Steve Asmussen, of course, trained Hall of Famer Gun Runner, and he has trained two winners among the three renewals of the Gun Runner Stakes, a first step toward the Louisiana Derby in March. Asmussen would like to think he has a third Gun Runner winner in the barn, but Magnitude, through the first four starts of his career, has yet to establish a reliable baseline. “He trains like a nice horse, but he’s been inconsistent to this point. I’ve liked him every time we’ve led him over. Twice I liked the results, twice I didn’t, and that’s the hesitation,” Asmussen said. On raw mathematics, Magnitude stands a 20 percent chance of winning Saturday’s $100,000 Gun Runner, since he’s one of just five 2-year-olds entered in the 1 1/16-mile dirt stakes. And if he can build upon his last start, a two-turn first-level allowance victory, Magnitude can follow in the hoofprints of Epicenter in 2021 and Track Phantom in 2023 as Asmussen-trained Gun Runner winners. It will look to many like the main impediment standing between Magnitude and a Gun Runner score is Admiral Dennis, whose trainer, Brad Cox, won the other renewal of the Gun Runner, the 2022 edition, with Jace’s Road. Admiral Dennis has two starts to Magnitude’s four and has yet to try two turns, but the 83 Beyer Speed Figure he posted capturing a one-turn maiden mile last month at Churchill Downs tops the Gun Runner field. He is, in fact, the 9-5 morning-line favorite under Luis Saez. :: Get the Inside Track with the FREE DRF Morning Line Email Newsletter. Subscribe now.  “He finished up well last out. Luis really liked him, He galloped out well, and Luis said two turns should not be an issue. We’ll see Saturday if it is,” Cox said. Chris’s Revenge appears to be the weak link in the quintet. Render Judgment and Built each have a chance. Render Judgment, a second-start maiden route winner, exits the Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes, where he and jockey Brian Hernandez Jr. checked in a well-beaten and, from trainer Kenny McPeek’s perspective, excusable fifth. “I think Brian relaxed him a little too much and he was too far behind a slow pace. There wasn’t anything to run at,” McPeek said. “He’s a big, strong colt. To come back and see him, he’s a real aircraft carrier of a horse, a deep closer, a grinder, a stay-all-day type. He’s got a lot of upside.” Rail-drawn Built comes to the Gun Runner fresh, his two-turn debut coming about 10 weeks after a second-start maiden win going seven furlongs at Keeneland. Built debuted at Ellis Park, finishing a solid fourth in a maiden sprint won in a romp by elite talent East Avenue. The break between races, according to trainer Wayne Catalano, comes by design, and connections feel strongly that Built, a Hard Spun colt, will excel at two turns. “The plan was to give him a little more time, take our best shot. We know this weekend will tell the story,” Catalano said. Corey Lanerie comes in for the mount. Lanerie was aboard for the maiden win at Keeneland, where Built showed an impressive turn of foot once asked to go after the leader from a stalking position. Like Built, Admiral Dennis, a son of Constitution, benefited from his debut run, drawing away late in his second start to win by 3 1/2 lengths. “He’s become a better work horse as the year has gone on. He acted like he could run from the start but sometimes wouldn’t work quite as sharp as you were expecting,” Cox said. Magnitude, Asmussen said, trains like a good horse every day, consistently impressing his connections during morning work. A solid maiden win followed a modest debut, the recent allowance victory coming after a subpar showing in the Iroquois Stakes. “He’s athletic and a nice traveler. Time and strength will help him,” Asmussen said. Asmussen trained Gun Runner, has trained two Gun Runner winners. Maybe Magnitude will prove the order of the day. Sugar Bowl While Tough Catch only could finish a well-beaten second as the odds-on favorite Nov. 30 at Churchill in the Ed Brown Stakes, the betting public figures to send him off an even shorter price Saturday in the $100,000 Sugar Bowl Stakes. :: Bet the races with a $200 First Deposit Match + FREE All Access PPs! Join DRF Bets. The horse that beat him in the Ed Brown, Keep It Easy, isn’t among his rivals, and Tough Catch’s last two showings probably would land him in the winner’s circle Saturday. He faces just six rivals in the six-furlong Sugar Bowl, chief among them Countthebrave, who has run well in both his starts, though, on the Beyer Speed Figure scale, not nearly as fast as Tough Catch. That said, Countthebrave with only two starts and none since a narrow first-level allowance defeat in October at Keeneland has greater upside than Tough Catch, who makes his fifth start and posted his top figure winning his career debut at Saratoga. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.