Grade 1 double on super Saturday for Gun Runner as Taiba wins Pennsylvania Derby

No-one can say it's been a smooth, tranquil three-year-old season for Taiba, as the son of the red-hot Gun Runner did not make his first start until March and immediately was playing catch-up with the division's best sophomore runners.

Within a month Zedan Racing Stables' colt was switched to a new trainer. Then he finished 12th in the Kentucky Derby.

Yet outside of those bumps in the road, Taiba has done very little wrong and at the moment stands as the only worthy rival to Epicenter in the race for the three-year-old championship.

The promise that Taiba showed earlier in the year when he won the Santa Anita Derby on just his second start was greatly enhanced when he took charge at the top of the stretch and cruised to a three-length victory over Zandon in the $1 million Pennsylvania Derby for three-year-olds at Parx on Saturday.

"That was exciting. He did it. He ran his race," trainer Bob Baffert said following his fourth Pennsylvania Derby victory. "He is getting better and better. He is a horse that has been slowly improving. He proved today he is a good horse."

The victory avenged a stinging loss by a head in the Haskell Stakes to Cyberknife, who was third on Saturday after a slow break, and illustrated a new pecking order behind Epicenter in the three-year-old division.

After the Haskell, Cyberknife was second behind Epicenter in the Travers Stakes, some five and a quarter lengths behind, and Jeff Drown's Zandon was a nose back in third. On Saturday, they were no match for Taiba, either, with Zandon, who was third in the Kentucky Derby, three lengths behind Taiba, and multiple Grade 1 winner Cyberknife almost seven lengths back in third.

Now it's Taiba who seemingly stands closest to Epicenter. Taiba would not run for Baffert in the Travers due to a suspension issued by NYRA against the trainer.

Baffert, who was not on hand and had assistant Jimmy Barnes saddle Taiba, said: "You want to be the best three-year-old. This was the spot that puts him right there. He is just a tough horse. He is powerful. He is a heavily muscled horse, and you would not think he would run this far.

"He has speed, but he will sit behind horses. He comes running, and he is just a fighter."

With the Pennsylvania Derby closing out the Grade 1 dirt routes limited to three-year-olds, the competition will be greatly enhanced down the road for Taiba with a date against older superstars Flightline and Life Is Good looming in the Breeders' Cup Classic at Keeneland.

Baffert said: "If all is good, we are going to point to the Breeders' Cup Classic. You know, horseracing changes day by day. I'm not looking forward to running against Life Is Good and Flightline. Those are two very fast horses."

A $1.7 million purchase by Gary Young, an agent for owner Amr Zedan, from the Hartley/DeRenzo Thoroughbreds consignment at the Gulfstream Sale, Fasig-Tipton's select sale of juveniles in Florida, Taiba showed talent from day one as he breezed by seven and a half lengths in his belated debut for Baffert.

The Hall of Fame trainer's 90-day suspension for the disqualification of Zedan's Medina Spirit in the 2021 Kentucky Derby due to a failed drug test led to the three-year-old moving to Tim Yakteen's barn for the Run for the Roses.

He was back with Baffert for the Haskell, where he tipped out in the stretch to run a head behind Cyberknife, and since then a string of fast workouts underscored his readiness for the task at hand in the Pennsylvania Derby.

Gun Runner enjoyed a sensational Saturday at Parx as he notched a Grade 1 double when Society landed the $1m Cotillion Stakes by nearly six lengths.

A homebred for Peter Blum Thoroughbreds, Society became the sixth Grade 1 winner and fourth this year for her second-crop sire. Bred in Kentucky, Society is the second foal out of the Tapit mare Etiquette, a half-sister to Grade 3 winner Pleasant Prince.

Etiquette’s youngest offspring include an unraced juvenile colt by Union Rags named Punctuality and a yearling filly by Street Sense called Finesse, who recently sold to Windancer Farm for $725,000 at the Keeneland September Yearling Sale. Etiquette delivered a colt by Omaha Beach in May named Valor and has since been covered by Gun Runner.

“I know if I kept her relaxed [I would win],” said winning rider Florent Geroux.

“I was content just to keep her off if the pace if it was honest enough, but honestly after three jumps I was already in the lead. I was clear. I felt like I was going nicely, but I wasn’t going crazy.

"She’s extremely quick. Those horses have a ton of speed, so the worst thing you can do is try to and get them off rhythm. You want to try and stay the same tempo and keep them relaxed.”

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