Pletcher Brings Trio to Harlan's Holiday

Trainer Todd Pletcher is throwing both quality and quantity at the Dec. 17 $100,000 Harlan's Holiday Stakes (gr. III).

The barn of the seven-time Eclipse Award winner is attempting to corner the market in the 1 1/16-mile race at Gulfstream Park, sending out three of the field's seven entrants in graded stakes winners Stanford, Madefromlucky, and Keen Ice who famously defeated Triple Crown winner American Pharoah   in the 2015 Travers Stakes (gr. I).

All three are seeking to get back into the win column, but Keen Ice in particular is using the Harlan's Holiday as a prep towards a larger task at hand. In the wake of his third-place finish in the Nov. 5 Breeders' Cup Classic (gr. I), the big-striding son of Curlin   is under consideration for the $12 million Pegasus World Cup Jan. 28 at Gulfstream. 

Taking on the potential likes of champion California Chrome   and Breeders' Cup Classic hero Arrogate is not for the faint of heart. Given Keen Ice's dragon-slaying history, owners Donegal Racing are going to let the 4-year-old colt try and take them to the promise land once more so long as he holds form.

"He seems to be in sharp form," Pletcher said of Keen Ice. "The mile and a sixteenth doesn't seem like his ideal distance, but we want to get him something between now and the Pegasus. We feel sharpening him up is better than waiting to run him on January 28."

Keen Ice has gone winless in seven starts since his Saratoga stunner and was trained by Dale Romans before being transferred to Pletcher's barn following his eighth-place finish in the $10 million Dubai World Cup Sponsored by Emirates Airline (UAE-I) March 26.

It was discovered in the aftermath of the Dubai World Cup that Keen Ice had a hind cannon bone fracture. Thus, he had just a single prep race, a third-place finish in a one-turn mile allowance at Belmont Park Oct. 7, in advance of his Breeders' Cup outing.

"I think he was one race shy of giving his very best," Pletcher said.  "He just had the one-mile prep race. Considering that, I thought he ran very well. California Chrome and Arrogate were just too good on the day, but I was proud of him finishing third."

Stablemate Stanford is scheduled to make his first start since finishing a troubled eighth in the Mohegan Sun Metropolitan Handicap (gr. I) at Belmont in June. In his previous start, the 4-year-old son of Malibu Moon   deftly negotiated 1 1/8 miles around three turns during a front-running triumph in the $1,250,000 Charles Town Classic (gr. II) in April. 

Madefromlucky, who hasn't raced since finishing second in the April 9 Excelsior (gr. III) at Aqueduct Racetrack, finished second in last year's Harlan's Holiday, beaten three quarters of a length by multiple-graded stakes winner Valid. Luis Saez has the mount aboard Madefromlucky, a multiple grade II winner who won two of four starts at Gulfstream.

Live Oak Plantation's Awesome Slew is the only graded stakes winner in the field not conditioned by Pletcher. The Eddie Plesa-trained 3-year-old delivered a stunning seven-length triumph in the Smarty Jones (gr. III) Sept. 5 and last raced in the Pennsylvania Derby (gr. II) where he set the pace before tiring to fifth.

 "In the Smarty Jones he drew a bad post position. We tried to take advantage of it and he was just much the best," Plesa said. "The Pennsylvania Derby came up a little too quickly than would have been ideal, and the competition was a lot tougher. He tried to duplicate his (Smarty Jones) effort and he wasn't able to do that. It was a tough thing to duplicate with the race coming up quicker than I would have liked to see."

In addition to his Harlan's Holiday trio, Pletcher will saddle two of the seven fillies and mares entered in the $100,000 Rampart Stakes (gr. III) on Saturday's card.

Heading up that field is Cheyenne Stables' graded stakes winner Genre who comes into the one-mile test off a third-place finish in the Juddmonte Spinster Stakes (gr. I)  Oct. 9. The 4-year-old daughter of Bernardini   won the Molly Pitcher Stakes (gr. III) over a sealed, sloppy Monmouth Park surface July 31 where she defeated stablemate and fellow Rampart entrant, Eskenformoney.

"They've run against each other and it's been pretty close. They've been training together, too, so hopefully it's a dead heat ... for first," Pletcher said. "I think both fillies have run well here at a one-turn mile and both have won at a one-turn mile here, and both of them seem to be training very well."