J R's Holiday well spotted in Wednesday allowance

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Picking out the right race for a horse can be as equally as important as how a trainer prepares his horse for the race. When it comes to race selection, Saffie Joseph Jr. has done a good job picking out Wednesday’s $51,000 optional-claiming race for J R’s Holiday’s 2018 debut.

Wednesday’s 1 3/8-mile main event is written as an entry-level allowance race, but carries a condition for horses who have not won on the turf since Jan. 24, 2017, giving the graded stakes-placed J R’s Holiday a class edge over the majority of the field. J R’s Holiday, runner-up in the Grade 3 Transylvania at Keeneland during the spring of 2016, is coming off his best effort since joining Joseph’s barn last summer, a third-place finish behind the Grade 1-placed March on Dec. 29.

Joseph put blinkers back on J R’s Holiday for his last start and he believes a combination of the equipment change and the softer competition on Wednesday could finally put the turf specialist back in the winner’s circle for the first time in two years.

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“The race is perfect for him,” said Joseph. “The distance is an unknown, but the way he runs he should go that far. And I think the blinkers really helped. He carries his head a little high and a little awkwardly when he runs, and the blinkers seem to keep him more focused. In his last start, he got bumped at the eighth pole and it stopped his momentum or I think he could have won.”

Trainer Danny Vella has also spotted English Illusion well on Wednesday in light of the conditions of the event. The long-distance specialist won a race at Woodbine in the fall, but that victory came over the synthetic track and not on turf. English Illusion will also be dropping in company, off a fifth-place finish in the two-mile Allen Jerkens Stakes here on Dec. 30.

Other key contenders include recent maiden winners Culture Carrier, Kulin Rock, and Arch Daddy.

Wednesday’s headliner is the fourth leg in a Rainbow 6 sequence that will begin with a carryover of in excess of $3.2 million. There will be a mandatory payout of the Rainbow 6 on Sunday.