Destin could enter Pegasus World Cup off prep race Saturday
Saturday’s Grade 3, $100,000 Harlan’s Holiday Stakes at Gulfstream Park wasn’t originally on Destin’s racing schedule, but the 1 1/16-mile stakes for 3-year-olds and up does fall on a most-opportune place on the 2017-2018 Championship Meet stakes schedule.
The Harlan’s Holiday will be contested six weeks before the second running of the $16 million Pegasus World Cup Invitational set for Jan. 27 at Gulfstream.
“After talking to the owners, we decided to take a look at the Harlan’s Holiday,” trainer Todd Pletcher said. “There aren’t a lot of options for him. Maybe a good performance in there could put him in the mix for the Pegasus. We’re going to give it a whirl.”
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Destin competed in the 2016 Triple Crown series, finishing sixth in the Kentucky Derby before being nosed out of a Belmont Stakes triumph by Creator.
The son of Giant’s Causeway has raced once previously at Gulfstream Park, finishing second in an entry-level allowance Dec. 18, 2015 before going on to win the Grade 3 Sam Davis and the Grade 2 Tampa Bay Derby at Tampa Bay Downs to earn his berth in the Kentucky Derby.
Destin enters his second Gulfstream Park start off a sixth-place finish in the Grade 1 Clark Handicap at Churchill Downs that came three weeks after winning the 1 ¾-mile Marathon (G2) at Del Mar Nov. 3.
Owned by Twin Creeks Racing Stables and Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners, Destin breezed a half-mile in 49.54 seconds at Palm Beach Downs last Saturday.
“He’s doing good. He’s a pretty hardy horse,” Pletcher said. “He acts like he’s ready to go.”
Rated as the 5-2 morning-line favorite in a field of nine, Destin will be ridden by John Velazquez.
Source: Gulfstream Park news release