Audible Makes Graded Return in Harlan's Holiday

China Horse Club, WinStar Farm, Starlight Racing, and Head of Plains Partners' Audible, undefeated in two starts last winter at Gulfstream Park, returns to South Florida for the next step in his comeback Dec. 15 in the $100,000 Harlan's Holiday Stakes (G3).

The eighth running of the 1 1/16-mile Harlan's Holiday for 3-year-olds and up is among five graded-stakes on the 11-race program

Audible opened his 3-year-old season with victories in the Holy Bull Stakes (G2) and 1 1/8-mile Xpressbet Florida Derby (G1) to establish himself as one of the top contenders heading into the Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve (G1), where he ran third behind eventual Triple Crown winner Justify .

The bay son of Into Mischief  was ultimately given a freshening at WinStar and rejoined trainer Todd Pletcher's New York string in September to prepare for his return, which came Nov. 3 in the seven-furlong Cherokee Run Stakes at Churchill Downs, where he came from off the pace to win by two lengths.

"We were looking for the correct spot to bring him back and in the fall of the year. There's limited opportunities against straight 3-year-olds, so we felt like maybe giving up a little bit in terms of the distance was the right way to go," Pletcher said. "I was proud of him for being able to show enough tactical speed to win impressively at a distance that is probably a little bit shorter than is his ideal distance. I thought he did quite well, and it seemed to serve its purpose as far as moving us forward toward the Harlan's Holiday."

Audible has had three works at Pletcher's winter base of Palm Beach Downs for the Harlan's Holiday, which serves as both the colt's return to graded stakes competition and a prep for the $9 million Pegasus World Cup Invitational Stakes (G1) Jan. 26 at Gulfstream.

"He's been excellent since he shipped down to Florida. Everything has gone according to plan so far, and we're looking forward to the next step toward the Pegasus," Pletcher said. "We're pleased with the way he's training, the way he looks, and we hope that he likes what I would consider to be a little bit of a different Gulfstream surface maybe than what he ran on earlier this year, but it seems like he relished it.

"Of course, you'd always like to win. It's hopefully a springboard toward the Pegasus, and the mile and a sixteenth, I think, will suit him fine," he added. "The main thing we're looking for is a good effort and for him to show us that he's progressing, moving forward. Hopefully, he performs well and, most importantly, comes out of it in good shape to move forward toward the Pegasus."

Pletcher will also send out Village King, nose winner of an off-the-turf edition of the 1 1/8-mile Red Smith Stakes Nov. 17 at Aqueduct Racetrack, his first victory in North America.

In his two prior starts since leaving his native country, Village King was third, a head behind the winner, Oct. 19 at Belmont Park and a distant fourth in his Sept. 14 debut, both going 1 1/16 miles on the grass. Pletcher also gave the Fort Lauderdale Stakes (G2T) consideration for Village King, a group 1 winner on the grass in Argentina.

"We had him this summer. He made his first start for us at Churchill, and, like a lot of the South American horses, he seems to be improving steadily the more time he's had to acclimate here. So we're happy with the way he's doing," he said. "We're not a thousand percent sure of which surface he's at his absolute best on. He might be one of those that could be equally good on both. Distance is no issue for him."

Karl Glassman and Cathi Glassman's Apostle will make his graded stakes debut in the Harlan's Holiday. Trained by Eddie Plesa Jr., the Medaglia d'Oro  colt took a two-race win streak into the one-mile Showing Up Stakes Nov. 3 at Gulfstream Park West, his first try on turf. Unable to get into a rhythm and bottled up in traffic, he ran fifth, though beaten less than three lengths.

"He came out of the last race great. It was an opportunity to try him on the turf. It was a big, bulky field, and I felt if we ran that race five different times, he would have won it one time, maybe," Plesa said. "It was kind of a troubled trip for him. He was kind of in tight, and he's a big, free-running horse. He got some experience on the turf. I don't think he's as good on the turf as he is on the dirt, but he's adequate."

Entries: Harlan's Holiday S. (G3)

Gulfstream Park, Saturday, December 15, 2018, Race 5

• Grade III
• 1 1/16m
• Dirt
• $100,000
• 3 yo's & up
• 2:01 PM (local)

PP	Horse	Jockey	Wgt	Trainer	M/L
1	1Audible (NY)	Javier Castellano	116	Todd A. Pletcher	2/5
2	2Minute Madness (FL)	Robby Albarado	117	Peter R. Walder	20/1
3	3Sightforsoreeyes (KY)	Albin Jimenez	119	Anthony T. Quartarolo	8/1
4	4Village King (ARG)	John R. Velazquez	121	Todd A. Pletcher	4/1
5	5Apostle (KY)	Edgard J. Zayas	114	Edward Plesa, Jr.	5/1
6	6Sir Anthony (IL)	Brian Joseph Hernandez, Jr.	118	Anthony Mitchell	20/1