Big Runnuer Blasts Off in Siren Lure

ARCADIA, CA – Juan Garcia’s Big Runnuer jumped the gun out of the gate and blasted off in the stretch, nearly setting a new track record while winning Sunday’s $75,000 Siren Lure Stakes at Santa Anita Park.

Breaking from post 2 under Ruben Fuentes as the 8/5 favorite, Big Runnuer dueled outside of the rail-breaking Torosay down the backstretch and into the far turn before dispatching of his foe halfway through.

Big Runnuer straightened for home with a healthy lead after posting sharp opening fractions of :21.28 and :43.56, then still had more than enough left in the tank to hold sway for victory.

Trained by Victor Garcia, Big Runnuer crossed 1 1/4 lengths in a final time of 1:01.05 – just 0.05 seconds off of Jolie Olimpica’s course-best mark. It was his second straight victory and second consecutive time wearing blinkers.

“He focuses a little more (with blinkers),” Fuentes said. “He is certainly more aggressive, but yet he’s a horse you can control. He can be off the pace if the pace is fast. Today, nobody wanted to lead, for some reason. I didn’t hear anybody send or anything, so I said, ‘If they give it to me, I’ll take it.’ I just tried to get him to relax and he pretty much did the rest.”

Mesut angled out in mid-stretch and rallied late to neck out Torosay for second. Yes I Am Free was a neck ahead Sparky Ville, the 9/5 second choice who was the same distance ahead of Ultimate Bango.

Completing the order of finish came the non-factoring Portando.

Big Runnuer’s win was his second straight following a late-running score over this course and distance against optional claiming foes in late May. The 5-year-old Stormy Atlantic son improved his record to 6-3-1-2 with $133,660 earned.

“I thought there might be a question mark on how much speed (Sparky Ville) was going to show today,” Victor Garcia said. “I told Ruben, ‘I think the one (Torosay) is going to go, so make sure you go with him.’ We put the blinkers on this horse last time and they’ve helped. He’s learning.”

Big Runner returned $5.40 to win, $3.60 to place, and $3 to show. Mesut brought back $15.20 to place and $9.80 to show, while Torosay paid $4.80 to show.