8th-GP, $40,000, Alw (NW1X)/Opt. Clm ($75,000), 2-3, 3yo, 1 1/16m, 1:43.37, ft.
BATTALION RUNNER (c, 3, Unbridled's Song–Tamboz, by Tapit) passed a two-turn test at Gulfstream to back up his 'TDN Rising Star' status and likely springboard him into stakes company next out. Second to fellow Rising Star Random Walk (Super Saver) on debut last June at Belmont, the $700,000 KEESEP buy needed nearly seven months on the bench after that, but came back with a huge 8 3/4-length graduation going seven furlongs here Dec. 31, an effort that earned him a 96 Beyer. Off with all the money on at 1-5 here, the gray was away well and sat a close second from pacesetter Beasley (Shackleford) through modest fractions of :24.21 and :48.28. Sweeping to the lead passing the five-sixteenths pole, Battalion Runner encountered a stubborn challenge from the frontrunner through the stretch, but put that one away by the sixteenth marker and edged off to a 1 1/4-length triumph in 1:43.37. The winner is a half to Oceanwave (Harlan's Holiday), MGSP, $245,449, while his dam is a full-sister to GISW and sire Tapizar. Tamboz is responsible for a 2-year-old colt by Into Mischief and foaled a colt by Distorted Humor last term before being paired with Medaglia d'Oro. Lifetime Record: 3-2-1-0, $60,600. Click for the Equibase.com chart or VIDEO, sponsored by Fasig-Tipton.
O-St. Elias Stable; B-Dell Ridge Farm, LLC (KY); T-Todd A. Pletcher.[bullet ad=”crupi-trained”][bullet ad=”stgeorge-salesgrad”]
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