Breeders' Cup Sprint: Noholdingback Bear no one-surface wonder

After Noholdingback Bear ran off three consecutive victories and then finished second in a Grade 3 stakes while racing over the synthetic tracks at Woodbine and Presque Isle Downs this summer, showing marked improvement over his three performances last winter at Gulfstream Park, trainer Michael De Paulo wasn’t sure what to think. Was his speedy 3-year-old truly improving, or was he simply a synthetic-surface specialist?

De Paulo finally got the answer last Saturday, when Noholdingback Bear overcame early trouble en route to a 1 1/4-length decision in the Grade 3 Gallant Bob on the dirt at Parx. That performance followed a third-place finish in the seven-furlong King’s Bishop at Saratoga and earned him a berth in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint on Nov. 5 at Santa Anita.

“I had several horses who seemed to thrive once they left Gulfstream and got back to Woodbine, and he was one of them,” said De Paulo. “And I was kind of confused what it meant. Were they all getting better, or did they just like the synthetic racetrack? But he ran well behind a slow pace at Saratoga in the King’s Bishop – seven furlongs might be a little bit beyond his best range – then came back with this effort at Parx, where I thought he won pretty easily.”

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Noholdingback Bear earned a 101 Beyer Speed Figure for the Gallant Bob, a number he had achieved twice previously, both times at Woodbine.

“He’s not the best-breaking horse in the world, he doesn’t come out smoking, and he got into a little trouble Saturday, which forced him to race a little off the pace and swing wide,” said De Paulo, who trains Noholdingback Bear for the Bear Stables. “I always thought he could rate and race off the pace. But these were 3-year-olds, and obviously he’ll have to face a little tougher when going up against the older horses in California.”

De Paulo, who has never had a Breeders’ Cup starter, said Noholdingback Bear will train up to the Sprint at Woodbine before shipping to Santa Anita “on top of the race.”

Trainer Robert Falcone Jr. may also make his Breeders’ Cup debut in the Sprint. He trains Mind Your Biscuits, who had a slow start and finished a late-running second in the Gallant Bob. Mind Your Biscuits won the Grade 2 Amsterdam and finished fifth in the King’s Bishop during the Saratoga meet.

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Falcone said he thought Mind Your Biscuits ran well in the Gallant Bob.

“I said right before he won the Amsterdam he’s a horse who keeps getting better with maturity,” Falcone said. “Right now, the Sprint is under consideration. We’ll see how he’s doing and probably make a decision within the next two weeks.”

Saturday’s Grade 1 Vosburgh at Belmont Park is the fourth of six Breeders’ Cup Challenge races for the Sprint and figures to answer several key questions. Those include: Can A. P. Indian retain his hold on the top spot in the East Coast sprint division, and will X Y Jet return to the top form he displayed prior to being injured in his second-place finish in the Dubai Golden Shaheen in the spring?

Among the others hoping to earn an expense-paid trip to the Sprint with a victory in the six-furlong Vosburgh are Holy Boss, Stallwalkin’ Dude, Requite, Weekend Hideaway, and Joking.

Holy Boss, idle since finishing second behind A. P. Indian in the Grade 1 Vanderbilt at Saratoga, ran fourth in the 2015 BC Sprint at Keeneland.