By Tom Frary
It was tight at the end of Killarney's opener on Tuesday, but Ballydoyle's $1.25million Keeneland September graduate Gun Carriage held on to break his maiden.
Third on debut behind stablemate Stay True over 10 furlongs at Leopardstown last month, the son of Gun Runner whose triple Graded-Stakes-placed dam Special Event is a half to the GII Swaps Stakes winner Chief Havoc was always on the front end.
Battling against the rail to ward off Standard Deviation, the 11-10 favourite had a nose to spare over that son of Invincible Spirit and was allowed to keep the contest after a subsequent inquiry.
“He will go back up in trip and has the makings of a nice horse,” the stable's representative Chris Armstrong said. “We'll let him come along gradually and we feel he is maturing all the time. He is by Gun Runner, who is an unbelievable sire in the States and we are starting to get a few of them in Ballydoyle.”
✅ Gun Carriage (Gun Runner x Special Event), a $1.25 million purchase, opens the account at the second time of asking in the @KillarneyRaces opener with a narrow win for Ballydoyle pic.twitter.com/vH0copacT7
— Racing TV (@RacingTV) May 13, 2025
The triple Graded-Stakes-placed dam is a half to Giant's Causeway's GII Swaps Stakes winner Chief Havoc and Pioneerof the Nile's GII Fayette Stakes runner-up Aurelius Maximus. The second dam is the GIII Tempted Stakes winner La Reina by A.P. Indy, while her dam is the triple Grade I-winning champion Queena whose son of Danzig, Brahms, was second in the G1 Dewhurst Stakes for this stable before going on to glory in the GI Hollywood Derby. Special Event's yearling colt by Olympiad was a $350,000 purchase by Grandview Equine at Keeneland November, while she also has a filly foal by Twirling Candy.
1st-Killarney, €14,500, Mdn, 5-13, 3yo, 8f 31yT, 1:43.21, gd.
GUN CARRIAGE (c, 3, Gun Runner–Special Event {MGSP-US, $121,840}, by Arch) Sales history: $1,250,000 Ylg '23 KEESEP. Lifetime Record: 2-1-0-1, $11,290. O-Michael Tabor & Derrick Smith & Mrs John Magnier & Peter M Brant; B-Emory A. Hamilton (KY); T-Aidan O'Brien.
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