Pair of stakes-placed 3-year-olds headline Holy Bull
Philadelphia, PA (SportsNetwork.com) – Upstart, third in last year’s Breeders’ Cup Juvenile and second in the Champagne, squares off against Frosted, second in the Remsen Stakes, in Saturday’s Grade 2 Holy Bull Stakes at Gulfstream Park.
The New York-bred Upstart looks to follow in fellow NY-bred Samraat’s footsteps by accumulating enough points to qualify for the Run for the Roses. Trained by Rick Violette, who saddled the aforementioned Samraat in Kentucky Derby 140, Upstart has yet to run out of the money with two wins, a second and a third in four lifetime starts.
Both victories came in sprints against state-breds while the second-place finish in the Champagne was over a sloppy track. His biggest payday came in the BC Juvenile.
Upstart did not get out of gate too swiftly that afternoon as he broke from the outside post in a field of 11. He wound up getting beat by over six lengths while running the 1 1/16 miles in over 1:43 seconds. Upstart is the fourth of 11 horses from the BC Juvenile to race and none of the other three has won in six combined starts. This is his first start since Nov. 1, but Violette has been extremely happy with his morning workouts, so anything is possible.
Frosted, trained by Kiaran McLaughlin, sports one win and three seconds in four career starts. His most recent second-place finish came in the Remsen Stakes, a race in which the son of Tapit was saddled with the No. 13 post.
Despite the outside draw, the gray colt had a dream trip behind the two leaders – Classy Class and Leave the Light On. Unfortunately, the 9-5 favorite could not get past the latter, losing by a half length. It was eight lengths back to the show horse.
History has not been kind to the horses participating in the Remsen. The last winner of the race to finish first in the Kentucky Derby was Thunder Gulch 21 years ago, and the drought is even longer for the second-place finisher.
Both Upstart and Frosted can either stalk the pace or run near the lead, which is ultra important in the 1 1/16-mile Holy Bull. Gulfstream Park is a speed favoring track, so it is imperative for Upstart to break sharply from the No. 8 post and for Frosted not to get shuffled back from the No. 1 post. Both horses will need extra urging at the start, which could cost them a chance at the win later in the race.
The horse those two will be chasing is the speedy Bluegrass Singer. The Mucho Macho Man Stakes winner has been impressive at Gulfstream Park with three wins and a third in four starts. He has wired his foes in all three victories, something the gelding hopes to accomplish on Saturday.
Bluegrass Singer has never had to carry his speed 1 1/16 miles, but he should not have any problems on Saturday due to the short stretch at Gulfstream Park. If he is challenged for the top spot, and quite possibly the win, look for it to be from High Noon Rider.
The Kentucky-bred colt has just a maiden win in four lifetime starts, but his first two races were on the turf. After prevailing in an off-the-turf event at Aqueduct, trainer George Weaver sent him out to Remington Park for the Springboard Mile.
Running in the mud and having to break from the outside post, the speedy son of Distorted Humor was caught very wide entering the first turn. He was seventh, a good seven lengths off the lead after the first quarter. From there, High Noon Rider powered his way to the lead approaching the top of the stretch only to get outrun by both Bayerd (who subsequently finished second in the Smarty Jones) and Shotgun Kowboy.
That race should set him up nicely for this one. The only question is the 1 1/16-mile distance as he is bred to be efficient up to one mile. Still, he should be at least the fourth choice in the wagering, which makes him the upset special in the Holy Bull.
As for the rest of the field, Keen Ice and Frammento could improve once they move away from Gulfstream Park, but they are at the mercy of the track bias on Saturday as both horses like to come from off the pace.
The only other colt with a chance is First Down. The other Godolphin entrant besides Frosted defeated that runner by three-quarters of a length in his first outing back in September. He then finished fourth in the Aqueduct mud in the Nashua Stakes on Nov. 2 and has not raced since. First Down may not be geared up to win, but with Lasix on for the first time, he could be another interesting win candidate.
Holy Bull – 1) High Noon Rider 2) Bluegrass Singer 3) Frosted LS) First Down
OTHER TOP RACES AT GULFSTREAM PARK ON SATURDAY
Todd Pletcher has a pair of recent maiden winners in the fourth race at Gulfstream Park on Saturday. Both Blame Game and Overcontrol did not impress in terms of the final times, but they were extremely professional in terms of ease of victory.
