Grade 3, $200,000 Holy Bull Stakes, 1 1/16 miles, Gulfstream Park, Jan. 30, 2021
(10 Derby qualifying points for first, 4 for second, 2 for third, 1 for fourth)
Winner: Greatest Honour, by Tapit
Trainer: Shug McGaughey
Jockey: Jose Ortiz
Owner: Courtlandt Farms
Beyer Speed Figure: 89
Grade 3, $100,500 Robert Lewis Stakes, 1 1/16 miles, Santa Anita, Jan. 30, 2021
(10 Derby qualifying points for first, 4 for second, 2 for third, 1 for fourth)
Winner: Medina Spirit, by Protontico
Trainer: Bob Baffert
Jockey: Abel Cedillo
Owner: Zedan Racing Stables, Inc.
Beyer Speed Figure: 91
Remember when people were toasting the end of 2020? Jury’s out, but so far, ’21 feels a lot like ’20. It’s almost like flipping a calendar doesn’t stop the actual world from going round.
Five times in the last nine years, the Kentucky Derby winner has been trained by Bob Baffert or Doug O’Neill. They combine to send out four of the eight runners on Saturday at Santa Anita in the Grade 3 Robert Lewis Stakes, a Derby prep that finds the top-rated 3-year-old in California looming large, even though he’s sitting this one out.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – While Saturday’s Grade 3 Holy Bull Stakes may not have been the first option for either Prime Factor or Greatest Honour’s 3-year-old debut, the two recent maiden winners will likely vie for favoritism in the first of two major preps leading up to the Grade 1 Florida Derby on March 27 at Gulfstream Park. The Grade 3 Holy Bull also will be the last of five stakes for 3-year-olds on Saturday’s 12-race program, with first post at 11:45 a.m.
The Holy Bull offers 17 points toward the Kentucky Derby to the first four finishers on a 10-4-2-1 basis.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – A decision on whether to give the Kentucky Derby trail a shot is pending as Fire At Will continues to work back into shape after upsetting the Nov. 6 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf in his latest start.
“We’re still talking about it,” said Mike Maker, who trains Fire At Will for the Three Diamonds Farm of Kirk Wycoff.
:: Enhance your handicapping with DRF’s Gulfstream Park Clocker Report
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Shug McGaughey will be looking to go down the Kentucky Derby trail with Greatest Honour when he saddles the Tapit colt Saturday for the Grade 3 Holy Bull Stakes, the first of three major Gulfstream Park preps toward the May 1 Derby.
“I do think he has a chance to be a nice horse,” McGaughey said. “I think he’ll run as far as they want to run.”
:: KENTUCKY DERBY 2021: Point standings, prep schedule, news, and more
Essential Quality, the odds-on favorite to be named champion 2-year-old of 2020 when the Eclipse Awards are announced this week, will make his 3-year-old debut in the Southwest Stakes on Feb. 15 at Oaklawn Park, trainer Brad Cox said Tuesday.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Points races for the Kentucky Derby and Oaks are the highlights of the coming weekend at Gulfstream, with the Holy Bull and Forward Gal anchoring a busy Saturday program spotlighting 3-year-olds.
Sittin On Go, winner of the Grade 3 Iroquois on the 2020 Kentucky Derby undercard, will make his seasonal debut in the Grade 3, $200,000 Holy Bull, a 1 1/16-mile race offering Derby points on a 10-4-2-1 basis. The Brody’s Cause colt had his fifth breeze since a short layoff, going five furlongs here Saturday in 1:01.
Nominations have been released for Festival Preview Day at Tampa Bay Downs on Feb. 6, when the Grade 3 Sam F. Davis is foremost among the four stakes to be run that day at the Oldsmar, Fla., track.
Most of the 37 3-year-olds nominated to the $200,000 Sam Davis have done little more than get through their maiden condition. Still, it’s a Kentucky Derby points qualifier (10-4-2-1) that should serve as a breakthrough for the winner.
