HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Although the $3 million Pegasus World Cup Invitational is still nearly two months down the road, it’s not too early for the connections of potential starters to be looking ahead and mapping out their plans for the big event. That is the case with Octane, who will use the Grade 3 Harlan’s Holiday here on Dec. 30 as a stepping-stone to the Pegasus four weeks later. Octane was the undisputed leader of the local 2-year-old division in 2021 following one-sided victories in the final two legs of the Florida Sire Series, including the 1 1/16-mile In Reality in his juvenile finale. After encountering some stops and starts along the way over the next couple of years, the Florida-bred son of Brethren appears on the verge of taking his game to the next level. He is coming off a well-graded victory returning from a four-month hiatus in the Gil Campbell Memorial for trainer Juan Alvarado on Oct. 21. “He’s run some huge races and he matched his top sheet number winning the Campbell,” said Brian Cohen, stable manager for his father Alan’s Arindel Farm. “Originally we weren’t even planning on running in that race coming off the layoff, but he was training so well we figured he could probably hit the board. And he wound up just outclassing the field that day.” Octane has had four works since the Campbell, including an easy five furlongs in 1:02 immediately after the first renovation break here Friday with jockey Edgard Zayas aboard. “That was pretty much maintenance this morning. We’ll give him something more serious next week,” said Cohen. “The plan right now is to go to the Harlan’s Holiday, hope he runs like we expect, and earn his way into the Pegasus. He reminds me a lot of a horse like Art Collector,” the 2023 Pegasus winner. “He’s not very big, but he carries his speed. When he first started out, it looked like the early races in the sire series were where he’d excel. But now I think farther may actually be better for him, where he can relax up front. And it would really be nice to get into the Pegasus, which is at a mile and an eighth, and see what he can do.” Florida-bred feature Florida-breds will be in the spotlight here Sunday with the afternoon’s main event a mile and 70-yard allowance/optional claimer over the Tapeta course restricted to statebreds, which drew a field of seven, led by the lightly raced but steadily improving Happyisashappydoes. The 3-year-old gelding was beaten a nose under similar conditions four weeks earlier after contesting the pace from start to finish. :: Bet with the Best! Get FREE All-Access PPs and Weekly Cashback when you wager on DRF Bets. Happyisashappydoes projects to get loose on an easier lead in Sunday’s headliner with Backchat and Midwest invader Cable Boss, making his first start against Florida-breds, likely to provide the main competition in a field that also includes C My Meister, Bold Majestic, The Mar, and Honesto. Jerkens nominations Defending champion Value Engineering tops a list of 20 nominees for the lone stakes on next week’s schedule, the $100,000 H. Allen Jerkens to be decided at two miles on the turf, weather permitting. Value Engineering, one of six horses trainer Mike Maker nominated to the race, rallied to a 1 1/4-length decision in the 2022 Jerkens, which was switched from the grass to the Tapeta and shortened to 1 5/8 miles. Value Engineering subsequently returned to the turf to finish second in the Grade 3 W.L. McKnight and capture the Grade 2 Mac Diarmida to launch his 2023 campaign. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.