My Gun's Loaded Upsets Counting Stars in Alabama

For two races in a row, trainer Chad Brown watched as his Kentucky Oaks (G1) winner Always a Runner had the tables turned on her in grade 1 events at Saratoga Race Course by a blossoming Counting Stars. Following Always a Runner's runner-up effort in the July 25 Coaching Club American Oaks (G1), Brown had to go back to the drawing board on how to defeat the West Point Thoroughbreds' filly who appeared to be running off with divisional championship honors for dual Hall of Fame trainer Mark Casse. The answer he came up with ended up coming from another on the barn's depth chart, the exciting new rookie who was exhibiting every sign of being a top-level runner. That plan succeeded Aug. 22 as Brown defeated Counting Stars and pulled off the upset with My Gun's Loaded in the $600,000 Alabama Stakes (G1). A daughter of Gun Runner purchased by Douglas Scharbauer, who also co-owns Always a Runner, for $650,000 at the 2024 Keeneland September Yearling Sale, My Gun's Loaded started once in December for Hall of Famer Steve Asmussen before hitting the sidelines. She returned this spring in Brown's care and broke her maiden traveling 7 furlongs June 6 at Saratoga before winning a first-level allowance optional claimer at 1 mile July 24. The jump from a mile to 1 1/4 miles was bold, but one Brown had pulled off when winning his second Alabama with Randomized in 2023. The decision was no shot in the dark either as the filly had been working weekly alongside Always a Runner in the morning, and even working a little better. "I know Always a Runner has been beaten the last couple times, but she did run second, and she did beat a lot of good horses, and she did win the Kentucky Oaks, and her sheet numbers are still fast," Brown said of his Kentucky Oaks winner. "It's just that either this other filly (Counting Stars) is better than her or she doesn't like Saratoga, but she's run really well. "But when she (Always a Runner) works with this one, My Gun's Loaded, you could always tell galloping out who just has a little more, and it's this one—at least on this track. It gave me a lot of confidence that if Always a Runner is still running second to (Counting Stars), and I have a fresh filly that's actually working better than Always a Runner on this track, that's what gave me a lot of confidence to run a mile and a quarter." Brown's confidence was further increased when he saw My Gun's Loaded enter the paddock with confidence. Still, all that is good in theory but it still needed to be proven on the track. With Jose Ortiz replacing his injured brother Irad, Counting Stars broke toward the front. However, John Velazquez had Ati Girl positioned forward on the rail. Ortiz kept Counting Stars a few paths off the rail entering the clubhouse turn before eventually settling into the leading role entering the backstretch. Still, he remained off the fence. Seeing this unfold before him, jockey Manny Franco opted to follow Counting Stars. The dual grade 1 winner was able to relax and set tepid fractions of :24.55, :49.44, and 1:14.06, but Franco had dead aim whenever he wanted to move. "At the five-sixteenths pole, I put my filly outside of her (Counting Stars) and my filly just jump on the bridle. I didn't want to move that early because someone can come from behind," Franco said. "But at the same time, I was confident because she jumped in the bridle and I had a lot of filly underneath." As Franco approached Counting Stars passing the quarter pole, his fear of someone launching from behind was coming true as Counting Stars' Casse-trained stablemate Measure was unleashing her closing kick up the fence. Counting Stars entered the stretch holding the lead, but My Gun's Loaded soon headed her. Franco said when that happened, he felt his filly start to wait. Counting Stars is well proven to love a fight, having emerged victorious from a boxing match with Always a Runner in the CCA Oaks. She showed the heart of a champion as she continued to battle, but this time she was swarmed on both sides as Measure's rally reached the top two at the eighth pole. The three duked it out, Franco confidently urged My Gun's Loaded forward as he felt Measure's presence. Counting Stars finally wavered with a sixteenth to go, and My Gun's Loaded grasped victory from Measure by a neck. Completing 1 1/4 miles in 2:04.87, My Gun's Loaded paid $8.74 to win as the second choice. "I was concerned until about the three-eighths marker, and then I got a good glance of Manny on the other side and I could see he had plenty of horse moving up," Brown said. "Counting Stars is a great horse. I had the benefit of a fresh horse today. Take nothing away from her (Counting Stars) the way she fought, she's danced every dance from the Oaks on through, and I needed a fresh horse to beat her. Goes to show you how good she is. "But my filly today was expertly ridden by Manny Franco, my team did an unbelievable job developing this horse. … I'm so proud of the horse. I'm so appreciative of Douglas Scharbauer, who gave me this horse to train over the winter." Casse expressed pride in both his fillies for their effort despite the defeats. "She (Counting Stars) ran hard. She's been dancing for a long time, I'm proud of her," Casse said. "When they run hard, I don't get disappointed. Would I like to have won? Of course, but it takes a lot to get me disappointed. So I'm proud of her, she ran hard, we were third best today. "They weren't going fast enough. I thought Jose gave her a great ride, today was just not her day. There was no speed, and they were slow fractions, maybe. Chad's filly is pretty good, so maybe she just outran us today. We'll regroup." Ortiz said he had no excuse for the defeat, and that he felt she ran great through the stretch. "When you ride a horse like that, you ride them like they are the best," Ortiz said. "I didn't want anybody bugging me on the outside. She had the speed, so I let her be there in the four path, three path. I was very content every step of the way." As for Franco, the Alabama victory is a highlight on what has been a sensational Saratoga meet. Perhaps not receiving enough credit at times for his recent dominance in New York as several of the colony's top riders have moved their tack to other states in the winter, spring, and fall, Franco has been holding his own as they return for the summer. He sits a clear second behind Ortiz in the meet standings with 50 wins. "It's unbelievable," Franco said of his meet. "Every year is different, but this year it's been amazing for me. I'm just happy to have this meet going like that." Division Title Fight Reopens Counting Stars' defeat now reopens the door for end-of-year honors as the Eclipse champion 3-year-old filly. Not sure Always a Runner is at her best at Saratoga, Brown elected to skip the Alabama and point for the $1 million Cotillion Stakes (G1) Sept. 19 at Parx Racing for a change of scenery. Should she win that and come back to defeat Counting Stars in the $2 million Breeders' Cup Distaff (G1) Oct. 31 at Keeneland, she could very well take the Eclipse. My Gun's Loaded has also now entered the conversation. Her next start will likely come against older horses in either the $250,000 Beldame Stakes (G2) Sept. 25 at Belmont Park or $650,000 Spinster Stakes (G1) Oct. 4 at Keeneland. Victory in either spot plus a good showing in the Distaff would likely elevate her into the leading role. However, Brown made clear the award still needs to be taken from Counting Stars, expressing nothing but praise to his barn's rival. "She ran great in defeat. She's not going to have too many detractors after her effort today, she still showed up," Brown said about Counting Stars. "It was soft fractions and all that, but this filly has been running from Oaklawn through the Oaks to today. Counting Stars is a good horse, she didn't not run today. She ran great." Also running great, of course, was My Gun's Loaded, who was bred in Kentucky by Corser Thoroughbreds. She is out of the winning, stakes-placed Congrats mare Strive and became Gun Runner's third grade 1 winner of the year, joining Always a Runner and Blue Grass Stakes (G1) winner Further Ado. Gun Runner, who has sired six additional graded winners this year, stood the 2026 season at Three Chimneys Farm for a $250,000 fee.