Cox, Pletcher contemplate Holy Bull for Commandment, Nearly
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HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Trainers Brad Cox and Todd Pletcher had Commandment and Nearly, a couple of newly turned 3-year-olds, put themselves into the Kentucky Derby picture with big performances here last week. In the process, they’ve become potential candidates for the Grade 3 Holy Bull later this month.
Commandment registered an eye-catching, 6 3/4-length victory punctuated by a huge gallop-out in the one-mile Mucho Macho Man on Saturday, while Nearly notched an equally impressive five-length entry-level allowance win the previous afternoon.
Commandment has won his last two starts by a combined 12 lengths after finishing fourth in his debut. He earned a career-best 90 Beyer Speed Figure for his effort in the Mucho Macho Man.
“We’ve kind of brought him along furlong by furlong and he listens to his rider, which is an important quality to have trying to get horses to stretch out,” Cox said. “It’s a little early to come up with a definite plan, but his next start will definitely be around two turns, with the Holy Bull obviously in the conversation.”
Stretching to seven furlongs for the first time on Friday, Nearly got bumped solidly at the break before recovering to easily run away from Cox’s odds-on favorite Confessional and win for the second straight time after a disappointing 2-year-old debut.
“It was kind of a messy start, but [he] was able to settle after that [and] get into a good rhythm. [He] made a good run and finished up well,” Pletcher said of Nearly’s 3-year-old debut. “We were shocked he didn’t run better in his [2-year-old] debut. He seems to react negatively to the kickback, so we regrouped and now he’s showing what he’s capable of. And I’m looking forward to stretching him out farther. We know there are options almost every weekend for these horses all spring, but he’s 2 for 2 at Gulfstream, so we have to think seriously about the Holy Bull.”
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