Cairo Prince Remains on Target for Holy Bull

Everything remains on target for Grade 2 winner Cairo Prince, who is scheduled to make his 3-year-old debut in the $400,000 Holy Bull (G2) at Gulfstream Park on Jan. 25.            

Working in company with 4-year-old Shadwell-owned colt Qeyaas, the gray or roan son of Pioneerof the Nile breezed five furlongs in :59 4/5 on Sunday morning at Palm Meadows.            

It was the fourth work for Cairo Prince since coming to South Florida following his runner-up finish to Honor Code in the Remsen (G2) at Aqueduct on Nov. 30, and nearly identical to his breeze one week ago.            

“I wasn’t looking for 59-and-4 again, but he’s just doing great,” said Kiaran McLaughlin, who trains Cairo Prince for Namcook Stables, Paul Braverman, Harvey Clarke and Craig Robertson III. “He had company, but he hooked into a horse that was in front of him a little bit. It kind of made him work a little faster than we needed, but he’s doing that well. No worries, no negatives; he worked great.”            

McLaughlin said he will give Cairo Prince one more work leading into the Holy Bull, which is run at 1 1/16 miles and is the first in a series of preps for the $1 million Besilu Stables Florida Derby (G1) on March 30.            

“We’ll work again next Saturday or Sunday, a half-mile probably on his own now, hopefully in something like 49,” McLaughlin said. “When you ask a horse to go a little slower and they end up going fast, that’s a good sign that he’s doing extremely well. He’s happy, and we’re happy.”            

McLaughlin picked up a pair of wins on Saturday’s card at Gulfstream, with 4-year-old Elnaawi in the seventh race, a 1 1/16-mile optional claiming allowance on dirt, and 3-year-old Macaroon in the eighth, a 7 ½-furlong turf sprint.            

A half-brother to multiple Grade 1 winner To Honor and Serve, Elnaawi went gate to wire to win by 1 ¼ lengths as the even-money favorite on Saturday, finishing up in 1:44.35. A workmate of Cairo Prince last Sunday, it was Elnaawi’s first start since running fifth in the Wood Memorial (G1) last April.            

“That was fun,” McLaughlin said. “It was a very good effort. He’s a nice horse. Obviously, he was on the Derby trail last year and he’s very well-bred. He had to go home for a while with bruising of the cannon bone. He came back and has been working well, and he ran great yesterday. It says a lot about the horse. Where we go next, I’m not sure. We will maybe take the next step in an allowance race or maybe look for a stake. We’ll see how he’s doing and go from there. He’s a really nice horse.”