Stonestreet Stables and the Coolmore contingent's Stanford (Malibu Moon) may have stamped his ticket to the $12 million GI Pegasus World Cup Jan. 28 with a decisive gate-to-wire victory in Gulfstream's GIII Harlan's Holiday S. Saturday afternoon. Sent off the slight second-choice behind stablemate and 2015 GI Traver S. hero Keen Ice (Curlin), Stanford seized the early advantage from his rail draw and ticked off comfortable opening fractions of :24.61, :48.94 and 1:12.46 under a motionless John Velazquez. Showing the way into the lane, the bay readily responded when asked for more by his Hall of Fame pilot, skipping away from his rivals to win by three lengths. Keen Ice got up for second to make it a Todd Pletcher exacta and the conditioner also saddled fourth-place finisher Madefromlucky (Lookin at Lucky).
“It looked pretty clear on paper that [Stanford] was the main speed of the race,” Pletcher remarked. “When he drew the rail, it was a pretty straightforward strategy. We wanted to come out running and hopefully, secure the lead going into the first turn. He was able to do that, and on top of that, the fractions were well within his comfort zone. So I thought it was terrific for him. It probably worked against Keen Ice a little bit, but despite that I thought he ran pretty well to be second. Javier [Castellano] tried to keep him closer because of the slow fractions and the way the track's playing. I thought he ran pretty well considering that. I'm happy, and Madefromlucky I thought ran really well off the layoff.”
When asked which of the trio were possible for the Pegasus, Pletcher replied, “All three with maybe the undercard race [$400,000 PoseidonS.] for Madefromlucky. I'll talk to the connections for him. But Stanford and Keen Ice certainly ran well enough to consider the Pegasus.”
Stanford has never been worse than second in four starts at Gulfstream including a second to next out GI Florida Derby winner Materiality (Afleet Alex) in last term's Islamorada H. Runner-up in both the GII Louisiana Derby and Easy Goer S. last term, the $550,000 Barretts March buy captured Monmouth Park's Long Branch S. early last July and closed out his sophomore campaign with a disappointing fifth as the favorite in Saratoga's Curlin S. 20 days later.
Kicking off this term with a runner-up effort in this venue's GIII Fred W. Hooper S. Feb. 6, Stanford missed by a head to stablemate Blofeld (Quality Road) in the GII Gulfstream Park H. Mar. 5 and returned to winning ways with a front-running success in the GII Charles Town Classic Apr. 23. The 4-year-old finished a non-factor eighth behind a record-setting performance from Frosted (Tapit) when last seen in Belmont's GI Metropolitan H. June 11.
Pedigree Notes:
Stanford traces his lineage back to European and American champion Johannesburg (Hennessy); English and Irish Highweight Minardi (Boundary); GSW and MGISP top sire Tale of the Cat (Storm Cat); and MGSW and GISP Fed Biz (Giant's Causeway). His 3-year-old half-sister Save a Rose (Super Saver), purchased by Alex and JoAnn Lieblong for $150,000 at last year's OBS April sale, recently broke her maiden in her third start at Parx for trainer Tony Dutrow Nov. 21. Stanford's 2-year-old half-brother Hedge Fund (Super Saver), owned by breeder WinStar Farm in partnership with China Horse Club and SF Racing, debuted at Gulfstream earlier this week, finishing fifth after being brushed at the start Dec. 14. Their dam Rosy Humor failed to get in foal to Take Charge Indy after producing Hedge Fund in 2014 and was bred back to that sire the following year, but aborted the foal. She was bred to Flatter earlier this term.
Saturday, Gulfstream Park
HARLAN'S HOLIDAY S.-GIII, $100,000, GP, 12-17, 3yo/up,
1 1/16m, 1:42.10, ft.
1–STANFORD, 119, c, 4, by Malibu Moon
1st Dam: Rosy Humor, by Distorted Humor
2nd Dam: Show Me the Roses, by Storm Cat
3rd Dam: Myth, by Ogygian
($120,000 Ylg '13 KEESEP; $550,000 2yo '14 BARMAR).
O-Stonestreet Stables LLC, Susan Magnier, Michael B. Tabor &
Derrick Smith; B-WinStar Farm LLC (KY); T-Todd A. Pletcher;
J-John R. Velazquez. $60,760. Lifetime Record: 13-5-4-0,
$1,197,560. Werk Nick Rating: A. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.[bullet ad=”lanes-end-sales-grad”][bullet ad=”winstar-bred”][bullet ad=”kbif-g2g3″]2–Keen Ice, 117, c, 4, Curlin">Curlin–Medomak, by Awesome Again.
($48,000 Wlg '12 KEENOV; $120,000 Ylg '13 KEESEP).
O-Donegal Racing; B-Glencrest Farm LLC (KY); T-Todd A.
Pletcher. $19,600.[bullet ad=”performance-genetics-selection”][bullet ad=”schumer-dam-purchased”][bullet ad=”fourstar-salesgrad”]3–Awesome Slew, 120, c, 3, Awesome Again—
Slewfoundmoney, by Seeking the Gold. O-Live Oak Plantation;
B-Live Oak Stud (FL); T-Edward Plesa, Jr. $9,800.
Margins: 3, NK, 2HF. Odds: 1.80, 1.60, 3.40.
Also Ran: Madefromlucky, Hy Riverside, Joshua's Comprise, Applicator. Click for the Equibase.com chart, the TJCIS.com PPs or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. VIDEO, sponsored by Fasig-Tipton.
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