Default Holy Bull to be run 3 weeks before Derby
The $1 million Florida Derby will once again be positioned five weeks prior to the Kentucky Derby next year, but Gulfstream Park has changed both the distance and date of the Grade 3 Holy Bull Stakes. Those races are among the highlights a 2008 Gulfstream Park stakes schedule, which has been put together by the track's new director of racing, Bernie Hettel, and racing secretary, Bill Couch. The meet opens on Jan. 3 and continues through April 20.
The Grade 1 Florida Derby will be decided at 1 1/8 miles on March 29. The Holy Bull Stakes has been lengthened from one mile to 1 3/16 miles, which makes it the longest graded Kentucky Derby prep in the U.S. The Holy Bull, which last year was run Feb. 3, will now be decided on April 12.
"By making a few adjustments to the Holy Bull we give trainers an opportunity to compete for graded stakes money just a few weeks before the Derby," said Hettel, a longtime steward in Kentucky who served as an association steward at Gulfstream in 2007.
The Florida Derby is one of three Grade 1 races to be run at Gulfstream in 2008, along with the $500,000 Donn Handicap on Feb. 2 and the $350,000 Gulfstream Park Breeders' Cup Handicap on the turf on Feb. 23. The Sunshine Millions will also return, on Jan. 26, featuring the $500,000 Distaff and $500,000 Turf.
Carding four or more stakes races on a single afternoon has been common at Gulfstream for many years, but next year only the Sunshine Millions card will offer more than three stakes.
"Gulfstream's stakes program is rich in tradition and opportunities, and we felt running six or seven stakes on a single day diluted the product," said Gulfstream president Bill Murphy
Okay, I'm not bashing, but I am confused. In that time frame, you have the 1 million dollar Arkansas Derby, you have the 750k Bluegrass, the 750k Wood, the 500k Illonois Derby. I'm not sure how much the purse will be upgraded to (if at all) in the holy bull but it would have to be at the very least 750k to make any real difference
Also, the Wood is a Grade 1 race. The Bluegrass is a Grade 1 race. These races are preps, but they are also Stallion resume builders. The holy bull at the very least for I think 2 years will remain a grade 3.
I love the idea of a mile and a 3/16th prep, I really do, but why are you competing with yourself for the top colts in the country? and picking the time right when Derby fever picks up and every major track in the country has a grade 2 or higher 3YO race as their feature race? The Florida derby and the Holy Bull will be 2 weeks apart. not many if any colts will race in both.
Even moreso, what happens with the early prep situtation? The Holy Bull was one of the races I always look forward to because it's one of the first times you really get to see who can be talked about as the cream of the crop in the 3YO picture. Now what do you do if you are set in Florida and you are waiting on a 3YO race to come up? Ship to Tampa Bay Downs for their Tampa Bay Derby Prep they have? Actually that's not that bad of an idea.
anyway, thoughts?