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Bloodlines Presented By Walmac Farm: Leading Change Completes Gun Runner's Alabama-Travers Double
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- Bloodlines Presented By Walmac Farm: Leading Change Completes Gun Runner's Alabama-Travers Double
Three-year-olds by perennial leading sire Gun Runner (by Candy Ride) won both of the Grade 1 dirt stakes over 10 furlongs at Saratoga this month. On Aug. 22, My Gun's Loaded won the Alabama Stakes by a neck over Measure (Essential Quality), and on Saturday, Aug. 29, Leading Change won the Travers Stakes by a half-length over Preakness Stakes winner Napoleon Solo (Liam's Map), with Kentucky Derby/Belmont Stakes winner Golden Tempo (Curlin) in third, another 1 ¾ lengths behind.
The result of Saturday's feature race at Saratoga was an apparent upset of the 2026 Triple Crown form by a newcomer who made his debut just after the last race of this year's triple was run.
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Leading Change began his career on June 7 at Churchill Downs, the day after Golden Tempo had won the Belmont Stakes at Saratoga, establishing the latter as the divisional champion pro tem and the dominant classic force in this crop.
Leading Change had the outside post 10 in his debut, stayed in touch with the pace over the seven-furlong trip, had his rivals toiling by the time he had taken the lead before the stretch call, and drew off to win nicely by 6 ½ lengths in 1:21.06. When a favorite does what is expected so well, he is likely to be favored next out, even in a graded stakes.
And so it was. In making the development from maiden special winner to G1 star, Leading Change made his second start for trainer Brad Cox and owner Wathnan Racing in the G3 Indiana Derby at Horseshoe Indianapolis on July 11. The bay colt tracked the pace for much of the mile and a sixteenth, was ahead by the stretch call, and stayed unbeaten by a neck in a time of 1:41.36.
The Travers was the third start and third victory in the colt's meteoric rise to divisional prominence.
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Bred in Kentucky by WinStar Farm, Leading Change is out of the Congrats mare Starship Warpspeed. A half-brother to stakes winners Shedaresthedevil (Daredevil) and Star of Wonder (Uncle Mo), as well as Mojovation (Quality Road), who was third in the G3 Futurity Stakes, Leading Change proved an outstanding sales yearling and now has fulfilled the years of hopes and plans with a trio of consecutive successes.
In contrast to her now-famous son, Starship Warpspeed was a little-loved yearling herself, selling for $5,000 out of a consignment from Summerfield Sales, agent, at the 2009 OBS August yearling auction, then reselling at the OBS April sale the following year.
For that auction, Starship Warpspeed worked well with a stride length of more than 24 feet, earning a good BreezeFig time figure of 67. She clearly had some ability, but perhaps there was something amiss because the filly brought only $39,000 from Laurence Leavy's Starship Stables.
The filly's racing career – one victory from eight starts and that in $40,000 maiden claiming company at Belmont Park – seemed to bear out that suspicion.
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Whatever it may have been, Starship Warpspeed turned every performance predictor on its head with her foals' successes. The dam of 10 foals, Starship Warpspeed has had seven runners, all winners, and three have won stakes. Prior to Leading Change, the mare's star performer was the three-time G1 winner Shedaresthedevil, winner of the 2020 Kentucky Oaks and two other G1 races.
A $100,000 foal purchase at the 2017 Keeneland November sale, Shedaresthedevil resold to Flurry Racing at the 2019 Keeneland November sale as racing 2-year-old with multiple stakes placings for the sum of $280,000.
After the filly had progressed to win the Kentucky Oaks and other good races, she was sold into a partnership with Whisper Hill Farm and Qatar Racing joining Flurry in ownership of the filly at the 2021 Fasig-Tipton Kentucky November sale. The hammer price was $5 million.
Shedaresthedevil winning the 2020 Kentucky Oaks
The following year at the same time, same sale, this partnership for Shedaresthedevil was dissolved at the same hammer price, with Whisper Hill taking complete ownership of the mare.
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As a result, when Leading Change entered the sale ring at Keeneland September in 2024, he had not only a red-hot sire but one of the most commercially appealing dams in the catalog. A tremendously attractive colt with a set of immensely appealing relatives, Leading Change brought the buyers to the ring, and he sold for $800,000 to Wathnan Racing, with Case Clay signing the ticket.
The 2026 Travers winner is the final foal of his dam, who died in 2024. Leading Change is shining a light on his dam's accomplishments but is only one of many pointing out the importance of sire Gun Runner
To date, Leading Change is the 16th G1 winner for Gun Runner and is the eighth bred on this pattern of A.P. Indy-line mares – three out of mares by Malibu Moon (Sierra Leone, Locked, Always A Runner), two out of Congrats mares (Leading Change and My Gun's Loaded), one from a mare by Congrats's full brother Flatter (Taiba), as well as one each produced by daughters of Tapit (Society) and Sky Mesa (Further Ado).
With multiple other quality performers bred on this cross, there will be more to come.
This story was originally published by Paulick Report on Sep 2, 2026, where it first appeared in the Features section. Add Paulick Report as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
