Holy Bull Stakes

We edge inside the two-month mark to the GI Kentucky Derby with a well-bunched Top 12 hurtling toward more lucrative qualifying points races at longer distances. 1) PALADIN (c, Gun Runner--Secret Sigh, by Tapit) O-Mrs. John Magnier, Michael Tabor, Derrick Smith, Peter M. Brant, Brook T. Smith, and Summer Wind Equine, LLC; B-Summer Wind Equine LLC (KY); T-Chad C. Brown. Sales history: $1,900,000 Ylg '24 FTSAUG. Lifetime record: MGSW, 3-3-0-0, $848,250. Last start: WON Feb. 14 GII Risen Star Stakes. The 3-for-3 Paladin has racked up two wins in nine-furlong...

We're inside the 16-week mark for the May 2 GI Kentucky Derby. These initial rankings are largely based on 2-year-old form, but a speculative element is baked into the equation with an eye toward projecting how these still-developing contenders will blossom over the winter and early spring. 1) TED NOFFEY (c, Into Mischief--Streak of Luck) 'TDN Rising Star, presented by Hagyard'. O-Spendthrift Farm LLC; B-Aaron & Marie Jones LLC (KY); T-Todd A. Pletcher. Sales history: $650,000 Ylg '24 KEESEP. Lifetime record: MGISW, 4-4-0-0, $1,657,963. Last start: WON Oct. 31 GI...

'TDN Rising Star' Ferocious (Flatter), second in both the GI Claiborne Breeders' Futurity and the GI Hopeful Stakes last year, reportedly has a muscle tear and has been removed from consideration for the May 3 GI Kentucky Derby. Trainer Gustavo Delgado's son, Gustavo Delgado, Jr., told the Daily Racing Form that while the injury was minor, it would require time to heal. Owned by JR Ranch, Marquee Bloodstock, High Step Racing, and OGMA Investments, LLC, Ferocious has made one start in 2025, resulting in a fourth Feb. 1 in the...

OGMA Investments, JR Ranch, Upland Flats Racing, Morplay Racing, High Step Racing, Lady Sheila Stable and Michael and Jules Iavarone's highly regarded Victory Avenue (Arrogate), unraced since his debut run last winter, returns to the races Sunday at Gulfstream Park. Trained by Gustavo Delgado, the colt was second after a troubled start in his debut at Gulfstream on the Pegasus undercard last January. He was entered in the GII Fountain of Youth Stakes off that maiden appearance, but was scratched. "He was just such a naturally fast talented colt that...

Ian Wilkes doesn't rush his young horses. You won't seem them running in 4 1/2-furlong races at Keeneland in the spring and they may not peak until late in their 3-year-old year or even early in their 4-year-old year. That's probably why he's had only one starter in the GI Kentucky Derby, McCraken (Ghostzapper), who finished eighth in the 2017 GI Kentucky Derby. But this time it's different. Wilkes has come up with a horse that has forced his way into the Derby picture. That was evident when the Wilkes-trained...

Multiple graded stakes winner Irish War Cry (Curlin--Irish Sovereign, by Polish Numbers) has been purchased by Bob and Tyree Wolesensky and will relocate from Northview Stallion Station in Maryland to the Wolesensky's Leadem Farm in Leola, Arkansas for the 2025 breeding season. The 10-year-old stallion won the 2017 GII Wood Memorial Stakes and GII Lambholm South Holy Bull Stakes, as well as the 2018 GIII Pimilco Special. He is the sire of this year's Maryland Million Sprint Stakes winner Celtic Contender, as well as Maryland Million Distaff third-place finisher Spencerian...

On a Saturday that included bi-coastal graded stakes for sophomores, the most emphatic performance on the GI Kentucky Derby trail was orchestrated in a first-level allowance race at Gulfstream Park by Tapit Trice (Tapit). It wasn't just the eight-length blowout margin of victory or the 92 Beyer Speed Figure that made the athletic gray's effort stand out. It's the fluid, three-race progression and unruffled demeanor that suggests Tapit Trice is ascending his developmental arc while honing an air of confident capability. A $1.3 million KEESEP yearling owned in partnership by...

Saturday's graded stakes races stretch out from coast to coast and feature significant GI Kentucky Derby implications, but not entirely for the reasons we've come to expect. In South Florida, it is business as usual for the Derby preps while on the West Coast all things Kentucky Derby took an unprecedented turn. On the heels of a very successful GI Pegasus World Cup weekend, Gulfstream Park offers a tremendous card with five graded races, including the 34th running of the GIII Holy Bull S. named for the Hall of Famer...

Gulfstream Park's upcoming Championship Meet will offer 60 stakes--35 graded--worth $13.6 million. The stakes line up is headlined by the $3-million GI Pegasus World Cup Invitational, which will be run Jan. 28, and the $1-million GI Curlin Florida Derby, to be run Apr. 1. Gulfstream's Jan. 28 card will also include the $1-million Pegasus World Cup Turf Invitational and the $500,000 GIII Pegasus World Cup F/M Turf Invitational, as well as four other graded events. The Florida Derby is the culmination of Gulfstream's series of Triple Crown preps. The series...

C2 Racing Stable LLC and La Milagrosa Stable LLC's White Abarrio (Race Day) breezed an 'easy' five furlongs at Gulfstream Park in preparation for the Apr. 2 GI Curlin Florida Derby. "Two weeks out, so far, so good. Two weeks is a long time with horses, but as far as everything has gone preparation-wise, I'm very happy with how things have gone," trainer Saffie Joseph, Jr. said. White Abarrio, who breezed in company for his fourth workout since capturing the Feb. 5 GIII Holy Bull S., was timed in 1:00.42,...

Still recuperating from an injury that prevented him from running in the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile, 'TDN Rising Star' Jack Christopher (Munnings) is about two weeks away from rejoining Chad Brown's Florida division. However, the trainer said he was not sure if he has enough time to get him ready to run in the GI Kentucky Derby. "He's going to be up against it, that's for sure," Brown said when asked about making the Derby. "I don't want to rule anything out until I put my hands on him, but...

The continuously improving Greatest Honour (Tapit) continued his preparations for the Mar. 27 GI Curlin Florida Derby at Payson Park Saturday, covering a half-mile in :50.20 (3/21). "He worked nice--his typical work," trainerr Shug McGaughey said. "I think he bounced out of the [GII Fasig-Tipton] Fountain of Youth good." Greatest Honour broke his maiden at fourth asking at Gulfstream Dec. 26 and has swept the first two of three GI Kentucky Derby preps held at Gulfstream: the Jan. 30 GIII Holy Bull and the Feb. 27 Fountain of Youth.