 ¾ lengths in his third start, was ridden by Cristian Torres. The son of Quality Road ran alongside pace-setter Next Level and took the lead after three-quarters of a mile. Snead closed within a head in the stretch, but Track Phantom was able to fend off the challenge.
“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.”
Asmussen won the inaugural Gun Runner with Epicenter, who went on to finish second in the Preakness (G1) and the Belmont (G1) and win the Jim Dandy (G2) and the Travers (G1).
Colt’s Success Decoded: Torres’ Strategy Unlocks Victory Path
Torres, aboard for the colt’s first two starts, said the race went according to plan: “He broke sharp for us like we expected. 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.”
The next Derby prep at the Fair Grounds is the Lecomte (G3) on Jan. 20.