Gun Runner
$100.000 For Two Year Olds
1 1/16 Miles – Dirt
Fairgrounds – December 20, 2025

As we come to the end of the 2025 season the Gun Runner offers the final opportunity in 2025 for two-year-olds to gain points to qualify for next year’s Kentucky Derby. The $100.000 purse is almost an aside next to the points to get into the race everyone wants to be part of. This year’s edition has drawn a full field of twelve with one defection which leaves us with the following eleven contenders.

1. Swamp Reaper (The Sidley Stud/J.L. Ortiz) Giant two-year-old standing 16.2 hands makes his sixth start. He just missed becoming a stakes winner by a quarter of a length in his last start. His trainer has been experimenting with his adds but he maintains the shadow roll from his last start. That start was his best so maybe the right combination has been found. His mile works are decent enough and he has been gently pushed up the class ladder since being privately purchased for $8.000. Each time he moved up he has been competitive, and he does not seem out of place here. 

2. Peepers (Crocker Ggs/E. Maldonado) He is a Canadian Bred stakes winner, but he has not been in the money in two starts since. He has shown early speed in every one of his five starts. This will be his first attempt to go long, and he has given way in his last two starts in sprints. It will be interesting to see if he goes with his established style and tries to get away early or if his trainer tries a different tactic to get him to stretch out. 

3. Ka Holo (First Flight Stable/T. Gaffalione) Another big guy standing 16.2h. This one broke his maiden in a NY Bred MSW at Saratoga. I don’t think there are any easy wins at The Spa, so you have to give him some respect just from that win alone. He followed that up with a good second in an open stakes race at Woodbine. That’s the good news for his backers. The concern are his two most recent starts where he moved back into restricted NY bred company but did not threaten in either of his two NY bred stakes efforts. Recent works are solid, and the trainer made two changes last time out – he went a mile or more for the first time and he added Lasix and Bute to his shadow roll. It was a disappointing effort on the surface of it and both of those variables are scheduled to be in play in this contest.

4. Trojan Horse (Family Racing/K. Carmouche) Broke his maiden in his last race which was his fifth lifetime start. He showed promise in a second-place debut and immediately jumped into stakes competition in his second start where he finished third and lost by less than a length. From those early starts you would assume it wouldn’t be long for him to be in the winner’s circle, but it took three more starts and a drop down from the high-level track he was competing at to do it. He is solid and maybe that win was a confidence builder.

5. From The Dark (The Freakshow/Ar. Bocachica) Homebred has won two of his three starts and won his only start on dirt. He has not yet raced beyond 5 1/2 furlongs. He came from off the pace for his dirt win and that can suggest he might want to go longer but it is not an absolute given. Sometimes horses fool you with that style and they are closing sprinters. A better indicator that he will handle the longer distance is his 1:37 mile work at Aqueduct at the end of November. Can’t discount him in his stakes debut despite limited form.

6. Term Limits (Twin Towers Racing/M. Franco) Won a MSW at Aqueduct in his third start after the trainer brought back Lasix which he had dropped in his sub-par second start. That win was a come from behind going away win at a mile which is what you want to see if you want to hit the Derby trail. He is already a TC nominee, so the aspirations are there. He is another one making his stakes debut with limited form but his last was good. He is on the smaller side, although he has not grown in height since his debut, but he is gaining weight and his works are improving which indicates, to me, he may be developing and getting better. 

7. Soho Danze (Ashwood Farms/B. Curtis) He won his debut and had not run a bad race in four subsequent starts including almost winning a FL bred stakes race in October. Threw in a dud in the G3 Hope Stakes at Del Mar in his last race, but I would throw that one out as it was his first start on an off track. I’m willing to forgive that one. I still think he is going to have to take a step up to take the win here but I’m not ready to completely write him off from that one race.

8. Chasing Magic (Mb Stables/I. Ortiz Jr.) Had a precocious start to his career winning a Woodbine MSW and following that up with three good stakes efforts. In order he was third in the Bashford Manor (a head short), second in the G3 Best Pal (lost by a long neck) and third in the G1 Del Mar Futurity (missed by a neck). Then he did not run a lick in the G1 Breeders Futurity which was his first test going long. He ran a little bit better in his last start which was a CA bred stakes race. Although he finished fifth there, he was closing very fast, and his trainer has him TC nominated and his works are still sharp. Has been given a small break and is likely to rebound with a good effort. 

9. Fear Of Walking Dead (Big Gun Stables/L. Saez) He is the only entrant with KY Derby points. He sits in fourteenth place with five points. He won his debut in April and then was sold for $500.000 in July. He made his first start for his new stable in late August where he won a Del Mar allowance by six widening lengths. After that he drew post eleven and sat close in the G1 Pharoah before getting passed by several and finishing seventh.  He then put forth a front running effort in the G3 Street Sense where he was second best. There is no doubt he is talented and his trainer moves him back to the Bute/shadow roll combo that he ran with in his first three starts. The one to beat.

10. Resurgent (D J C Racing Stables/P. Husbands) Made his debut going a mile and seventy yards and finished second. He was instantly moved up to a NY bred MSW at Aqueduct where he came away a winner in his second start where he cut back to a sprint. Only two starts to go by but he has not done anything wrong yet. He stretches back and has a good mile work to his credit. He was given Lasix for his second start win and he is scheduled to run with it again. Was not helped by drawing post ten for his stakes debut but he could prove to be any kind. Very hard to tell from only two starts in very different circumstances. 

11. Endless Wars (Twin Towers Racing) Scratched

12. Hengroen (Delta Farms/M.E. Smith) If it is hard to get a handle on form from only two starts it is even more difficult to gauge from only one start. He is undefeated having won his debut going long on the turf. He moves to dirt but his works on dirt show he can handle it. He is very fast in his morning works. In his debut he came from well back and hit the wire a winner by a late charging neck at today’s distance. My gut tells me he will run big and that he may be one to watch.

I think that Chasing Magic and Fear Of Walking Dead are the two in the field with proven class thus far, but I also think there are a couple in the field with limited form who are intriguing and might be talented enough to take this or in an improving form cycle. Instead of going with the chalk I would swing for the fences on this one and take the improving Term Limits for the win with the enigmatic Hengroen on the outside to complete the exacta. I’ll put Fear Of Walking Dead behind them in third with Chasing Magic poised to run a good one in fourth.

Categories: STAKES ARTICLES, Ungraded