Maximus Mischief, Mihos likely to top Holy Bull

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Maximus Mischief and Mihos are the expected favorites next Saturday, when the Grade 2, $350,000 Holy Bull Stakes is run as the first of three Kentucky Derby qualifying races at the Gulfstream Park championship meet.

Maximus Mischief, making his first start since winning the Dec. 1 Remsen at Aqueduct for Cash Is King LLC and LC Racing, will put his unbeaten record on the line in the 1 1/16-mile Holy Bull, which is worth Derby points on a 10-4-2-1 scale to the top four finishers.

Trainer Butch Reid intended to give Maximus Mischief his final pre-race work here Saturday, but because of the possibility of nasty weather and the track closing early ahead of the Pegasus World Cup card, he was considering waiting until Sunday or Monday. In any event, Maximus Mischief surely will be the horse to catch in the Holy Bull, having shown brilliant speed in going unchallenged in all three prior starts.

Mihos had his second breeze since winning the one-mile Mucho Macho Man here on Jan. 5. He went six furlongs in 1:16 Wednesday in company at the Palm Meadows training center.

“We gave him a good schooling,” said Jimmy Jerkens, who trains Mihos, by Cairo Prince, for Centennial Farms. “Not fast, but nice and useful. It was pretty much what I was looking for.”

Other confirmed starters for the Holy Bull, which is sponsored by Fasig-Tipton, are Trophy Chaser, beaten a neck when second in the Mucho Macho Man; Epic Dreamer, the beaten favorite last month in the Springboard Mile at Remington Park; and Come On Gerry, a sharp maiden winner here Dec. 28 in his second start.

Dale Romans trains five of the 24 nominees to the Holy Bull but said Come On Gerry will be his lone starter. An Elusive Quality colt owned by the Albaugh Family Stable, Come On Gerry breezed five furlongs in 1:01.60 here last week and was to have a final blowout as the Holy Bull neared.

“He’s coming along real well,” said Romans. “This ought to be a good test for him.”

The ensuing races on the Gulfstream path to the May 4 Kentucky Derby are the March 2 Fountain of Youth (85 points distributed 50-20-10-5), also at 1 1/16 miles, and the March 30 Florida Derby (170 points distributed 100-40-20-10) at 1 1/18 miles.

The Holy Bull is one of five stakes for 3-year-olds to be run on yet another big Saturday here. Entries for the entire Feb. 2 card will be released Wednesday.

Here’s a quick look ahead at the supporting events:

Grade 3, $150,000 Swale

Seismic Jolt and Zenden, already stakes winners over the local surface, are among the confirmed starters for this seven-furlong race, along with Frosted Grace, High Crime, and Squeezadios. A field of maybe eight or nine could result from a nominations list of 28.

Seismic Jolt, trained by David Fawkes, won the restricted Limehouse on Jan. 5. Zenden, trained by Victor Barboza Jr., won the Buffalo Man on Dec. 8 to stay unbeaten in two starts.

Grade 3, $150,000 Forward Gal

A couple of fillies whose careers got off to fine starts with maiden and first-level allowance victories on the Kentucky circuit, Unholy Alliance and Champagne Anyone, are expected to meet for the first time in this seven-furlong counterpart to the Swale. Other known starters include Bye Bye J and Frond.

Grade 3, $100,000 Sweetest Chant

Chad Brown, who has won five of the last seven runnings of this one-mile turf race for fillies, appears to have another loaded hand. The three-time Eclipse Award-winning trainer will send out La Feve for her North American debut, along with Regal Glory, an Animal Kingdom filly who is unbeaten in two starts, both in dirt sprints in New York. Other probables include A Bit Special, Ardara Belle, and Stellar Agent.

$100,000 Dania Beach

Somelikeithotbrown, third in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf, will be making his seasonal debut in this twin to the Sweetest Chant. A Thread of Blue and Royal Urn are among the other 3-year-olds confirmed.