If you couldn't tell by her name, Always a Runner has been a horse that trainer Chad Brown and owners Douglas Scharbauer and Three Chimneys Farm have always been high on. She proved their patience and expectations correct April 4 when scoring in the $200,000 Gazelle Stakes (G3) at Aqueduct Racetrack.
With her victory, she clinched a spot in the May 1 Kentucky Oaks (G1) at Churchill Downs as the top five finishers were awarded qualifying points on a 100-50-25-15-10 scale. Despite being a filly he always thought of as an Oaks horse, Brown wasn't sure if she would make it.
Last year, Always a Runner developed a bad case of pneumonia, as did a colt in Brown's care, Emerging Market. In a weird twist, fast forward to the spring and that seemed to be an omen of good luck, as Always a Runner won the Gazelle two weeks after Emerging Market won the Louisiana Derby (G2).
"Both of them had to leave my care and go in a hyperbaric chamber (because of pneumonia)," Brown said. "This filly's pneumonia was more serious than (Emerging Market's) and that's why they didn't start in the fall. ... I was just sick over it, because I really felt I had an Oaks and a Derby horse in both horses."
After debuting a 6 1/2-length winner Feb. 6 going 1 mile and 40 yards at Tampa Bay Downs, Always a Runner looked like an Oaks horse in the Gazelle, a race Brown said was a "last-minute decision" to run in.
Settling sixth on the rail down the backstretch beneath Dylan Davis, Always a Runner waited patiently while taking kickback. Red White and Blue Racing's Pashmina set fractions of :23.84, :48.51, and 1:13.00, as she led by herself. Davis launched his filly up the rail at the three-eighths pole and rallied to Pashmina's outside in a hurry by the quarter pole.
Pashmina sneaked away again off the turn, but once Davis got Always a Runner to focus in the lane, she locked in and ran Pashmina down to win by 1 1/4 lengths. Over a track rated fast—but had received quite a bit of rain as the fillies were in the paddock—she completed 1 1/8 miles in 1:50.97, 0.74 seconds faster than the boys in the Wood Memorial Stakes (G2) one race later. She was 10 lengths clear of Paradise in third.
"I wanted to get outside because she hasn't run that much," Davis said. "I think the grandstand made her lose focus turning for home. She had a lot under her, I tried to get the last bit out and she ran great. I think she has a lot of room to improve."
Always a Runner is the first foal out of the grade 2-placed Malibu Moon mare Always Carina, who is a half sister to 2019 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf (G1T) winner Structor. She brought $1.05 million from Scharbauer, who co-owns with breeder Three Chimneys, at the 2024 Keeneland September Yearling Sale. Taylor Made Sales Agency consigned the filly.
Although 2-for-2 and proven at the distance, Brown said he still is uncertain about whether or not he'd want to run in the Kentucky Oaks, or if it would be asking the filly for too much too early.
"I think it could go both ways. Big risk, big reward," Brown said. "I don't want to be careless with these horses, but she's really talented. She's not that big, but she's handy and a very athletic sort. The Oaks, you don't have the 20-horse field (like the Derby). Is there that much risk? I don't know, I'd have to look at the field and look it over and talk to the owners. My gut would tell me it's not that risky."
Always a Runner is one of seven graded stakes winner this year for Gun Runner, who was also represented Saturday by Blue Grass Stakes (G1) winner Further Ado and Santa Anita Oaks (G2) winner Meaning. Gun Runner stands at Three Chimneys for a $250,000 fee in 2026.
