Winchell, Asmussen Return to Clark With 3-Year-Old Magnitude
At 0h03, on November 28, 2025 • By Churchill Downs
It’s been nearly a decade since Winchell Thoroughbreds’ Gun Runner delivered a front-running victory in the 2016 Clark presented by Norton Healthcare (Grade I) to cap his 3-year-old season and ignite his eventual Horse of the Year campaign. Now, Winchell and trainer Steve Asmussen will return to the Clark on Friday with Magnitude, who has the chance to become the first 3-year-old to win the race since Gun Runner.
Magnitude, a talented son of Not This Time, burst onto the Road to the Kentucky Derby picture in February when he dazzled in the Risen Star (GII) at Fair Grounds. However, he didn’t get the opportunity to compete in the Kentucky Derby like Gun Runner because he underwent surgery to remove a bone chip in his left front ankle. Following the procedure, Magnitude returned in early July and dominated the Iowa Derby (Listed) by 9 ¼ lengths. He then finished third in the Travers (GI), 20 lengths behind Kentucky Derby 151 winner Sovereignty, before finishing runner-up to Baeza in the Pennsylvania Derby (GI).
Like Magnitude, Gun Runner entered the Clark as a late-season 3-year-old looking to finish the year on a high note.
Gun Runner’s path to the Clark followed a similar route. Prior to his 2 ¾-length victory in the race under jockey Florent Geroux, Gun Runner finished third to Nyquist in Kentucky Derby 142 and later finished second in the Pennsylvania Derby. His win in the Clark marked Asmussen’s first and only victory in the race, which was a Grade I at the time.
“He deserved it,” Asmussen said following the 2016 Clark. “With all the Grade I winners he has beaten and for this to be his first Grade I, I feel very confident it will not be his last.”
That proved true.
Gun Runner rose to national stardom after the Clark with victories in the Stephen Foster (GI), Whitney (GI), Woodward (GI), Breeders’ Cup Classic (GI) and Pegasus World Cup (GI). He retired with a record of 19-12-3-2 and more than $15.9 million in purse earnings. He was crowned 2017 Horse of the Year and Champion Older Male and was inducted into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame in 2024.
Magnitude will now try to follow the same seasonal pattern – using the Clark as a springboard into his 4-year-old campaign, just as Gun Runner did.
Run at 1 1/8 miles, the 151st running of the Grade II, $600,000 Clark will go to post at 5:54 p.m. (all times Eastern) as Race 11 on Friday’s 12-race Thanksgiving Week program. The card also includes the 34th running of the $300,000 Mrs. Revere (GIII) for 3-year-old fillies on turf in Race 10 at 5:25 p.m. First post is 1 p.m.
