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DEL MAR, Calif. — There’s a new king in horse racing and it’s Gun Runner.

The 4-year-old colt won the $6 million Breeders’ Cup Classic by 2 1/4 lengths Saturday, sending rival Arrogate to a third straight career-ending defeat at Del Mar.

Gun Runner ran 1 1/4 miles in 2:01.29 and paid $6.80, $4.40 and $3.20.

Collected returned $5.60 and $4, while West Coast was another 1 1/4 lengths back in third and paid $3.60.

Arrogate finished in a dead-heat for fifth with Gunnevera, done in once again at the seaside track north of San Diego. It was the scene of two losses during the summer.

“He just doesn’t seem to get a hold of this racetrack, for whatever reason,” jockey Mike Smith said. “I hate to blame it on the track, but he’s shown it time and time again. I keep trying to talk myself into it, that he’s going to like it one day, but he just never did.”

Arrogate hasn’t been the same horse since his dominant wins in the $12 million Pegasus World Cup and the $10 million Dubai World Cup earlier this year that made him the sport’s richest thoroughbred with over $17 million in earnings.

The Dubai race was the last time Gun Runner lost. Since then, he’s emerged stronger than ever with four consecutive victories.

Arrogate was a slight 2-1 favorite over Gun Runner, with $1,420,233 bet on Arrogate to win — $132,416 more than on Gun Runner.

Bob Baffert saddled a record four horses in pursuit of a record fourth straight win in the Classic. He finished 2-3 with Collected and West Coast, and was left to puzzle over another disappointing showing by Arrogate. His other horse, Mubtaahij, was eighth.

Arrogate broke a step slow and banged his left side on the starting gate.

“At the break when he ducked in and he had to gather him up, you just can’t do that against these horses,” Baffert said. “But I notice when he goes around these turns he loses momentum. I can’t really totally blame it on the track. He’s so much better than that.”

War Story was fourth, followed by Arrogate and Gunnevera, Churchill, Mubtaahij, War Decree, Pavel and Win the Space.

JUVENILE

Good Magic puts himself in Derby picture

Del Mar, Calif. — Two-year-old colt Good Magic introduced himself as a Kentucky Derby contender Saturday by making the $2 million Breeders’ Cup Juvenile the first victory of his career.

“Yahoo,” said breeder Barbara Banke of Stonestreet Farms when asked about becoming part of the Kentucky Derby picture.

Overlooked at odds of 11-1 in a field of 12 in the race that in recent years crowned the 2-year-old champion and stamp the early Kentucky Derby favorite, Good Magic did nothing to surprise his trainer, Chad Brown.

“I thought he was a winner every step of the way,” said Brown. “We took a shot because he was a maiden, but he’s developing rapidly.”

With a pair of second-place finishes to his credit – the last in the Grade 1 Champagne Stakes at Belmont Park last month, Good Magic rolled by Solomini entering the stretch and ran off to a 4 1/4-length victory over 11 rivals, with 3-5 favorite Bolt d’Oro finishing third after a troubled trip.

“I think Chad did a remarkable job with this horse, getting him here with great confidence. He did have to talk us a little bit into it because the horse obviously because the horse came in second in his last start. He said, “I think he’s really going to improve. He’s really going to like going a distance.”

Grabbing the top spot among 2-year-olds has not been proven a particularly persuasive achievement when it comes to the resume of a Kentucky Derby winner.

Since the Breeders’ Cup began in 1984, only two of the 33 winners of the Juvenile have gone on to win the Derby — Street Sense in 2006 and Nyquist in 2016.

Only two other Juvenile winners have finished in the money in the Derby — Chief’s Crown (3rd) in 1985, andTimber Country (3rd) in 1995, with 16 previous winners failing to make it into the Derby field.

Prior to Street Sense winning in 2006, the previous champion 2-year-old colt to go on win the Kentucky Derby was Spectacular Bid in 1979.

Nonetheless, “It sure is a thrill to have a really good 2-year-old in the barn,” said Brown. “They’re so hard to find.”

One of three maidens in the race, Good Magic ran the 1 1/16 miles in 1:43.34 and paid $25, $9.40 and $5.60. The 2-year-old son of former Breeders Cup Classic winner Curlin gave trainer Chad Brown his second victory of these championships.

The race’s 3-to-5 favorite Bolt d’Oro, named for the champion sprinter, Usain Bolt, entered the race a perfect 3-for-3, but was forced extremely wide on the first turn, and while he did move up on the outside on the far turn, his finish was too little too late.

“We were a little wide but it’s horse racing and it is part of what is going to happen,” said Bolt d’Oro’s jockey, Corey Nakatani. “I was trying to get tucked in but with all the traffic, he seemed to be spinning his wheels a little bit.”

Also part of the Kentucky Derby picture was the second-place finisher Solomini, who held off Bolt d’Oro through the stretch.

“He’s improving all the time,” said jockey Flavien Prat of Solomini. “I rode him the whole way and he ran a good race. He’s going to improve race after race.”

And there will be plenty of them between Saturday’s Juvenile and the Kentucky Derby on the first Saturday in May.

IN OTHER RACES

— Trainer Peter Miller went 1-2 in the $1 million Turf Sprint with 30-1 shot Stormy Liberal winning by a head over 13-1 shot Richard’s Boy. Stormy Liberal paid $62.40 to win.

— Talismatic rallied in the stretch to win the $4 million Turf by a half-length at 14-1 odds. The Britain-bred colt ran 1 1/2 miles in 2:26.19 and paid $30.20 to win. Defending champion Highland Reel — the 7-5 favorite — was third.

— Smith scored an upset — his leading 26th Cup win — in the $2 million Juvenile Fillies with 17-1 shot Caledonia Road.

— World Approval became the second favorite to win on the weekend, taking the $2 million Mile by 1 1/4 lengths and giving jockey John Velazquez his second Cup win in two days.

— The weekend’s biggest upset was staged by 60-1 shot Bar of Gold in the $1 million Filly & Mare Sprint. Ridden by Irad Ortiz Jr., Bar of Gold ran seven furlongs in 1:22.63 and paid $135.40 to win.

— Wuheida took the $2 million Filly & Mare Turf by a length and paid $24.40 at 11-1 odds.

— Roy H won the $1.5 million Sprint by a length under Kent Desormeaux, giving Miller his second victory on the weekend. The winner paid $11.80 at 9-2 odds.

Florent Geroux celebrates after riding Gun Runner to victory in Saturday’s Breeders’ Cup Classic in Del Mar, Calif.
https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/web1_Gun-Runner-BCC.jpg.optimal.jpgFlorent Geroux celebrates after riding Gun Runner to victory in Saturday’s Breeders’ Cup Classic in Del Mar, Calif. Gregory Bull | AP photo

Associated Press