BREEDERS’ CUP CLASSIC

(GRADE 1)

STEVE Asmussen whirled around and high-fived.

“How about that?”

Yeah, how about that. Asmussen was talking about Gun Runner and his year-defining, title-clinching romp in the Breeders’ Cup Classic at Del Mar last Saturday. But, the Hall of Fame trainer could have been talking about any of the sublime, superior, stupefying moments over the two-day crescendo to the American racing season.

Owned by Winchell Thoroughbreds and Three Chimney Farm, Gun Runner dominated 10 rivals, including $17 million earner Arrogate, to clinch an Eclipse Award as Horse of the Year. The Breeders’ Cup was created for closure, a way to make sense of a long year, a way to finish it on the field. Gun Runner did just that.

Florent Geroux utilised Gun Runner’s natural speed to lope on the lead in a merry-go-round renewal of the $6 million stakes race. Gun Runner led Collected who led West Coast, they finished in that order as Gun Runner sauntered clear to win by an easy two and a quarter lengths over Bob Baffert’s pair. Arrogate failed to fire for the third consecutive time, winding up in a dead-heat for fifth.

Asmussen, Geroux and the Gun Runner team have tried to simplify all year, allowing Gun Runner to use his natural ability and high cruising speed as his weapon of choice.

“We let Gun Runner be who he is. I think the amount of success we’ve had with him ever since we quit worrying about who he was in with or where they were going to be, he’s let them adjust around him,” Asmussen said.

SPECIAL YEAR

“The year that he’s put together, the races that he’s run, the way that he’s come back from them, the way that he trained leading into this race is special.

“The year that this horse has put together is a little hard to top.

“I think he’s better today than he’s ever been, and that was the plan all year.”

Gun Runner began the year with a facile score in the Razorback in February, finished second to Arrogate in the Dubai World Cup and hasn’t lost since, reeling off Grade 1 stakes scores in the Stephen Foster, Whitney, Woodward and Breeders’ Cup Classic.

“It’s just so special, when one comes around who’s just that much better than the majority of everything you’re around, you realise how special it is, horses that give you a special feel because of what they’re mentally and physically capable of,” Asmussen said.

“We knew from the beginning but you tempered your enthusiasm as much as you could because of the multitudes, the billions of things that can happen with a racehorse.

“He’s a tremendous talent and he accepts it. We leaned on him hard in his works for this and he loved it. Loved it.”