Valid a well timed winner of the Harlan’s Holiday
Stalking one talented three-year-old early, and then holding off another one late, Valid let his experience and class show, under a well timed ride by Javier Castellano, to win the Harlan’s Holiday this afternoon at Gulfstream Park.
Sent off as the 9-5 favorite, Valid got off to a good start from his number two post position, and quickly moved into a familiar position close to the lead into the first turn. The gray Mr. Jordan, making his first start since this summer’s Grade 1 Haskell, led the early proceedings through fractions of :23.78 and :46.70. The favorite found a good stalking spot in third on the rail, just behind second-place runner Sr. Quisqueyano, as the field moved down the backstretch. Valid moved into second on the far turn, and angled to the outside to take dead aim on Mr. Jordan.
As the Harlan’s Holiday field hit the stretch, Valid was now breathing down the neck of his younger rival. Meanwhile, Madefromlucky had rallied on the turn to pose a menacing presence on the outside in third. Under strong, hand-ridden encouragement, the five-year-old son of Medaglia d’Oro moved right on by to take over the lead from Mr. Jordan, but the winner of this year’s Peter Pan and West Virginia Derby continued to rally on the outside.
Despite having already lost the whip, Madefromlucky and John Velazquez kept coming, but the favorite was solid, and always looked like a winner. On the wire, Valid held on by a three-quarter length margin. Mr. Jordan stayed on well, always on the rail, to hold on to third.
Trained by Marcus Vitali, and owned by Matthew Rispoli, Valid is a Virginia-bred gelding, who has now won 11 times in 33 career starts. In 2015, the Harlan’s Holiday represented his fourth stakes victory. Three of the four came at Gulfstream Park, with the Grade 3 Iselin Stakes at Monmouth Park, being the fourth. In his most recent start, Valid finished 5th of 11 in the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile behind Eclipse Award candidate Liam’s Map. “He’s a good horse,” remarked Vitali. “He’s back at home. He likes it here. We knew there was some speed in there. I told (jockey) Javier (Castellano) just be light in the mouth and keep him close. Javier decided to let two or three horses go and when it was time, he asked and as usual Valid responded. He was doing really good, and the Breeders’ Cup I don’t think took a lot out of him. He’s a class horse and good horses make good trainers. He’s been holding up really good and training good. I thank Crossed Sabres for the opportunity again. They’ve been very generous and trusting in me and that’s why I’m here.”
As the favorite in the field of ten, Valid returned $5.80 for the win. The $2 exacta over Madefromlucky returned $23.80
Final time for the 8 ½ furlongs over the fast main track at Gulfstream was a solid 1:42.27. As the highweight of the field, Valid gave his younger runner-up three pounds. It was the second straight bridesmaid result for Madefromlucky, having come in off a second place finish in the Grade 3 Discovery at Aqueduct.
The Harlan’s Holiday is named after an Ohio-bred multiple stakes winner of better than $3.6 million during his career. Two of this most important victories came at Gulfstream Park, where he collected the Grade 1 Florida Derby and Grade 1 Donn Handicap in 2002 and 2003. Sadly, Harlan’s Holiday, also a successful sire, died in the fall of 2013 at the all too young age of 14.