Kentucky Derby Roundup: Built impresses in the Gun Runner

As the year winds down and the holiday season hits its peak, let’s catch up on the latest news and notes from the 2025 Kentucky Derby (G1) trail:

Built crushes his competition in the Gun Runner

The final Road to the Kentucky Derby qualifier of 2024 yielded an impressive victory from Built, a Wayne Catalano trainee who trounced four rivals by a daylight margin in Saturday’s $100,000 Gun Runner S. over 1 1/16 miles at Fair Grounds.

Racing for the first time since winning a Keeneland maiden special weight 2 1/2 months ago, Built stretched out around two turns in the Gun Runner and clearly relished the opportunity. After racing to the front through modest fractions of :24.64, :49.23, and 1:13.77, Built accelerated his final five-sixteenths of a mile in a strong :29.76 to draw off and dominate by 6 3/4 lengths in 1:43.53.

RELATED: Kentucky Derby pedigree profile: Built

Built defeated a promising field in the Gun Runner. Road to the Kentucky Derby alumni Magnitude and Render Judgment rounded out the top three, followed by impressive Churchill Downs maiden winner Admiral Dennis and Chris’s Revenge.

The Gun Runner awarded Road to the Kentucky Derby qualification points on a 10-5-3-2-1 basis. The 10 points for first prize vaulted Built into 12th place on the Kentucky Derby leaderboard, while Magnitude (5 points, 21st place) and Render Judgment (4 points in total, 23rd place) currently rank just outside the top 20.

Dapper Moon wins Louisiana-bred allowance

Dapper Moon sits 16th on the Kentucky Derby leaderboard after recording fourth-place finishes in the Breeders’ Futurity (G1), Street Sense (G3), and Kentucky Jockey Club (G2), accumulating 6 points.

Cutting back in distance, dropping down in class, and squaring off against fellow Louisiana-breds allowed Dapper Moon to return to the winner’s circle in a six-furlong allowance on Thursday at Fair Grounds. After rating behind fractions of :22.45 and :46.12, the Dallas Stewart trainee gradually wore down the pacesetter to prevail by half a length in 1:10.41.

Having gotten a confidence-boosting victory under his belt, perhaps Dapper Moon will rejoin the Road to the Kentucky Derby in the near future.

Smoken Wicked wins one stakes, enters another

Kentucky Derby contender workouts

Here are the latest workouts recorded by Road to the Kentucky Derby points earners:

Citizen Bull: Expected champion two-year-old male Citizen Bull worked half a mile in :49.00 on Friday at Santa Anita, his second timed exercise since winning the Nov. 1 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (G1).

First Resort: Returning to action 18 days after his win in the Kentucky Jockey Club (G2), First Resort worked half a mile in :49.60 on Wednesday at Turfway Park.

Owen Almighty: Following a trio of three-furlong and four-furlong breezes at Palm Meadows, Owen Almighty stepped up to five furlongs on Saturday, completing the distance in a quick 1:00.00.

Poster: Just 11 days after joining the Road to the Kentucky Derby with a triumph in the Remsen (G2), Poster returned to the work tab with an easy three furlongs in :38.60 on Wednesday at Turfway Park.

Tiztastic: On Sunday, the Kentucky Jockey Club third-place finisher turned in his second timed workout since shipping to Fair Grounds, breezing an easy half-mile in :51.00.

American Road to the Kentucky Derby leaderboard top five

1. Citizen Bull (40 points)
2. Gaming (18 points)
3. Getaway Car (16 points)
4. Jonathan’s Way (15 points)
5. Chancer McPatrick (10 points)

European-Middle East Road to the Kentucky Derby leaderboard top five

1. Hotazhell (20 points)
2. Wimbledon Hawkeye (13 points)
3. Camille Pissarro (10 points)
4. Rashabar (5 points)
5. Delacroix (5 points)

Japan Road to the Kentucky Derby leaderboard top five

1. Myriad Love (20 points)
2. Natural Rise (14 points)
3. Happy Man (10 points)
4. Soldier Field (6 points)
5. Clay King (5 points)