Gun Runner will make his final race appearance today in the $16,000,000 (I think it is more impressive if you type out all the zeros) Pegasus World Cup at Gulfstream Park. The national television coverage will begin at 4:30 p.m. ET on NBC.

In an event that was created by Gulfstream Park owner Frank Stronach to, well, create a made-for-TV drama, this racing spectacle certainly fits the bill. The field is full. Some of the horses have solid credentials. Some of the connections can actually dream realistically. And, some of the horses are there to try to hit the board and cash a nice payday.

But the real drama and storyline will be Gun Runner. The headliner will be Gun Runner. The star of this show is to be Gun Runner. It is his stage. It is his time. It is his game. And, it is the final time around the oval for the great champ.

After toiling in the shadows for much of his early career, and, then, in the massive wake of the great Arrogate for much of 2016, Gun Runner emerged in 2017.

And, he ran off.

After losing to Arrogate in the 2017 Dubai World Cup, the duo returned to the States and may people expected the same thing to keep occurring here. Gun Runner, as good as he could be, was destined to be second best. Arrogate, as good as he had become winning 7 straight stakes events with accolades and banners of greatness draped all over his name and game, was already being compared to the likes of Secretariat, Spectacular Bid, Affirmed, Cigar, and every other great racehorse that had flipped the dirt and the pages of racing history.

But something not so funny happened on the way to Arrogate’s coronation as the King of Racing. Again. Something truly remarkable happened.

After coming home, Arrogate was given a bit of some time off. After that, he never won another race.

After coming home, Gun Runner never lost another run. And, every time he ran, he just got better and better. He distanced horse after horse. He won Stakes race after Stakes race. He dusted his competition as if he was one of the game’s greatest. And, he made his competitors look like cheap claimers.

Simply put, they could not keep up.

And, Gun Runner couldn’t be any better. He became the Horse of the Year in 2017. And, he suddenly emerged as one of the Horses of the Century. And, if he wins today? Maybe one of the Horse’s of All Time.

Today, Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen will saddle his grand racehorse for the last time, and jockey Florent Geroux will get his last chance to ride the great son of Candy Ride.

Today, the fans that come to watch the glorious sport of horses racing, will get to watch and pay tribute to one of the most glamours-looking chestnuts since Big Red stomped his way around the game back in 1973.

Today, the game will get to say hello and then goodbye to one of the fastest horses in the world.

It will not be an easy goodbye for many reasons. All of us who enjoy watching the best, always want one more time. And, Gun Runner came into his glory the old fashioned way — he had to earn it.

But it will not be easy, either, because the field is lined up to just try and beat him; one of the game’s greatest as he finishes this racing career in order to join the stallion roster at Three Chimney’s Farm near Midway, Ky.

There is Bob Baffert’s duo of West Coast and Collected, both of whom have earned Grade 1 victories in the past and are sure to add some more in the future. Baffert is the best in the business, and I am sure he is incentivized to try hard today since it was his pupil, Arrogate, who lost his throne and specter to Gun Runner.

There is Sharp Azteca, who is so super sharp these days. He lost the Breeders’ Cup Mile by a nostril to Battle of Midway and came back to win the Cigar Mile. Surely, his speed will carry him to the front and alongside Gun Runner, who normally dominates the front end.

There is the winner of the Grade 1 Clark Handicap, trained by Dallas Stewart — the lion slayer and tamer. He has made a livelihood out of scoring big races with huge long shots.

There is the grand mare Stellar Wind, a former champ in her own right. She will make her first start for Eclipse Award winning trainer Chad Brown.

And, there are others.

But, most of all, there is the Number 10. That is the uncompromising, unfortunate and difficult post position that Gun Runner drew for his final race, and the place he must start from today. Over the past couple of years, it has been almost impossible for a horse to win a two-turn, route race from this far out in the starting gate. There just isn’t much room to break and then clear fast enough to get a good running position going into the first turn.

Could the Post Position be the thing that interrupts this retirement ceremony?

Only time will tell, of course. But count me as one who will be standing. And cheering. For Gun Runner. Not because I have always been a big fan. Because I have not been. And, I wasted a lot of time trying to beat him and not truly watching him. And, appreciating him. And, enjoying him.

Today, I will stand, root, cheer and enjoy. And, I hope he leaves the game on top. Because he has earned it.

He has earned our respect. He has earned our applause. He has earned our salute. And, he has earned to go out on top.

Here’s hoping that he does.