Ky. Derby | Upstart romps in Holy Bull

Ralph Evans' Upstart, who finished third in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile in his last start, stamped himself as a leading Kentucky Derby contender by powering to a 5 1/2-length victory over favored Frosted in Saturday's $400,000 Holy Bull Stakes at Gulfstream Park.

"He's a really nice horse," winning trainer Rick Violette told HRTV. "It's nice to have last year's talent confirmed going into the bigger races this year."

Upstart picked up 10 points toward qualifying for the May 2 Kentucky Derby and now has 16. That puts him in third behind the 21 points accrued by El Kabeir and International Star. Still, Violette called himself "a race by race guy."

"We're a long way from the first week in May," he said. "Trainers, the worst thing you can hear in the morning is, 'Come here, boss.' And we hear it every day. (But) he's got the talent, I think, and he's a wonderful horse and the Evanses will let me do what needs to be done with him. So it's a great position to be in."

Upstart, the grandson of two Belmont Stakes winners in A.P. Indy and Touch Gold, has only lost to Grade I winners. The son of the Kentucky stallion Flatter won his first two starts against fellow New York-breds before finishing second to Daredevil in the Grade I Champagne. Texas Red won the $2 million Juvenile by 6 ½ lengths, with Keeneland's Breeders' Futurity winner beating Upstart a nose for second.

Violette had been on the fence about starting Upstart back in the Grade II stakes until he worked a strong three-quarters of a mile last Sunday at the Palm Meadows training center. Afterward, Violette said he now has "two weeks to play with" in plotting a path to Churchill Downs, with Gulfstream's Fountain of Youth or New York's Gotham a possible next stop.

From post 8, jockey Jose Ortiz had Upstart positioned just off the methodical pace set by Bluegrass Singer, winner of Gulfstream's Mucho Macho Man at a one-turn mile. He took command on the far turn, finishing 1 1/16 miles in 1:43.61 and paying $6.20 win as the second choice in the field of nine 3-year-olds.

"By the half-mile pole I let him go and said, 'Let's see what we have here,' and when we turned for home we rolled," the New York-based Ortiz said. "He was very good. He jumped into the bit, and I knew he was ready… Rick did a tremendous job and I want to thank them for giving me the opportunity to ride this amazing horse. When I saw him today in the paddock, I was very surprised because he looked so much bigger and so much stronger. I think he wants to go a mile and a quarter, so we will hopefully make the Kentucky Derby with him."

Frosted, the Remsen runner-up who was the Holy Bull's 3-2 favorite, was bumped at the start while breaking from the rail. Irad Ortiz, the winner's brother, got him to the outside to make a run in the stretch to beat Bluegrass Singer by 2 ¼ lengths.

"We were second-best today," said trainer Kiaran McLaughlin. "The 1 hole wasn't ideal. We thought it was good to save ground, but we were in a little tight and took some dirt. But, it was a good race… You have to get educated as you go along this trail. The winner was impressive."

In other 3-year-old action at Gulfstream:

Bought for $340,000 in Keeneland's November sale, Barbados won his second stakes in two starts for new owner Suzanne Stables and Churchill-based trainer Mike Tomlinson with a measured half-length victory over front-running X Y Jet in the $150,000, Grade III Hutcheson. The two horses hooked up on the far turn, with Barbados edging away under a hand ride from Luis Saez in the seven-furlong race.

"Any good horse has heart, and he showed us some heart today," Tomlinson said. "As we've said all along, we're going to let him take us as far as he can go. We're not sure if there's distance limitations, but we're going to take it a step at a time."

Marylou Whitney Stables' Gorgeous Bird, trained by Louisville's Ian Wilkes, romped to a seven-length victory in a mile allowance race at Gulfstream. Khozan, the half-brother to three-time champion Royal Delta and Grade I winner Crown Queen, cruised to a 3 3/4-length victory in his debut at seven furlongs. Trainer Todd Pletcher said the $1 million 2-year-old purchase likely will stretch out in distance in an allowance race.

In a Kentucky Oaks prep, Louisville-connected horses filled out the top three with the Dale Romans-trained Birdatthewire closing from near-last to take the $200,000, Grade II Forward Gal by 3 ¼ lengths over the Brendan Walsh-trained Lassofthemohicans. Taylor S, also trained by Romans, was a neck back in third in the seven-furlong stakes.