Itsmyluckyday Bests 'Bobby' in Holy Bull

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Photo: Coglianese Photos

Itsmyluckyday leaves Shanghai Bobby behind in the Holy Bull Stakes.

Itsmyluckyday defeated champion Shanghai Bobby and set a track record at Gulfstream Park in the process when he won the $400,000 Holy Bull Stakes (gr. III) Jan. 26 (VIDEO).

The 3-year-old Lawyer Ron colt drew clear by two lengths under jockey Elvis Trujillo in a final time of 1:41.81 for 1 1/16 miles, a record for the rarely-used distance at the South Florida oval. He came off an impressive performance in the one-mile Gulfstream Park Derby, which he won by 6 3/4 lengths on Jan. 1.

The win earned Itsmyluckyday his first 10 points on the road to the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (gr. I) to rank fifth in the standings. Shanghai Bobby, undefeated in five starts in 2012 for trainer Todd Pletcher including a Grey Goose Breeders' Cup Juvenile (gr. I) win and victory in the Foxwoods Champagne Stakes (gr. I), earned four points for his runner-up finish and is now tied with Goldencents in the lead with 24 points. He has the most earnings of any 3-year-old on the Derby trail with $1,731,000. 

"I told Elvis,'If you're seven-wide on the first turn and four-wide heading for home, you're not going to win the race,'" trainer Eddie Plesa Jr. recalled. "I just wanted the best horse to win the race; I believe that's what happened today.

"When we got to about the five-eighths pole, the half-mile pole, I felt real good, because I know he has a good kick. He couldn't have been training any better or doing any better, so I was pretty confident that we were going to be right there."

Jockey Rosie Napravnik settled Shanghai Bobby on the lead from post 1 after breaking alertly as the even-money favorite in the field of 10 sophomores. The son of Harlan's Holiday   showed the way through decent early fractions of :23.34 and :46.68 while under pressure from 42-1 shot Clearly Now. Itsmyluckyday kept pace in third on the outside under Trujillo, and maintained his position approaching the stretch.

Shanghai Bobby still had the lead after three-quarters in 1:10.69 and had a head advantage as the field turned for home, but Itsmyluckyday was poised to strike after reeling in Clearly Now. He matched his inside rival stride for stride coming down to the wire and rolled clear in the final furlong to post the victory, fastest edition of the Holy Bull since Go For Gin's win in 1994.

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