Clark Handicap

(Grade 1)

GUN Runner and Connect met in the Travers and Pennsylvania Derby but took different paths on Thanksgiving weekend. Connect stayed put in New York, knocking off older horses in the Cigar Mile while Gun Runner stayed home at Churchill Downs for the Clark Handicap. Older horses were quelled there as well.

Further solidifying this year’s three-year-old crop, Gun Runner snapped a gallant losing streak by making all against nine rivals in the $500,000 stakes. The only three-year-old in the race, Gun Runner brushed off a runner-up effort in the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile to earn his sixth career win and first Grade 1 triumph. Owned by Winchell Thoroughbreds and Three Chimneys Farm, the son of Candy Ride broke his maiden in his debut and won an allowance race in his second start.

Since then, it’s been the fast lane for the chesnut colt, rumbling in the Kentucky Jockey Club, Risen Star, Louisiana Derby, Kentucky Derby, Matt Winn, Haskell, Travers, Pennsylvania Derby and Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile. Consistency? He finished fifth or better in each one of those acid tests.

Trained by Steve Asmussen and ridden by Florent Geroux, Gun Runner broke from the inside in the Clark and used that slot to his advantage, pasting easy fractions on his elders. Longshot Breaking Lucky finished second with Woodward winner Shaman Ghost third.