Chip Honcho gets up in Gun Runner; Hit Parade prevails in Untapable

Dec 20, 2025 Kellie Reilly/Brisnet.com

Chip Honcho wins the Gun Runner at Fair Grounds.

Chip Honcho wins the Gun Runner at Fair Grounds. (Photo by Hodges Photography)

Saturday’s Road to the Derby Kickoff Day at Fair Grounds featured exciting stretch battles in both scoring races.

In the $100,000 Gun Runner S., the first of the Kentucky Derby (G1) preps at the historic New Orleans track, Chip Honcho wore down longtime leader Crown the Buckeye late in the game.

Earlier in the $100,000 Untapable S., which begins the Fair Grounds Road to the Kentucky Oaks, Hit Parade outdueled Luv Your Neighbor.

Both Chip Honcho and Hit Parade were passing their first tests in stakes company, but a couple of their beaten rivals are already looking forward to a rematch.

Gun Runner S.

Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen, who conditioned race honoree Gun Runner throughout his stellar career, has fittingly enjoyed success in this spot. After winning the inaugural running in 2021 with future champion Epicenter, Asmussen won the Gun Runner again in 2023 with Track Phantom, and Chip Honcho continued the pattern on Saturday.

Chip Honcho faced only five rivals in the Gun Runner after two were scratched, Mesquite and Arabia Wild (himself a son of Gun Runner).

Campaigned by Leland Ackerley Racing, Chip Honcho was stepping up in both class and distance here. The dark bay, who was second in his debut sprinting at Keeneland, broke his maiden Nov. 20 going a one-turn mile at Churchill Downs.

Chip Honcho led throughout in that maiden score. Adding blinkers for the 1 1/16-mile Gun Runner, and drawn on the inside, he was expected to be an early pace factor.

But Crown the Buckeye, a well-named Ohio-bred, was intent on setting the pace himself, and Chip Honcho played a stalking role. After an opening quarter in :23.62, an eager Chip Honcho moved up to press Crown the Buckeye through splits of :46.66 and 1:10.98.

Crown the Buckeye appeared to repel Chip Honcho at the top of the stretch. Yet the further they went, the more Crown the Buckeye began to shorten stride and look for the wire.

Chip Honcho kept coming, while 13-10 favorite Liberty National belatedly gained on the inside, and Quality Mischief churned into contention wider out. All three were bearing down in the final yards, but Chip Honcho proved the strongest under jockey Paco Lopez.

Three-quarters of a length on top at the finish, Chip Honcho clocked 1:44.76 and banked his first 10 points toward the Kentucky Derby.

Chip Honcho, who returned $9.80, improved his record to 3-2-1-0, $150,475.

“I had him in good position to the outside after I got him to settle,” Lopez said. “He really started setting down a nice run at the quarter pole, and I thought we could go get the leader. My horse gave everything he had.”

Liberty National picked up five points by heading Crown the Buckeye for second. But Liberty National’s rider, Brian Hernandez Jr., explained why he can move forward from this defeat.

“We got knocked around out of the gates, but he overcame that pretty quickly. I don't know if he cared for the inside,” Hernandez said. “He was just a little hesitant – just one of those learning races for a talented horse. He never gave up. He kept coming at them, and when he finally got to the lead after the wire, he took off.”

Crown the Buckeye was a hard-trying third (three points), with a neck to spare over Quality Mischief in fourth (two points). Fifth-placer Very Connected added one point to his ledger (for a total of six), and Mister Punch was eased but walked off.

Bred by Venneri Racing Inc. and Tony Fanticola in Kentucky, Chip Honcho sold for $210,000 as a yearling at Fasig-Tipton Kentucky July. His sire is Connect, himself a son of Curlin. Chip Honcho is out of Miss My Rose, a stakes-winning daughter of the Galileo stallion Magician.

Untapable S.

Hit Parade wins the Untapable at Fair Grounds.

Hit Parade (left) outduels Luv Your Neighbor in the Untapable (Photo by Hodges Photography)

Gary and Mary West’s homebred Hit Parade hails from the same maternal line that produced Curlin. Ironically, she’s by one of Curlin’s famous rivals, 2007 Kentucky Derby champion Street Sense.

Hit Parade ranked as the 2.30-1 favorite in the Untapable after capturing both of her dirt starts at Churchill. The Brad Cox pupil defeated lesser opposition, however, in a maiden claiming race and a starter allowance. This represented a class hike, and she handled it in gritty fashion.

With Luis Saez aboard, Hit Parade worked out a ground-saving trip just off the pace. Front-running Pashmina appeared in control through splits of :24.67, :48.08, and 1:12.58, only to weaken as they straightened for home.

By that point, Hit Parade had steered outside to challenge, and Luv Your Neighbor sneaked through on the rail. Pashmina was not going well enough to maintain her position between them. She was squeezed back as Hit Parade drifted in, Luv Your Neighbor came out slightly, and those two bumped each other.

Hit Parade and Luv Your Neighbor duked it out the rest of the way, and experience over a route of ground theoretically might have made a difference late. While Hit Parade broke her maiden around two turns, Luv Your Neighbor had raced exclusively in sprints so far.

But it might not have mattered if Luv Your Neighbor’s rider, Axel Concepcion, hadn’t lost an iron in the scrimmaging. In the circumstances, Concepcion did exceptionally well to stay in the saddle and keep urging his filly on. At the wire, Luv Your Neighbor missed by just a head to Hit Parade.

Before she could take home the 10 Oaks points, Hit Parade had to withstand an inquiry. The stewards wanted to review the stretch drive, particularly the incident involving Pashmina, but they allowed the order of finish to stand.

Hit Parade negotiated the mile and 70 yards in 1:42.97 and paid $6.60.

“She broke nice and relaxed for a perfect trip,” Saez noted. “She was a little green when we went for the lead, but she quickly got going straight again and fought hard for the win.”

Luv Your Neighbor earned five points, and the admiration of her rider.

“Coming into this race,” Concepcion said, “I really liked the way she was training. She did everything right stretching out for the first time. We took contact from the winner and she kept fighting. I’m proud of my filly.”

Pashmina checked in another 4 1/2 lengths back in third, good for three points. Her jockey, Ben Curtis, attributed her loss to inexperience more than anything else.

“I didn't want to be on the lead, really, but she broke so sharp,” Curtis recapped. “I mean, we went :24 (and change for the first quarter). And she's only had the two runs, and she is still very green.”

Curtis contrasted Pashmina’s trip here to her maiden romp, where she was able to chase a target and “set sail.” A different scenario in the Untapable caught her unaware.

“Today I just felt like the greenness caught up with her at the quarter pole,” Curtis said. “She waited for them to go, and then, you know, I had to take a significant snatch out of her.
She's a nice filly, I'd expect her to probably beat them again, you know, if they were to run against each other again.”

Have Faith stayed on for fourth (two points). There was an 8 1/4-length gap back to Actis, who chased Pashmina early before retreating to fifth (one point). Next came Miss Call and Funny Bunny, while Hurricane Kate was withdrawn.

Hit Parade’s resume now reads 4-3-0-1, $147,980. Out of the Candy Ride mare Wedding Band, the Kentucky-bred began her career with a third-place effort on the turf at Horseshoe Indianapolis. But Hit Parade remains unbeaten since switching to dirt.

The next round of Fair Grounds preps will occur on Jan. 17, with the Silverbulletday S. on the Road to the Kentucky Oaks and the Lecomte (G3) for Kentucky Derby hopefuls.

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