American Horse of the Year (2017)
American Champion Older Dirt Male Horse (2017)
Sire Candy Ride
Grandsire Ride The Rails
Dam Quiet Giant
Damsire Giant's Causeway
Sex Stallion
Foaled March 8, 2013
Country United States
Color Chestnut
Breeder Besilu Stables LLC
Owner Winchell Thoroughbreds LLC and Three Chimneys Farm
Trainer Steve Asmussen
Record 19: 12–3–2
Earnings US$15,988,500
Major races:
Risen Star Stakes (2016), Louisiana Derby (2016), Matt Winn Stakes (2016), Clark Handicap (2016), Razorback Handicap (2017), Stephen Foster Handicap (2017), Whitney Handicap (2017), Woodward Stakes (2017), Pegasus World Cup (2018), Breeders' Cup Classic (2017
March 8 - Gun Runner
This is Gun Runner winning the Whitney at Saratoga. The race gathered some notoriety not just for the way Gun Runner dominated the competition . . . but because he finished the race with a horseshoe stuck in his tail. I painted this at the Keeneland yearling sale, and everyone wanted to make sure I included the horse shoe in the painting. I did - with one change, I turned the horse up so the good luck doesn't fall out.
Of the people that stopped by while I was painting, one was his trainer, Steve Asmussen. When asked about the shoe in the tail, he gave me the full story of when they first saw it and what happened with it, then he finished the quote that we will probably use in the upcoming expansion of A Brush With Greatness . . . "I'm undefeated when they let me run with five shoes."