STEVE Asmussen and his brother, Cash, have watched a lot of races. They started early, while growing up in Laredo, Texas, and spanned the globe to when Cash made it big in France to Steve’s exploits with champions Curlin and Rachel Alexandra.

Last Saturday at Saratoga, the brothers watched one of the best they’ve ever seen, Gun Runner, decimate the Grade 1 Woodward Stakes. So good, Steve slapped Cash on the back as Gun Runner sauntered past the eighth pole in the $750,000 stakes. Yeah, it as over at the eighth pole.

Cash, always the patient jockey, waited until Gun Runner ripped past the 16th pole before standing and hugging his brother.

“Oh my God,” Steve Asmussen said, as he stepped out of his first row box and into an ovation from the grandstand reserved seats. All around the brothers, there was eruption, as fans in the clubhouse reserved seats stood, yelled, cheered, guffawed over another superlative by America’s best horse. Yes, America’s best.

“Unbelievable,” Asmussen said. “So Saratoga.”

Owned by Winchill Thoroughbreds and Three Chimneys Farm, the four-year-old son of Candy Ride toyed with four rivals, drawing off to win his third consecutive Grade 1 stakes by 10 and a quarter lengths over Todd Pletcher’s pair Rally Cry and Neolithic.

Jockey Florent Geroux didn’t do much, didn’t have to do much, pulling his whip from his right hand to his left, right about the time the brothers were hugging and then turning it back down, unused.

Geroux checked the two infield big screens, as much spectator as participant as the lead widened without effort…6…7…8...Geroux was more animated on the way back when he waved, pumped his fist and pointed at Gun Runner.

“He’s awesome, isn’t he?” Asmussen said as he entered the winner’s circle, a month after Gun Runner did the same thing in the Grade 1 Whitney.

“He is a tremendous talent, a tremendous talent, a tremendous talent,” Asmussen said. “I’m just proud of him, proud of the whole team, getting it done. When you’re in the middle of it, you feel the responsibility. He has won three Grade 1s after coming back from Dubai in pretty emphatic fashion. It’s there in black and white, it’s true. It’s rare that they do it that often.”

Gun Runner has entered rarified company in 2017. After winning four races, including the Grade 1 Clark Handicap last year, Gun Runner began this season with an easy score in the Grade 3 Razorback at Oaklawn Park.

It took an iconic effort from Arrogate to keep Gun Runner in second in the Dubai World Cup in March.

Freshened, he won the Grade 1 Stephen Foster by seven lengths, the Whitney by five and a quarter and the Woodward by 10 and a quarter lengths. A natural frontrunner, Gun Runner proved yet again that he’s versatile enough to stalk the pace if there’s pace.

“He’s the perfect weapon,” Ron Winchell said.

For Winchell, the Woodward was nerve-wracking as the final big piece of the puzzle that leads to the Breeders’ Cup in November.

“I was a little bit more nervous today because it’s a prep race for the Breeders’ Cup and there have been some really good horses, Songbird and Arrogate, who have gotten beat and today seemed less formful than other days, so you come into it getting a little worried,” Winchell said. “Consistency is not the norm in horse racing, for him, to be as consistent as he is and pull off as many wins as he has, it’s just great.”

Asmussen credits Winchell for part of Gun Runner’s consistency. The owner was amenable to a conservative plan last year, opting for the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile instead of the Breeders’ Cup Classic. Gun Runner finished second in the Dirt Mile, then came back to win his first Grade 1, taking the Clark Handicap three weeks later.

“It doesn’t always work, more times not, but when you look at his management we’ve tried to put him in the right spots where he can win and get him right for the next race and let him tell us when he’s going to run,” Winchell said. “Just like last year when he ran in the Breeders’ Cup, we were not going to run in the Clark but then he was breaking the barn down wanting to run so it was like, ‘Let’s go.’ He had to earn his way up to where he is today and now he’s earned it.”

With Songbird retired, Arrogate flopping in two starts at Del Mar this summer and the three-year-old division still up for grabs, Gun Runner has placed himself at the top. For his career, he’s now 10-for-17 with $5.7 million in earnings.

After a glass of champagne following the Woodward, Asmussen had already begun to navigate how to get to Del Mar for the Breeders’ Cup in November.

“He’ll train up to the Breeders’ Cup,” Asmussen said. “I’m thinking about going to Churchill with him for about three weeks, I was going to stay here and then go to California, but it’s getting too damn cold here, I don’t want to grow a winter coat and it’s 100 (degrees) out there and I don’t want any of that.

“We’ll make sure we’re 100% here, then decide, but it was impossible not to notice this week, he’s had a night sheet on the last two nights.”

With Curlin and Rachel Alexandra as past Woodward winners, Asmussen appreciates the company that Gun Runner has joined.

“Having him nine and 10 years after them, there’s no comparison. They’re so special and unique that you would never disrespect them by comparing them,” Asmussen said. “It’s just so special, when one comes around who’s just that much better than the majority of everything you’re around.

“You temper your enthusiasm as much as you can because of the multitudes, the billions of things that can happen with a racehorse, you just realise how blessed you are and make the most of the opportunity.”