Road to the Derby Kickoff Day
At 2h17, on December 19, 2023 • By FAIR GROUNDS
Nominations for Road to the Derby Kickoff Day’s eight scheduled stakes at Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots on Saturday Dec. 23 have been released. The day’s headline races include the 3rd running of the $100,000 Gun Runner and the $100,000 Untapable Stakes for fillies. Both stakes award 10-5-3-2-1 points as the final 2-year-old Kentucky Derby and Oaks prep races of the calendar year. The Gun Runner closed with 25 nominations; the Untapable with 18.
The Dec. 23 card also includes the Sugar Bowl, Letellier, Tenacious, Richard R. Scherer Memorial, Blushing KD, and Buddy Diliberto Memorial Stakes. First post is scheduled for 1:00 p.m.
Run over 1 1/16 miles, the Gun Runner is named for the local winner of the 2016 Risen Star and Louisiana Derby. In 2021, the inaugural running featured the Kentucky Derby 148 exacta, as Epicenter won and Rich Strike finished fifth. Jace’s Road’s path to Kentucky Derby 149 began with winning the 2022 edition.
Brad Cox leads all trainers with seven Gun Runner nominees, including Godolphin’s homebred Nash, who broke his maiden going two turns on Nov. 12 at Churchill Downs, winning by 10 1/4 lengths.
Steve Asmussen has a quartet of horses nominated to the Gun Runner including Winchell Thoroughbreds and Three Chimneys Farm’s Risk It, who has a second-place finish in the Iroquois (G3) and a fourth-place finish in the Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes (G2) on his resume. Winchell Thoroughbreds and Asmussen teamed up to win the 2021 Gun Runner with Epicenter.
