Shanghai Bobby stars in Holy Bull; Kauai Katie tops Forward Gal

Last updated: 1/23/13 5:46 PM

Shanghai Bobby stars in Holy Bull; Kauai Katie tops
Forward Gal

Shanghai Bobby is the third straight undefeated juvenile champion to make his sophomore debut at Gulfstream

(Jessie Holmes/EquiSport Photos)

One week after being officially awarded the 2012 juvenile colt championship,
Shanghai Bobby will put his undefeated record on the line and kick off his
classic prep season in Saturday’s Grade 3, $400,000
Holy Bull at Gulfstream Park
over 1 1/16 miles.

A comfortable winner of his first four starts, including the Grade 1
Champagne and Grade 2 Hopeful, Shanghai Bobby clinched the Eclipse Award with a
victory in the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile at Santa Anita. However, it was
far from an easy race for the son of Harlan’s Holiday, who had to dig deep to
repel a stretch-long challenge from He’s Had Enough to win by a head. The
Juvenile was his first start beyond one mile and around two turns.

Shanghai Bobby, who breaks from post 1 and retains Rosie Napravnik in the
saddle, will seek to avoid some of the bad luck that has befallen some recent
juvenile champions in their three-year-old debuts. Hansen, the two-year-old
champion of 2011, was beaten five lengths when making his sophomore bow in last
year’s Holy Bull, while newly-crowned juvenile filly champion Beholder was upset
in Monday’s Grade 2 Santa Ynez at Santa Anita.

Bern Identity, who captured the Grade 2 Sanford before running third to
Shanghai Bobby in the Hopeful, bypassed the Breeders’ Cup entirely to
concentrate on Delta Downs’ lucrative juvenile features last fall. A
three-length winner of the Jean Laffitte over a mile at the Louisiana course,
the Bernstein colt was closing fast when 1 3/4 lengths second to Goldencents in
the Grade 3 Delta Downs Jackpot on November 17.

Itsmyluckyday was a powerfull winner of the Gulfstream Park Derby by more than six lengths

(Leslie Martin, Adam Coglianese Photography)

Farther up the track in the Delta Jackpot was Itsmyluckyday, who had
previously captured the Fasig-Tipton Dash and the Foolish Pleasure at Calder by
a combined margin of seven lengths. After dropping his first post-Jackpot start,
in the Dania Beach on turf, Itsmyluckyday was a dynamite winner of the
Gulfstream Park Derby on New Year’s Day, completing the one-turn mile in a swift
1:34 1/5.

Kentucky-based horsemen Kenny McPeek and Dale Romans both have solid Holy
Bull contenders in Frac Daddy and Dewey Square, respectively. Frac Daddy has
finished in the top two in all three career starts, following up a decisive 9
3/4-length maiden score at Churchill Downs with a neck second in the Grade 2
Kentucky Jockey Club over the same track three weeks later.

Dewey Square also competed in the Kentucky Jockey Club, finishing third by 1
1/2 lengths after chasing a soft pace. The Bernardini colt blew away his
competition in two prior starts, taking his Hoosier Park debut by 11 3/4 lengths
and a Churchill Downs allowance by four lengths.

Sr. Quisqueyano, who captured his first three starts at two by a combined
margin of 28 3/4 lengths, enters the Holy Bull off four consecutive runner-up
finishes against stakes company. Hero of last August’s Seacliff at Calder, Sr.
Quisqueyano finished behind Itsmyluckyday in two of them, in the Foolish
Pleasure and the Gulfstream Park Derby.

Expected to show some early foot Saturday is Clearly Now, a Canadian invader
who met defeat for the first time in his two-turn debut in the Display at
Woodbine on December 1. The son of Horse Greeley will be racing on dirt for the
first time in the Holy Bull.

The Holy Bull field is completed by Tulira Castle and Freericksburg, one-two
finishers in a one-mile Gulfstream allowance on December 8, and Joshua’s
Comprise, an outsider trained by Barry Rose.

Kauai Katie won for fun over the Gulfstream strip in the Old Hat

(Adam Coglianese)

In addition to having Shanghai Bobby in the Holy Bull, trainer Todd Pletcher
will also have the prohibitive favorite in the Grade 2, $200,000
Forward Gal
when he saddles Kauai Katie in the seven-furlong test for three-year-old
fillies.

Kauai Katie has been virtually untouchable in four career outings around one
turn. Following a 12-length romp in her debut at Saratoga, the Malibu Moon filly
went on to register a 2 3/4-length decision in the Grade 2 Adirondack and a more
emphatic 7 1/2-length score in the Grade 2 Matron.

A tiring fourth in her lone route try, in the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile
Fillies, Kauai Katie was the first graded stakes winner of the new year when
taking the Grade 3 Old Hat on New Year’s Day at Gulfstream by eight lengths.

Five fillies will oppose Kauai Katie in the Forward Gal including My Happy
Face, a game winner of the Grade 3 Tempted in her juvenile finale, nearly upset
the Pletcher-trained Dreaming of Julia in the Grade 1 Frizette two back.

Spring Venture, a Sovereign Award finalist for Canada’s champion juvenile
filly, won her first three outings including the Grade 2 Natalma on turf and the
Grade 3 Mazarine on Polytrack. But the Mark Casse trainee failed to fire in the
Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf after breaking tardily and racing
wide throughout the one-mile test. The Forward Gal will mark her debut on dirt.

Fusaichiswonderful arrives on the mainland United States having run out of
competition in Puerto Rico. Now trained by Pletcher, the chestnut won all five
of her starts on the island by an average margin of more than seven lengths.
Four of her wins were in stakes, two of which were against males.

Outsiders Ashlee’s Princess and Pow Wow Wow complete the field.

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