2025 Kentucky Derby Prospect Profiles: Gun Runner Stakes Winner Built
By: Patrick Reed America’s Best Racing
Welcome to Kentucky Derby Prospect Profiles, where we’ll take a look each week at a recent winner on the Triple Crown trail, usually from the Road to the Kentucky Derby schedule that grants qualifying points to the first jewel of horse racing’s Triple Crown. The 1 ¼-mile Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve will be held May 3, 2025, at Churchill Downs.
This week, we’ll take a closer look at Built, dominant winner of the $100,000 Gun Runner Stakes Dec. 21 at Fair Grounds. The Hard Spun colt earned his first 10 points toward qualifying for the 2025 Kentucky Derby with the win and as of his win ranks 12th on the Road to the Kentucky Derby leaderboard.
Racing Résumé:
Built was well-backed in his career debut, being sent off as the 3.33-1 second betting choice behind East Avenue in a 10-horse field. He crossed the finish line fourth in that first start Aug. 24 at Ellis Park, and was elevated to third after the runner-up was disqualified for interference. He was never a threat in that six-furlong sprint, settling well off the pace and ending up 9 ¾ lengths behind romping winner East Avenue, who subsequently won the Grade 1 Claiborne Breeders’ Futurity and was the post-time favorite in the FanDuel Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Presented by TAA.
The bay son of Hard Spun was supported on the tote board again in his return to the track for his second start on Oct. 6 at Keeneland, where he went off as the 2.04-1 second post-time betting choice in a field of 11 going seven furlongs.
This time, Built sat in second and pressed the early pace into the turn before taking the lead as the field entered the stretch before drawing clear to a 1 ½-length victory over longshot Render Judgement. He improved his Equibase and Beyer Speed Figures by 19 and 12 points, respectively, and the effort was strong enough to convince his connections to try stakes company for his next start.
Built returned after 11 weeks in the 1 1/16-mile Gun Runner Stakes, a race first run in 2021 that has already produced champion, Travers Stakes winner and Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes runner-up Epicenter. This year’s Gun Runner Stakes only drew five horses, but it was a competitive group and Built left the gate as the 3.90-1 third betting option with replacement jockey Jareth Loveberry aboard. After breaking sharp from the inside post, Built settled into an easy rhythm through the backstretch, ticking off easy fractions of 49.23 for a half-mile and 1:13.77 for six furlongs. Horse and rider drew off at the top of the stretch and coasted to an impressive 6 ¾-length victory in 1:43.53 over two-time winner and 2.60-1 second choice Magnitude, with Render Judgement third and 4-5 favorite Admiral Dennis fourth.
“You always like it when the pace is slow and you’re on the lead,” trainer Wayne Catalano told the Fair Grounds press office. “Drawing the rail with speed, he handled it well. These are the moments you work every day and get up in the morning for.”
Speed Figures: As mentioned above, from a speed-figure perspective, Built has improved substantially from his debut at Ellis Park to his win in October at Keeneland. He kept that progression going upward in the Gun Runner, jumping from 69 to 88 to 96 on the Equibase scale and boosting his Beyer figures from 65 to 77 to 92. His 92 Beyer Speed Figure is the fifth-best among 2-year-olds this year in a two-turn-route on dirt.
Running Style: Built has developed into a horse that prefers to race on or near the lead through his three starts. Based on the past 10-15 years or so, being forwardly placed has been beneficial in terms of both racing in Derby preps and in the Kentucky Derby itself. Aside from Rich Strike in 2022 and Mage in 2023, Kentucky Derby winners of recent vintage have generally been positioned close to the pace early, and it will be interesting to see if Built continues to employ this strategy in his next couple Derby preps.
Trainer Wayne Catalano surpassed 3,000 career wins on July 21 at Ellis Park. The New Orleans native began his career in the horse industry as a teenager, first as a hotwalker and then as a jockey, earning over 1,500 victories before retiring in the early 1980s. He transitioned to training and ever since has been a fixture on the Midwest and Southeast circuits, winning 11 meet titles at Arlington Park and training two Breeders’ Cup winners. His only Kentucky Derby starter came in 1997 when Crypto Star finished fifth.
Veteran jockey Corey Lanerie rode Built in his first two starts but missed a flight to New Orleans for the Gun Runner assignment. Jareth Loveberry picked up the mount and made the right decision by letting Built control the pace. Loveberry has also enjoyed success in the Midwest since starting his career in the 2000s, winning two meet titles at Arlington Park in 2020 and 2021. He nearly won the Kentucky Derby in his first-ever appearance when he and Two Phil’s took the lead in midstretch of the 2023 run for the roses before setting for second behind Mage.
.jpg?itok=al-Mex6p)
Pedigree Notes: Built is by veteran sire Hard Spun, who was part of arguably the best class of 3-year-olds this century back in 2007. The son of Danzig won four of 10 races that season and earned over $2.5 million. He finished second in the Kentucky Derby behind Street Sense and ahead of Curlin, third in the Preakness behind Curlin and Street Sense, and then later that fall second in the Breeders’ Cup Classic behind Curlin. Hard Spun has been a successful stallion for Godolphin/Darley, with his best runners capable of handling both routes and sprints and different racing surfaces. His best runner in terms of Triple Crown races is the aforementioned Two Phil’s.
Built’s dam Sea Garden is by Curlin and finished third in a one-mile dirt race among three career starts. Sea Garden is a half-sister to Glenville Gardens, a Grade 2-winning turf sprinter-miler, and she is from the family of Grade 1-winning dirt sprinter Marley Vale and Grade 2 winner Indian Vale, who competed in several route stakes on both dirt and turf.
Derby Potential: While Built showed encouraging improvement in his third start when taking the Gun Runner, those making a counter-argument would point out that at least partial credit for the win is due to the slow pace scenario that developed. On the positive side, Loveberry did not hustle Built out of the starting gate to secure the lead – the colt assumed command on his own and looked very comfortable doing so. Built has certainly put himself into the mix of Kentucky Derby contenders heading into the new year, and it will be interesting to see how he will handle what should be more opponents – and possibly more adversity – in his next start, which could come at Fair Grounds or possibly Oaklawn Park in a February or March Derby prep.