Tarantino to audition on dirt in Holy Bull

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – There are no fewer than seven ownership entities listed for a 3-year-old named Tarantino, but it was one person with a singular notion that will lead to the colt making his dirt debut next Saturday in the Holy Bull Stakes.

“It was my idea,” said trainer Rudy Brisset. “There’s a lot of teamwork involved, obviously, when you have that many people involved, and you have to talk things through. But I get on the horse every day, and he’s bred for the dirt, so the group agreed to try this.”

Tarantino is one of at least six 3-year-olds expected to be entered in the Grade 3 Holy Bull, which kicks off the Gulfstream Park trail to the Kentucky Derby with its 30th running. The 1 1/16-mile race offers qualifying points on a 10-4-2-1 basis toward the May 1 Derby at Churchill Downs.

A $610,000 yearling purchase, Tarantino has won two of his three starts, all on turf, for this partnership: SF Racing, Starlight Racing, Madaket Stables, Stonestreet Stables, Golconda Stables, Siena Farm, and Robert Masterson. A son of the late Pioneerof the Nile, best known as the sire of 2015 Triple Crown winner American Pharoah, Tarantino was trained by Bob Baffert when he won a September maiden race at Del Mar, then finished second by a nose in the Oct. 4 Zuma Beach at Santa Anita.

The colt then went through the auction ring at the Keeneland November breeding stock sale but did not attain his reserve price, after which the partnership sent him to Brisset. Stabled at the Palm Meadows training center in Boynton Beach for the winter, Tarantino was a 1 1/4-length winner of a Dec. 11 allowance going a two-turn mile at Gulfstream.

“They have a very good stakes program for 3-year-old turf horses at Gulfstream and then back in Kentucky in the spring,” said Brisset, “and we can always go back to that if we need to. He’s a very quirky horse and he needs a lot of attention. I feel like he will run well and I won’t look like an idiot. I mean, I wouldn’t want to find out after the Derby that he can run against good horses on the dirt, too. I want to find out now.”

Other confirmed starters for the $200,000 Holy Bull – and perhaps a few more might surface when entries are drawn Wednesday – are Awesome Gerry, Greatest Honour, Mutasaabeq, and Papetu. In addition, Dale Romans said he will run “at least one” of his three nominees – Sittin On Go, Smiley Sobotka, and Ultimate Badger. In all, 22 3-year-olds are nominated.

The Holy Bull is the first of three Derby qualifiers at Gulfstream. The Feb. 27 Fountain of Youth (50-20-10-5) and March 27 Florida Derby (100-40-20-10) will follow.

The Holy Bull is one of five graded stakes, all for 3-yearolds, to be run here Saturday. Foremost among the others is the Grade 3, $100,000 Forward Gal, a Kentucky Oaks points qualifier (10-4-2-1) that serves as a stepping-stone to the Feb. 27 Davona Dale. At least six fillies are expected for the sevenfurlong Forward Gal, those being Competitive Speed, Gone to Cabo, Queen Arella, Three Tipsy Chix, Wholebodemeister, and Zaajel.

The other Saturday stakes, all Grade 3 with $100,000 purses, are the Swale at seven furlongs, and one-mile turf twins, the Kitten’s Joy and the Sweetest Chant for fillies.

Swiss Skydiver nears workout

Swiss Skydiver, who surely will be named the champion 3-year-old filly of 2020 when Eclipse Awards are announced Thursday night, is nearing her first breeze of the year. Trainer Kenny McPeek said the 2020 Preakness winner “has been galloping at Gulfstream for two or three weeks now and is doing great.”

“We gave her 60 days’ rest and have no first race back in mind,” he said. “There are no intentions of going to Saudi Arabia or Dubai with her.”

Meanwhile, McPeek said several of his 3-year-old fillies are on a similar schedule, including Oliviaofthedesert, Crazy Beautiful, and Simply Ravishing, all of whom will have their first 2021 start later in the Gulfstream meet or perhaps at Keeneland.

Likewise, Envoutante, who ended her 3-year-old season by winning the Grade 2 Falls City by six lengths at Churchill in late November, is just now gearing back up, with perhaps the Apple Blossom at Oaklawn Park being a target, while Jeweled Princess, another 4-year-old filly, goes next in the Jan. 31 Ladies Classic at Sam Houston.

King Fury, winner of the Street Sense at Churchill in late October prior to finishing seventh in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile at Keeneland and fifth in the Kentucky Jockey Club at Churchill, is still at McPeek’s newly renamed Silver Leaf Hills training center (formerly Summerfield) near Ocala, Fla., and probably won’t be ready to race again at least until April.

“We’re not going to press the subject for the Derby,” he said. “Besides, he’d have to take it to another level to consider it.”