Pletcher looks set for encore on stakes-filled Holy Bull card

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Trainer Todd Pletcher won four races on Pegasus Day, including both the $3 million Pegasus World Cup Invitational and $1 million Pegasus World Cup Turf at Gulfstream Park. And he looks just as loaded again here Saturday with 10 starters in eight races that include Mo Donegal in the $250,000 Holy Bull, likely favorite My Prankster in the Grade 3 Swale, top contenders Grand Sonata and Royal Spirit in the Grade 3 Kitten’s Joy, and Greatitude in the Grade 3 Forward Gal.

The Grade 3 Holy Bull is the first of three important Kentucky Derby preps to be decided here over the next two months along with the Grade 2 Fountain of Youth and Grade 1 Florida Derby. The Holy Bull will be decided at a 1 1/16 miles and drew a strong field that also features Breeders’ Cup Juvenile third-place finisher Giant Game, Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf runner-up Tiz the Bomb, the Grade 3-placed White Abarrio, and the speedy Mucho Macho Man winner Simplification.

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Mo Donegal has been idle since concluding his brief 2-year-old campaign with a game nose decision over Zandon in the Grade 2 Remsen, the pair dominating the rest of the field that day while in a virtual match race the length of the stretch. The win was the second in three starts for Mo Donegal, a son of Uncle Mo, who earned a 90 Beyer Speed Figure for his hard-fought victory in the nine-furlong Remsen.

Pletcher will be seeking his third Holy Bull victory, having won the race in 2012 with Algorithms and again with Audible in 2018. Irad Ortiz Jr. will again have the mount.

“I’m really pleased with his training since he came here after the Remsen. We targeted this right away and, knock on wood, thankfully everything has gone according to schedule,” Pletcher said. “He has not missed a beat since he’s been here. He’s had a bit of a growth spurt and he’s done what you’d like to see 2-year-olds turning 3 and young 3-year-olds this time of year do, growing and physically developing.”

Giant Game was beaten 3 1/4 lengths by the favored Corniche in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile, hanging a bit through the final furlong after rallying wide to close contention entering the stretch. Giant Game posted three bullet, five-furlong works here in early January but must overcome the disadvantageous outside post in a field of nine 3-year-olds, with a relatively short run to the first turn in races decided at 1 1/16 miles here over the main track.

Tiz the Bomb will switch back to dirt for the first time since winning his maiden by 14 1/4 lengths going a mile on July 2 at Ellis Park. In three subsequent starts, all on grass, Tiz the Bomb registered a pair of victories, including the Grade 2 Bourbon despite an eventful trip at Keeneland as a prelude to his strong performance behind Modern Games in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf.

Tiz the Bomb is trained by Kenny McPeek, who saddled Harvey Wallbanger to spring a 29-1 upset in the 2019 Holy Bull.

“There are limited opportunities for 3-year-old grass horses in North America. He’s a really talented horse, and we don’t want to lock him in as strictly a grass horse,” McPeek said of Tiz the Bomb. “At this stage, we’re going to give him the opportunity to play on the dirt.”

The lack of any real pace in the Holy Bull could favor Simplification, who has sandwiched two huge efforts between a dull showing in his 2-year-old finale that came on relatively short rest following a stunning maiden victory three weeks earlier. He bounced back off that disappointing performance with a very impressive wire-to-wire four-length victory in the one-mile Mucho Macho Man for which he received a 90 Beyer Speed Figure. Simplification has trained extremely well subsequent to that outing and should prove the one to catch once again Saturday under Javier Castellano.

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White Abarrio showed he belongs at this level when finishing third trying two turns for the first time in the Grade 2 Kentucky Jockey Club, racing forwardly before reasserting himself during the latter stages to earn the show award while finishing six lengths behind the highly regard winner Smile Happy. White Abarrio, who also must break from the outside in post 8, missed some crucial training time in mid-January before coming back to post a bullet half-mile drill here last weekend.

Cajun’s Magic has been idle since finishing a game second behind the favorite Octane in the In Reality Stakes, the 1 1/16-mile finale of the Florida Sire Series, here Sept. 25.

Maiden winners Galt, Eloquist, and Spin Wheel complete the field.