Cyclone Mischief headed back to stakes in Holy Bull
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Prep season in Florida starts heating up as Kentucky Derby prospects will undergo their first major test of the year at Gulfstream Park when the Grade 3, $250,000 Holy Bull Stakes is run next Saturday, Feb. 4.
Confirmed prospects for the 1 1/16-mile Holy Bull include Cyclone Mischief, Il Miracolo, Legacy Isle, and Mr Bob, although another six to eight 3-year-olds also are under consideration ahead of entries being drawn here Sunday, according to Gulfstream stakes coordinator Eric Friedman. That list includes Dreaming of Kona, Major Dude, the Saffie Joseph Jr. pair of Lord Miles and West Coast Cowboy, and maybe two of the Bill Mott trio of Classic Legacy, Rocket Can, and Shadow Dragon.
Cyclone Mischief is something of a wild card, having rebounded from a seventh-place finish as the pacesetter in the Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes in late November to dominate a first-level allowance going a one-turn mile here Jan. 8 for trainer Dale Romans.
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“I know we get a little hyped up on our best 3-year-olds at this time of year, but we really do think he’s got a ton of upside,” Romans said.
Cyclone Mischief, like most of the Holy Bull hopefuls, was scheduled to have a final pre-race blowout over the weekend.
Legacy Isle, trained by Rohan Crichton, finished first in the Mucho Macho Man on Jan. 1 before being disqualified to second for stretch interference, a stewards’ decision that made Dreaming of Kona the winner. Lord Miles was a late-flying third in that one-mile race. Joseph said the Holy Bull status of Lord Miles was dependent on a routine breeze this weekend.
Meanwhile, Dubyuhnell is one of 30 nominees to the Holy Bull but will wait another week to make his seasonal debut on the other side of the Florida peninsula in the Sam F. Davis Stakes on Feb. 11 at Tampa Bay Downs, trainer Danny Gargan said.
Dubyuhnell, a Good Magic colt who capped his 2-year-old season by winning the Grade 2 Remsen at Aqueduct in early December, “is a legit Derby horse, we think,” Gargan said Friday from his Palm Meadows base. “He’s already won going a mile and an eighth.”
The Holy Bull and Sam Davis both are 1 1/16-mile races with 40 Derby qualifying points (20-8-6-4-2).
Four other Grade 3 stakes will be run Saturday on the first major 3-year-old date of the Gulfstream championship meet. Two sets of Grade 3 twins serve as secondary features – the Swale and Forward Gal, both at seven furlongs, and the Kitten’s Joy and Sweetest Chant, both at 1 1/16 miles on turf.
The March 4 Fountain of Youth and April 1 Florida Derby follow the Holy Bull on Gulfstream’s traditional road to the Kentucky Derby on May 6.
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