Ferocious is a terrific name for a racehorse, striking fear in the hearts of rivals.
It is also the name of the 9-5 favorite in the $265,000 Holy Bull Stakes (G3) on Saturday at Gulfstream Park.
The Holy Bull is the most important of the five Gulfstream stakes that afternoon for 3-year-olds. The winner earns 20 qualifying points for the Kentucky Derby (G1). A victory here gives a horse a good head start in securing a spot in the Run for the Roses.
It is the first of three Gulfstream stakes on Florida’s East Coast road to the Derby. The Fountain of Youth (G2) is next up on March 1, followed by the Florida Derby (G1) on March 29.
Deck stacked in Ferocious’ favor
As handicappers, we always look to find value when we wager. Any way you slice it, Ferocious is the one to beat in the Holy Bull. In this instance, the price figures to be somewhere well south of even money.
Ferocious. NYRA/Coglianese Photo.
Ferocious gets new equipment for the Holy Bull Stakes
The deck looks squarely stacked in his favor for his season debut against six rivals. Ferocious heads into the race with a clear class advantage.
He takes a significant class drop following three consecutive Grade 1 efforts. Ferocious debuted with an impressive victory at Saratoga in the slop and immediately stepped up to face the big boys.
He launched a stout rally that fell a half-length short to Chancer McPatrick in the Hopeful (G1) on closing weekend at Saratoga.
Then it was on to Keeneland for the Breeders’ Futurity (G1) where he was compromised by his antics in the starting gate, finishing second to East Avenue.
Ferocious closed out the campaign in what was his best effort so far in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (G1) behind division champion Citizen Bull.
Ferocious had a tough trip in the Juvenile at Del Mar. He ran into traffic jams on both turns before finally finding room in the lane to rally from 10th in the stretch to get fifth. There is every reason to believe he could have bettered that result with a smoother journey.
Now he’s back home at Gulfstream and in the very capable hands of trainer Gustavo Delgado and jockey Javier Castellano, the team behind 2023 Kentucky Derby winner Mage. The 1 1/16-mile distance is an ideal season-starting point for a colt with Triple Crown ambitions.
Adding blinkers to open 3-year-old campaign
Ferocious will add blinkers for the first time, so look for him to be forwardly placed in this relatively compact field.
“We’re excited to get the season going,” co-owner Ramiro Restrepo said. “There’s some quality individuals, several high-priced horses in there. It’s a quality field and you expect that when you’re at the championship meet at one of the top Derby launching pads. We’ve just got to kind of get the ball rolling.”
Filling out exacta, trifecta wagers
Conceding that Ferocious is the most likely winner, who can fill out our exacta and trifecta tickets to add some value?
Tappan Street (3-1) was a sharp winner in his lone start in late December. That was a 7-furlong effort, making the Holy Bull his first try around two turns.
Guns Loaded (5-2) dug in to win the 1-mile Mucho Macho Man Stakes here earlier this month. With a record of two wins and a second from three starts, Guns Loaded is tasked with demonstrating the ability to handle stiffer competition than he has faced to this point.
The key question remains: will any horse in the Holy Bull be brave enough to tackle Ferocious?
We think the answer is a resounding: No!
Post time for the Holy Bull is 5:13 p.m. ET.
The Holy Bull does not feature any of latest usracing.com Derby Top 10 contenders, but that will likely change next week with a solid 3-year-old debut for Ferocious as well as a strong effort by Guns Loaded.
The picks: 1 Ferocious 2 Tappan Street 3 Guns Loaded
The field for the $265,000 Holy Bull (G3), from the rail out, with jockey, trainer, odds:
1 Kinetic Control (Junior Alvarado, Dale Romans), 15-1
2 Ferocious (Javier Castellano, Gustavo Delgado), 9-5
3 Tappan Street (Luis Saez, Brad Cox), 3-1
4 Guns Loaded (Irad Ortiz, Jr.), 5-2
5 He’s Not Joking (John Velazquez, J Carroll), 15-1
6 Burning Glory (Tyler Gaffalione, Bill Mott), 8-1
7 Burnham Square (Edgardo Zayas, Ian Wilkes), 5-1
The writing team at US Racing is comprised of both full-time and part-time contributors with expertise in various aspects of the Sport of Kings.
