(from Gulfstream Park report)
Elizabeth Valando’s homebred 3-year-old Nobiz Like Shobiz, high among early favorites for the Kentucky Derby presented by Yum! Brands (gr. 1), makes his season debut as the 8-to-5 morning line favorite in the $150,000 Holy Bull Stakes (gr. III) at Gulfstream Park.
Jockey Cornelio Velasquez was aboard for all three of the talented colt’s starts as a 2-year-old and will be back in the saddle in Saturday’s one-mile test, breaking from the far outside post 8. It will be Nobiz Like Showbiz's first outing since romping to a 6 1/2-length victory in the nine-furlong Remsen Stakes (gr. II) at Aqueduct on Nov. 25. The son of Albert the Great has trained sharply in Florida for for trainer Barclay Tagg.
The Holy Bull, an early prep for the Florida Derby (gr. I), is one of six graded stakes on a Gulfstream program Saturday that includes the return of Horse of the Year Invasor in the $500,000 Donn Handicap (gr. I).
Nobiz Like Shobiz suffered his only defeat when finishing a game second in the Champagne Stakes (gr. I) at Belmont Park in early October, beaten only three-quarters of a length by Michael Tabor and James Scatuorchio’s Scat Daddy, who also returns in the Holy Bull with John Velazquez aboard breaking from post 2.
A son of Johannesburg, Scat Daddy also won the Sanford Stakes (gr. II) at Saratoga and finished second in the Hopeful (gr. I) at the Spa prior to the Champagne. He finished fourth in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (gr. I) in his last start at Churchill Downs on Nov. 4.
Completing the field for the Holy Bull are Starlight Stable’s Sam P., Rolbea Thoroughbred Racing’s One of the Best, Herb and Ione Elkins’ Drums of Thunder, Lawrence Carroll’s Bold Star, and Robert Dubois’ uncoupled pair of Pop Goes the Tiger and Dukes Flying Tiger.
$150,000 Holy Bull Stakes (gr. III, Race 7, 4:21 p.m.), 3-Year-Olds, 1 Mile
PP. Horse, Weight, Jockey
1. Pop Goes the Tiger (FL), 116, Elvis Trujillo
2. Scat Daddy (KY), 120, John R. Velazquez
3. Sam P. (KY), 118, Rafael Bejarano
4. One of the Best (FL), 116, Eibar Coa
5. Drums of Thunder (FL), 120, Manoel R. Cruz
6. Bold Start (KY), 118, Kent J. Desormeaux
7. Dukes Flying Tiger (FL), 116, Eduardo O. Nunez
8. Nobiz Like Shobiz (KY), 120, Cornelio H. Velasquez
Nobiz Like Showbiz faces old foe in Saturday's Holy Bull.
