Kentucky Derby Preps Highlight This Saturday’s Race Card

The month of January comes to an end this weekend with a pair of exciting horse racing cards on Saturday at Gulfstream Park in South Florida and Santa Anita Park in Southern California. Highlighting each one is a key early prep race on the 2021 Kentucky Derby Trail.

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Starting on the East Coast, the Holy Bull tops the card at Gulfstream. Later in the day out on the West Coast, the Robert B. Lewis Stakes takes center stage.

2021 Holy Bull Stakes Predictions

Where: Gulfstream Park

This is Grade 3 stakes race open to three-year old Thoroughbreds. It will be contested on the dirt track at Gulfstream covering a total distance of 1 1/16 miles. The total prize purse for this year’s race is set at $200,000.

The field for Saturday’s race is still coming together with 10 contenders listed as probable at Horse Racing Nation. Topping that list is trainer Todd Pletcher’s Mutasaabeq with a HRN rating of 6.43.

This Kentucky-bred colt has made an early name for himself as a three-year old with a victory in the ungraded Mucho Macho Man Stakes at Gulfstream on Jan. 2. The son of Into Mischief covered the mile on dirt in 1:35.98. He now has three victories in five career runs.

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Pletcher also trains Prime Factor as another promising colt listed as probable for this race. He closed out his juvenile campaign with a victory in a Maiden Special Weight race at Gulfstream on Dec. 12. Sired by Quality Road, he has a rating of 6.38 at HRN.

Digging deeper into the list, trainer Dale Romans is looking to run Sittin On Go in this year’s Holy Bull. This three-year old Kentucky-bred colt slipped to a disappointing sixth-place finish in last year’s Grade 2 Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes after fading to ninth in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile at Keeneland in early November.

The son of Brody’s Cause did win the Grade 3 Iroquois Stakes at Churchill Downs in his horse racing debut last September.

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2021 Robert B. Lewis Stakes Predictions

Where: Santa Anita Park

One of two featured races on Saturday’s Santa Anita’s card is another Grade 3 event open to three-year old Thoroughbreds. This year’s Robert B. Lewis will offer a total prize purse of $100,000 while covering 1 1/16 miles on dirt.

The probable list for this prep runs nine deep led by trainer Doug O’Neill’s Hot Rod Charlie. His HRN rating stands at 6.49 after placing second in the 2020 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile last November. This followed some mixed results in a series of MSW races on dirt and turf.

The son of Oxbow will make his three-year old debut with three finishes in the money through five events as a juvenile.

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Famed West Coast trainer Bob Baffert has plans to run two contender’s in Saturday’s race. Medina Spirit made his three-year old debut by taking second in the Grade 3 Sham Stakes at Santa Anita on Jan. 2. His current HRN rating stands at 6.14.

The Florida-bred colt won his only race as a juvenile in a MSW event at Los Alamitos on Dec. 12.

Baffert’s other probable entry in Saturday’s race ranks a bit farther down the list with a HRN rating of 5.81. However, this Kentucky-bred colt has some lofty credentials after winning last year’s Grade 2 Los Alamitos Futurity. Spielberg has an impressive resume to go along with his famous name.

Want to win big money this week? Bet on exactas, trifectas and superfectas this weekend.