Inside the Trip: Upstart's Holy Bull

Upstart wins the Holy Bull Stakes to kick off his sophomore season. (Photo by Eclipse Sportswire)
Upstart got his 2015 run towards the Kentucky Derby off to a hearty start with a 5 ½-length win in the Grade 2 Lambholm South Holy Bull Stakes at Gulfstream Park. The Rick Violette-trained colt ran three wide throughout the early portion of the race, then progressed four wide in the far turn. In doing so, he covered the widest trip out of the first eight finishers.

Notice the average speed from Upstart during this race. Traveling extra ground and maintaining one’s position requires a horse to run faster than those horses saving ground. The long sweeping turns at Gulfstream exacerbate the impact, requiring those racing wider to run faster for longer to hold their spots. Upstart was no less than 0.5 MPH faster than each of his rivals in the Holy Bull.
Frosted stayed on for second and enjoyed a rail trip throughout, the opposite of his last race when he was parked wide throughout in the Remsen, a day when many perceived the inside to be strong. After having covered the equivalent of seven lengths more than the winner Leave the Light On, this first foray in 2015 was a much cozier trip, but the placing was the same. Bluegrass Singer was beaten almost eight lengths in third in what was a well strung-out field. How this form holds up through the season will be interesting to follow, but the winner was quite impressive.
Plenty of Sophomores at Gulfstream
We had a relative rarity on the Gulfstream card in seeing back-to-back races at seven furlongs for 3-year-olds, some of whom could land on the Kentucky Derby trail. The sixth race was a maiden event while the seventh was the Hutcheson Stakes, and the comparative sectional times for each race are revealing.
Khozan, the 3-year-old half-brother to Royal Delta and Crown Queen by Distorted Humor, broke his maiden impressively on debut in the sixth race while Barbados landed the Grade 2 Hutcheson a race later. Khozan’s final time of 1:23.63 was .67 seconds faster than the Hutcheson’s final time of 1:24.30, won by odds-on favorite Barbados.
The sixth race was slower early and much faster late, led by the snazzy first-timer for Al Shaqab Racing. In the Hutcheson, Barbados caught X Y Jet and edged away to a narrow win. Look especially at the differences in how the pace developed and in the final quarters.

Note that final furlong from the sixth race third-place finisher Great Stuff, who was still well behind Khozan. He ran the final furlong in 12.58 seconds, 0.23 seconds quicker than the winner.
The 3-year-old fillies took to the turf course in the Sweetest Chant Stakes over one mile, where Chad Brown trainee Consumer Credit wore down early pacesetters Quality Rocks and Miss Temple City. Racing on the rail, Consumer Credit angled out in the turn to be three wide, before swiftly closing the final eighth in 11.34 seconds. Her final quarter was recorded in 22.91 seconds. Fourth place finisher beaten just more than a length, 33-1 longshot Cardinal Cove, was the only other filly to run a sub-23 second final quarter, getting the job done in 22.97.
SWEETEST CHANT STAKES VICTRESS CONSUMER CREDIT (foreground)

Photo by Eclipse Sportswire
Bill Mott saddled the winning exacta in the Kitten’s Joy when Dubai Sky dueled it out with Courtier for the majority of the race and and just got his head in front.  The favorite, Croninthebarbarian, experienced quite an incredibly wide trip but closed quickly for third. Despite running four wide in the first turn and six wide in the second, Croninthebarbarian rocketed home in a time of 11.65 seconds, 0.29 seconds faster than Dubai Sky and 0.38 quicker than Courtier.
Take note of the ground coverage statistics from the first eight finishers of the Kitten’s Joy.

The first eight home in the Kitten’s Joy were separated by just 3 ½ lengths, with Croninthebarbarian, Eh Cumpari, and Ode to the Hunt all traveling farther than their margins of defeat, and averaging speeds throughout the race that exceeded the top two.
Seventh-place finisher Dr. No was slow away and had a decent trip, swinging wide in the stretch. He checked in with the second-fastest split over the final two furlongs, home in 23.62 seconds. With plenty of trip data from this race, the next starts for these horses could be quite interesting to follow.
Tampa Bay Downs heating up
Lochte returned to the winners’ circle when taking a thrilling three-horse photo in the Tampa Bay Stakes over 8 ½ furlongs on the Tampa Bay Downs turf. Old Time Hockey, a 24-to-1 outsider, put in a ferocious drive to finish second by a head, while favorite Sky Flight was third after being up close to the solid early splits. Old Time Hockey’s last quarter of 23.43 seconds was quicker than winner Lochte’s 23.77, as was his final furlong of 11.45 versus Lochte’s 11.74.
LOCHTE WINS AT TAMPA BAY DOWNS

Photo by SV Photography
The six-furlong Pelican Stakes at Tampa on Saturday left Star Harbour a winner despite a late rally by Helooksthepart. Star Harbour was sent to the lead to set the hot early gallop and found the wire just before Helooksthepart, who covered the equivalent of about 2 ¾ lengths more than the winner, could complete his rush from last. Helooksthepart bolted home in 11.91 seconds, compared to the tiring Star Harbour’s final furlong in 12.75 seconds. In fact, Helooksthepart’s final quarter was a full second faster than Star Harbour’s, home in 23.89 seconds compared to the winner’s 24.90.
Cal Cup data recap
Mischief Clem and Pulmarack hooked up at the quarter pole and dueled to the finish in the Cal Cup Derby, just one of the races California Chrome landed during his championship season a year ago. Mischief Clem raced off the rail most of the way, but Pulmarack covered even more ground, going 32 feet farther. With the final margin between the two officially just a head, the added ground could be considered one of the attributes that aided Mischief Clem’s narrow victory.
Patriots Rule soared home from well back to claim third in the Cal Cup Turf Classic, running the final quarter in 23.43 seconds and the final eighth in 11.60, times which were 0.76 and 0.58 seconds quicker than winner Alert Bay.
Mackenzie Kirker-Head contributed to this report.