Blame Game, expertly ridden by John Velazquez, switched from the rail to the three-path and overpowered his opponents to a 3 1/4-length win. It was another nine lengths back to the show horse.
Javier Castellano gets the mount on Saturday as Velazquez stays on Overcontrol, who was bet down to 1-2 in his debut. The bay colt by Tapit drew clear with ease around the turn and scampered under the wire by 4 1/2 lengths with Velazquez sitting chilly on top.
This one-mile event also features Jack Tripp, who lost by seven lengths to another one of Pletcher’s 3-year-olds, Itsaknockout. It will be interesting to see how Jack Tripp fares against these two undefeated colts and should be a good barometer for Pletcher’s allowance runners.
The sixth race, a seven-furlong event for maidens, marks the debut of Khozan for who else but trainer Todd Pletcher. Khozan was purchased as a 2-year-old for $1 million based on his outstanding pedigree. The March foal is a half- brother to three-time Eclipse Award-winner Royal Delta.
The field also includes many runners with tremendous breeding. Nick Zito’s Battle Midway is a half to Cool Coal Man. Black Lab’s second dam is a full- sister to Silver Charm and Newscast’s third dam is a full-sister to Bold Forbes.
Two others to watch for are Porch Pounder and Market Guessing,
Porch Pounder is the first foal of Quiet Flight, a full-sister to Quiet Dance, the mother of 2005 Horse of the Year Saint Liam. Pletcher trains the son of Quality Road.
Market Guessing, a half to 2010 Preakness runner-up First Dude, looked like a winner through the stretch in his debut before flattening out to finish sixth, beaten only three lengths. Unfortunately, the Dale Romans’ colt drew the No. 1 post position, which will hurt his chances. Still, he’s worth a flyer if he is 10-1 or higher.
A PAIR OF STAKES OUT WEST
Two of the nation’s top sprinting 3-year-olds headline stakes races at Sunland Park and Santa Anita.
Cinco Charlie is the 6-5 morning line favorite in the Riley Allison at Sunland Park. The son of Indian Charlie has won his last two after finishing third to Blofeld in the Futurity last October. Cinco Charlie stretches out from six furlongs to one mile, but none of the other seven horses has won at a distance greater than 6 1/2 furlongs, either.
Further west at Santa Anita, Acceptance is trying to duplicate what California Chrome did a year ago in winning both the King Glorious Stakes and the California Cup Derby. The undefeated son of Vronsky is 3-for-3 with wins at 6 1/2, seven and eight furlongs.
The California-bred tries 1 1/16 miles against a tough customer in Tough Sunday, who broke his maiden after finally getting a decent start out of the gate. Ridden by Tyler Baze for the first time, the bay colt dominated a field of seven winning by 6 3/4 lengths while running the seven furlongs (over an exceedingly fast track) in 1:21 4/5.
Earlier on Saturday’s Santa Anita card, look for sharp performances from Rhett’s Image (race one) and San Onofre in the California Cup Sprint Stakes (race eight).
THE 2015 JEFF FRANK “DIRTY DOZEN”
1) Spring Quality – Has not posted a workout since scratching twice
2) Texas Red – Will work once more before San Vicente on Feb. 1
3) American Pharoah – Battles the Eclipse Award juvenile curse
4) Dortmund – Two bullet works sets him up well for Robert B. Lewis
5) Carpe Diem – Hit the track last week with a 3-furlong breeze
6) My Johnny Be Good – Worked six in 1:12 4/5 for Sam F. Davis
7) Calculator – Pedigree might be lone drawback for this 3-year-old
8) Firing Line – Gearing up for rematch with Dortmund in Lewis
9) Ocho Ocho Ocho – Should have two 3-year-old starts before Derby
10) El Kabeir – Two straight wins after just one in first four starts
11) Far Right – Won Smarty Jones despite losing ground on far turn
12-T) International Star – Impressive performance winning LeComte
12-T) War Story – Ran well to hold second behind International Star
Categorized in: Horses