Gunite (foaled February 3, 2019) is an American Thoroughbred racehorse who has won multiple Grade I events including the

Hopeful Stakes The Hopeful Stakes is an American Thoroughbred horse race run annually at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, New York. Open to two-year-old horses, the Hopeful is the first Grade I stakes for two-year-olds each season and historically has ...

as a two-year-old in 2021 and the

Forego Stakes The Forego Stakes is a Grade I American Thoroughbred horse race for horses four years old and older over the distance of seven furlongs on the dirt, scheduled annually in August at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, New York. The event curr ...

at Saratoga Racetrack in 2023.

Background

Gunite is a dark

bay A bay is a recessed, coastal body of water that directly connects to a larger main body of water, such as an ocean, a lake, or another bay. A large bay is usually called a Gulf (geography), gulf, sea, sound (geography), sound, or bight (geogra ...

or brown colt that was bred in Kentucky by his owner

Winchell Thoroughbreds Verne Hedges Winchell (October 30, 1915 – November 26, 2002) was the founder of Winchell's Donuts and also served as a chairman, president, and chief executive officer of the Denny's restaurant chain. Early life Winchell was born on Octobe ...

. Gunite is the progeny of Three Chimneys Farm's freshman sire

Gun Runner Arms trafficking or gunrunning is the illicit trade of contraband small arms and ammunition, which constitutes part of a broad range of illegal activities often associated with transnational criminal organizations. The illegal trade of small ar ...

, the 2017

American Horse of the Year The American Award for Horse of the Year, one of the Eclipse Awards, is the highest honor given in American thoroughbred horse racing. Because Thoroughbred horse racing in the United States has no governing body to sanction the various awards, "Hor ...

and six-time Grade 1 winner, who was trained by Steven M. Asmussen for Winchell Thoroughbreds and Three Chimneys. Gunite is the first foal to race out of the Cowboy Cal stakes winner Simple Surprise, who is out of the Grade 3-placed, stakes-winning sprinter Simplify, a daughter of

Pulpit A pulpit is a raised stand for preachers in a Christian church. The origin of the word is the Latin ''pulpitum'' (platform or staging). The traditional pulpit is raised well above the surrounding floor for audibility and visibility, access ...

. Simple Surprise has a yearling full sister to Gunite and produced a filly by Copper Bullet in 2021. She was bred back to Tapiture also in 2021. Simplify is half sister to the five-time stakes winner Classify, and three-quarter sister to the Tapit mare Omnitap, dam of Air Strike, successful in the G3 Triple Bend Stakes, and Pegasus Stakes winner Home Brew. Gunite's third dam, Classic Olympio, was a fast and precocious performer on the West Coast, winning four black-type events, including the Moccasin Stakes and Anoakia Stakes, and she also took second in the G2

Santa Ynez Stakes The Santa Ynez Stakes is a Grade II American thoroughbred horse race for three-year-old fillies over a distance of seven furlongs on the dirt track held annually in early January at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California, USA. The event curren ...

and third in the G2 Railbird Stakes. The fifth dam, Lilac Hill, took the

Cotillion Handicap The Cotillion Stakes is an American Thoroughbred horse race held annually at Parx Racing and Casino in Bensalem, Pennsylvania. It is run in late September or early October as a prelude to the annual Breeders' Cup World Thoroughbred Championships ...

when it was run at Liberty Bell (now Parx), and was half sister to G1 Gran Premio di Milano scorer Rouge Sang, three-quarter sister to Del Mar Derby winner and sire Speak John, and closely related to Stage Door Johnny, the champion 3-year-old colt of 1968 (both by Prince John, out of granddaughters of the mare Folle Nuit).

Career highlights

As a two-year-old Gunite broke his maiden on his third attempt at Churchill Downs in a Maiden Special Weight event over six furlongs. He followed up with a second in the Grade II Saratoga Special to High Oak. Remaining at Saratoga on Labor Day Gunite captured the Grade I

with a commanding

lengths Length is a measure of distance. In the International System of Quantities, length is a quantity with dimension distance. In most systems of measurement a base unit for length is chosen, from which all other units are derived. In the Intern ...

victory over Wit with High Oak finishing fourth.

Statistics

''Notes:''
An (*) asterisk after the odds means Gunite was the post-time favorite.

Pedigree

Inbreeding:
* Giant's Causeway: 3S x 3D ; Storm Cat: 4S x 4D ; Mariah's Storm: 4S x 4D

References

{{reflist, 2 2019 racehorse births Racehorses bred in Kentucky Racehorses trained in the United States Thoroughbred family 1-l American Grade 1 Stakes winners