Gun Runner Half to Justify Rockets to $1.9M

A handsome chestnut colt by Gun Runner and a half brother to 2018 Triple Crown winner Justify roared to $1.9 million early in the Sept. 14 opening-day session of the Keeneland September Yearling Sale. Winchell Thoroughbreds, which raced Gun Runner with Three Chimneys Farm, bought the colt. John D. Gunther bred Hip 47 out of the graded-placed Ghostzapper mare Stage Magic, who also is the dam of graded stakes winner The Lieutenant and stakes winner Stage Raider. "I have to give credit to my daughter (Tanya Gunther). She does all the matings and she works 24/7," John Gunther said. "If anyone deserves credit, it's her. She's unbelievable." Gunther said he felt the sale would be strong but worried the momentum may not be full throttle that early in the sale. That proved not to be the case. "A lot of emotions, such a nice-looking colt, so well bred and I didn't want to sell him," Tanya Gunther said. "I'm proud of him but also wish we could keep a horse like that. He did well; he's such a champion. It's a mixture of pride and regret having to sell a horse like that, but I'm proud of him." Both Gunthers expressed gratitude that the colt ended up in great hands with Winchell Thoroughbreds. "I loved this colt," John Gunther said. "A tremendous walk, he's really smart. He was like the energizer bunny; you could never wear him out. He'd be out 60, 70 times and he wouldn't get tired. I just love that colt. "I took some pictures of him when he was out in the paddock, and a couple people I sent it to thought he was Justify. There were two or three people who thought it was Justify that came out to the farm when they saw him in the paddock. And I think he'll be a spitting image of Justify two or three months from now. He'll be big and strong. He's got a lot of growing left to do. "He'll definitely do a mile and a quarter. He's got a huge, long stride, and he's bred to go a distance of ground." Hip 47 is the second of three seven-figure Gun Runner yearlings sold in the early hips of the sale.