Neolithic auditions Wednesday for Pegasus World Cup

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – With the inaugural running of the $12 million Pegasus World Cup only six weeks away, Saturday’s Grade 3 Harlan’s Holiday has been well spotted on the calendar to provide both a prep and a showcase for potential starters in the uniquely designed event.

Such an option is certainly not lost on trainer Todd Pletcher, who will send out two or three runners in the Harlan’s Holiday and has a fourth Pegasus candidate in the Grade 3-placed Neolithic, the favorite in Wednesday’s $43,000 allowance feature.

Pletcher said he definitely will run Keen Ice and Stanford in the 1 1/16-mile Harlan’s Holiday while also “keeping an eye” on the race for Madefromlucky. Keen Ice has not started since finishing third in the Breeders’ Cup Classic, while Stanford was given a break following his eighth-place effort behind Frosted six months ago in the Grade 1 Metropolitan Handicap. Madefromlucky has been away even longer, idle since finishing third in the Grade 3 Excelsior on April 6.

“Somebody is going to have to fill those slots in the Pegasus, and I’m trying to put these horses in position for their owners to have some options by running this week,” Pletcher said.

The owners of Pletcher’s three Harlan’s Holiday candidates currently have no slots in the Pegasus. Neolithic’s owner, Starlight Racing, does.

“Starlight owns a gate in the Pegasus, so we’ll see how he runs Wednesday and go from there,” Pletcher said.

Neolithic has won just once in six lifetime starts, which makes him eligible for Wednesday’s headliner, to be decided under entry-level allowance conditions. He jumped up with a career-best performance when second in the Discovery, beaten 1 1/4 lengths by Sticksstatelydude, after forcing the winner’s pace throughout.

“I think he’s a horse who is better than his form suggests – that’s why we ran him in the Discovery, and he’s trained well since,” Pletcher said.

Jack Wolf, managing partner for Starlight Racing, finds himself in a unique position with Neolithic regarding the Pegasus World Cup.

“The partners I have for Starlight in Neolithic are not the same partners I have in the Starlight-Pegasus group,” Wolf said. “My obligation is to get the best horse with the best terms into that slot, and at this point, I’m not sure Neolithic is the best horse available, so I am currently in talks with a number of different horse owners with potential Pegasus candidates. That being said, if Neolithic were to jump up and run another big race on Wednesday and prove he’s worthy of running in the race, he could become attractive to someone else with a slot, should we come up with another deal.”

Neolithic will break from the rail in a field of 11 with Javier Castellano aboard. Neolithic’s chief competition may come from Kismet’s Heels, who exits a game second-place effort under second-level optional-claiming and allowance conditions last month at Churchill Downs. He earned a career-best 90 Beyer Speed Figure in the process despite engaging in a race-long pace duel.

Pletcher will send out a second member of the field, Vees Boy, a runner-up against lesser company across town at Gulfstream Park West in his most recent start. Fearless Dragon and Juan and Bina also figure to attract support.

◗ The $100,000 Harlan’s Holiday is one of five stakes on Saturday’s card and is among three graded stakes on the day, along with the Rampart and Sugar Swirl, both for fillies and mares. The El Prado and its filly counterpart, the South Beach, will be decided on the turf.

Pletcher plans to run Genre and Eskenformoney in the one-mile Rampart. He said he’ll pass on the six-furlong Sugar Swirl even though he nominated three fillies for the race.

◗ Dolphus, a half-brother to 2009 Horse of the Year Rachel Alexandra, won for the first time in nearly 11 months when romping by 9 1/4 lengths Sunday in an allowance moved from the turf to a sloppy main track and marred by an incident at the break that eliminated several of the eight other starters in the field.

Dolphus, a 3-year-old by Lookin At Lucky, wore blinkers for the first time. He was guided to the impressive victory by Paco Lopez for trainer Joe Sharp and owner Dede McGehee.