Holy Bull and Forward Gal Stakes

The path to the Kentucky Derby and Kentucky Oaks passes through South Florida on Sunday, January 29th with the back to back running of the Forward Gal (G2) and Holy Bull (G3) for 3-year-old fillies and colts respectively.

Both races have compact fields of six entrants with stand out favorites.  On the girls side Broadway’s Alibi is the 8/5 morning line favorite in the Forward Gal with Sacristy looming as the 2-1 second choice.  For the boys is Breeders’ Cup Juvenile victor Hansen pegged at 6/5 in the Holy Bull.

Gulfstream Park Horse

From a wagering standpoint all of these horses are likely to be shorter prices come post time, Hansen will surely be bet down to be an odds-on favorite while Broadway’s Alibi is likely to be even money at best.  With nothing being a sure-bet in horse racing a good strategy to attack these races would be a bet on the rolling daily double that starts in race #9 to hook up the winner of the Forward Gal with the winner of the Holy Bull.  With 36 possible combinations before scratches you get more possibilities than an exacta bet in either of the races and hence a bigger odds.  You can also cash big if you manage to beat either of the favorites for this double bet.

At least two long shot horses have a chance to upset on Sunday that could be useful in your wagering strategy.  In the Forward Gal, the horse that finished behind Sacristy was Say a Novena who is getting blinkers for the first time and is a stakes winner at 2.  With a more forwardly placed trip Say a Novena could have more of a chance to put in her late kick which was hampered in the Old Hat by running at the back of the pack early and going 3-wide around the turn.  For the boys, the Florida Stallion Stakes champion Fort Laudon dominated 2-year-old racing at Calder but was 7th a full 9 lengths behind Hansen in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile.  However, things are looking up for this homebred son of Awesome of Course including a jockey switch from Calder based Luis Jurado to Rajiv Maragh.  Fort Laudon showed speed by holding 4th place till the half mile mark in the Breeders’ Cup and was placed well for a horse breaking from the far outside 12 hole perhaps the smaller field will benefit him if he can save ground early.

The Forward Gal (G2) with a purse of $200,000 will be run at 7 furlongs and goes off as the 9th race on the card.  The Holy Bull (G3) worth $400,000 is run at 1 mile and will go off as the 10th race.  For all of the action at Gulfstream and beyond refer to the expert selections avlible at Winning Ponies.