Not only did the betting public side with the wrong Churchill Downs maiden winner, the money favored the wrong Steve Asmussen-trained horse Saturday in the $100,000 Gun Runner Stakes at Fair Grounds, where Track Phantom disputed a breakneck pace and still won his stakes debut by 1 1/4 lengths.  Track Phantom paid $11.80 as the third choice, beating another overlaid runner, 9-1 Snead, who rallied strongly around the far turn but was turned away by the winner.  Nash got a perfect trip but could finish only third, 1 3/4 lengths behind Snead, as the 1-2 favorite. The Asmussen-trained Risk It, the 7-2 second choice, was over-eager at the head of the backstretch, rushed into contention, and faded to finish fifth. He still earned 1 Kentucky Derby qualifying point, while fourth-place Footprint got 2, Nash 3, Snead 5, and Track Phantom 10.  Track Phantom ($11.80) clocked a good 1:44.42 for 1 1/16 miles over a fast main track. One race earlier, the older graded-stakes winner Five Star General won the Tenacious Stakes going the same distance in 1:44.02.  :: Bet with the Best! Get FREE All-Access PPs and Weekly Cashback when you wager on DRF Bets. The final time, and the victory, was made even more impressive by a sizzling half-mile split of 46.93 seconds. Next Level, who flew up the rail into the first turn to dispute the lead with Track Phantom, was out of gas before the homestretch and finished a distant last. Track Phantom didn’t come home especially fast, but merely holding clear a strongly closing Snead, who came into the Gun Runner with four starts to Track Phantom’s three, and an allowance win to Track Phantom’s last-out maiden score, was impressive.  “I thought they went too fast in the middle,” said Asmussen, who trains Track Phantom for L & N Racing, Clark Brewster, Jerry Caroom, and Breeze Easy. “Off a 46 and 4 half, you don’t see them holding on here. He’s a very good horse and has some room to develop.”  This is the second time Asmussen has beaten the highly touted Nash, who was second in his Keeneland sprint debut to the Asmussen-trained Booth. Nash came back to wallop a Churchill maiden race, winning by more than 10 lengths and earning a 97 Beyer Speed Figure, but he had no apparent excuse Saturday after stalking the pace in the clear and coming up short.   Track Phantom, by Quality Road out of Miss Sunset, by Into Mischief, ran well losing two one-turn races to start his career this fall before breaking through Nov. 25 at Churchill with a 4 3/4-length two-turn maiden win. Starting from the outside post Saturday under Cristian Torres, Track Phantom looked like he was going clear before Next Level made him work.   “I was trying to be on the rail, but I let that other horse go,” Torres said. “My horse got a little rank on the first turn. On the backside, he relaxed a little. I knew we were going fast.”  This was the third renewal of the Gun Runner. Asmussen won the first edition with Epicenter, who went on to become 3-year-old champion the next year. Snead ran well in defeat Saturday, and Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes winner Honor Marie is training in New Orleans, but until proven otherwise, Track Phantom reigns as the champion of his division at Fair Grounds.  :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.