Wicked Halo

Wicked Halo, a Gun Runner filly homebred by Winchell Thoroughbreds and trained by Steve Asmussen, won his career debut impressively by two lengths in a five-furlong sprint at Lone Star Park on June 5, 2021. She was then shipped to Churchill Downs for the listed Debutante Stakes and finished third in the six-furlong race after bobbling at the start.

Asmussen then sent the gray or roan filly to Saratoga for a start in the Grade 2, 6 ½-furlong Adirondack Stakes on Aug. 8. With Jose Ortiz riding, Wicked Halo set a contested and fast early pace and found another gear in early stretch, shaking off pressure and drawing clear to a 3 ½-length win.

Wicked Halo went to the sidelines not long after her Adirondack win, and returned to the races with a fourth-place finish in the Dixie Belle Stakes at Oaklawn Park on Feb. 19, 2022. She won her first stakes race as a 3-year-old on June 12, when she took the Leslie's Lady Overnight Stakes at Churchill Downs by 2 3/4 lengths. A few weeks later, she made it two in a row with a victory in the Tepin Stakes at Churchill on July 2. 

Wicked Halo made her next start at Saratoga in the six-furlong, Grade 2 Prioress Stakes on Sept. 2. The filly rallied from off of the pace under Tyler Gaffalione and posted a game neck win over longshot Sterling Silver to pick up her second career graded stakes victory, both at the Spa.

Wicked Halo won her fourth consecutive race (all stakes) when she ran away to a four-length victory as the 5-2 favorite in the Grade 2 $350,000 Lexus Raven Run Stakes at Keeneland on Oct. 22. She sat just off the pace in the field of nine 3-year-old fillies and took over the lead at the top of the stretch. Wicked Halo completed the seven furlongs in a time of 1:24.30.

Wicked Halo made her next start in the Grade 1 $1 million Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Sprint at Keeneland on Nov. 5. In the Breeders' Cup she outran 14-1 odds in that seven-furlong spot to run third behind favored Goodnight Olive in a 12-horse field.

Wicked Halo made her 4-year-old bow in the Matron Stakes March 31, 2023, at Oaklawn Park, where she won by three-quarters of a length. She followed with a runner-up finish to Matareya in the Derby City Distaff Stakes presented by Kendall-Jackson Winery on the May 6 Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve undercard.

Wicked Halo again ran second in the Grade 2 Bed o’ Roses Stakes June 17 at Belmont Park, where she was beaten by a neck by 2022 champion female sprinter Goodnight Olive. She followed with a 1 ¼-length victory in the Twin Bridges Stakes in July at Ellis Park. She improved upon a third-place finish in the September Open Mind Stakes at Churchill Downs with a hard-fought runner-up finish, beaten by a nose by Yuugiri, in the $350,000 Thoroughbred Club of America Stakes on the Oct. 7 card at Keeneland during Fall Stars weekend.

Wicked Halo is out of the Tapit mare Just Wicked, who won the Adirondack for Winchell Thoroughbreds and Asmussen in 2015.