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Ghostzapper Gelding Shows No Fear in Harlan’s Holiday

Repole Stable's Fearless (Ghostzapper) ran to the money as the 3-5 chalk in Saturday's GIII Harlan's Holiday S., the local prep for the upcoming $3-million GI Pegasus World Cup Invitational at Gulfstream Jan. 29.

Drawn widest of all in post six, he tracked a pair of dueling leaders in a dream spot in third as they made their way up the backstretch. This term's GII WinStar Gulfstream Park Mile S. Feb. 27 winner revved up three wide rounding the far turn, kicked for home as the one to catch and took care of business from there to score by a facile four lengths over South Bend (Algorithms). The pacesetting dual Canadian Classic winner Mighty Heart (Dramedy) was third.

Trained throughout his career by Todd Pletcher, Mike Repole purchased Fearless, previously a $725,000 KEESEP yearling, for $205,000 at this summer's Fasig-Tipton July Selected Horses of Racing Age Sale following a second-place finish behind next out GI Hill 'N' Dale Metropolitan H. winner Silver State (Hard Spun) in the GII Oaklawn H. Apr. 17 and a third-place finish as the favorite in the GIII Pimlico Special Match Series S. May 14. He resurfaced with a second-place finish as the chalk once again in his first start for Repole in a local $60,000 handicap Nov. 21. Fearless previously carried the colors of CHC Inc. and WinStar Farm.

Will we see Fearless next in the Pegasus?

“That's all up to Todd,” Pletcher's assistant trainer Anthony Sciametta said. “The horse is moving forward. He's run two good races and come back good from his vacation. That's all we can ask for.”

Pletcher was not present at Gulfstream Saturday due to family obligations.

Pedigree Notes:

Fearless is one of 89 stakes/48 graded winners for Hall of Famer Ghostzapper. He is also one of 102 stakes/53 graded winners for the late Street Cry as a broodmare sire.

Fearless's dam And Why Not, who hit the board over seven furlongs as a juvenile in the 2011 GI Spinaway S. and over 10 panels in the 2013 GI Delaware H., hails from one of the deepest families in the stud book.

Second dam is GSP Alchemist, in turn the dam of GSW Far From Over (Blame), and GISW third dam Aldiza produced one graded winner and the dams of two others. Fearless's fifth dam is none other than 1983 Broodmare of the Year Courtly Dee (Never Bend).

And Why Not has an unraced 2-year-old filly named Marzipan (Candy Ride {Arg}) and a yearling filly by Blame ($500,000 KEESEP purchase by Juddmonte). She was bred to Gun Runner for 2022.

Saturday, Gulfstream
HARLAN'S HOLIDAY S.-GIII, $150,000, Gulfstream, 12-18, 3yo/up, 1 1/16m, 1:42.19, ft.
1–FEARLESS, 123, g, 5, by Ghostzapper
1st Dam: And Why Not (MGISP, $262,965), by Street Cry (Ire)
2nd Dam: Alchemist, by A.P. Indy
3rd Dam: Aldiza, by Storm Cat
($725,000 Ylg '17 KEESEP; $120,000 RNA 4yo '20 FTKHRA;
$205,000 5yo '21 FTKHRA). O-Repole Stable; B-Helen K.
Groves Revocable Trust (KY); T-Todd A. Pletcher; J-Luis Saez.
$92,070. Lifetime Record: 11-5-3-1, $576,550. Werk Nick
Rating: A+. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
*1/2 to Just Whistle (Pioneerof the Nile), SW & MGSP,
$260,865.
2–South Bend, 121, c, 4, Algorithms–Sandra's Rose, by Old
Trieste. ($47,000 RNA Ylg '18 FTKJUL; $70,000 2yo '19
OBSMAR). O-Gary Barber, Wachtel Stable, Peter Deutsch,
& Pantofel Stable, LLC; B-Highclere Inc. (KY); T-William I.
Mott. $29,700.
3–Mighty Heart, 126, c, 4, Dramedy–Emma's Bullseye, by
City Place. O/B-Lawrence Cordes (ON); T-Josie Carroll.
$14,850.
Margins: 4, 1 1/4, 7 1/4. Odds: 0.60, 6.20, 2.30.
Also Ran: Blue Steel, Twenty Twice, Eye of a Jedi.
Click for the Equibase.com chart, the TJCIS.com PPs, or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. VIDEO, sponsored by TVG.

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Fearless Makes Bold Move To Take Harlan’s Holiday At Gulfstream Park

Facing a field that included Mighty Heart, the reigning Canadian Horse of the Year, jockey Luis Saez made a bold move for the lead on the backstretch at Gulfstream Park in Hallandale Beach, Fla., and never relinquished the front, winning the Grade 3 Harlan's Holiday by a length.

Out of the gate, Mighty Heart established a one-length lead early, with Blue Steel and Fearless stalking down the backstretch. With early fractions of :24.38 and :47.76, Saez sent Fearless to the lead as they approached the far turn, putting a head in front of Mighty Heart as they rounded into the far turn.

Into the stretch, Fearless increased his lead to two lengths as South Bend rallied on the outside, passing Mighty Heart inside the last furlong to take second. At the wire, the margin of victory was four lengths. Blue Steel, Twenty Twice, and Eye of the Jedi rounded out the order of finish.

The final time for the 1 1/16 miles was 1:42.19. Find this race's chart here.

Fearless paid $3.20, $2.40, and $2.10. South Bend paid $4.00 and $2.80. Mighty Heart paid $2.60.

Bred in Kentucky by Helen K. Groves Revocable Trust, Fearless is by Ghostzapper out of the Street Cry (IRE) mare And Why Not. Owned by Repole Stable, the 5-year-old gelding is trained by Todd Pletcher. Consigned by Elite Agent, he was purchased by West Bloodstock, agent for Repole Stables, for $205,000 at the July 2021 Fasig-Tipton Horses of Racing Age Sale. With his win in the G3 Harlan's Holiday, Fearless has two wins in five starts in 2021, for a lifetime record of five wins in 11 starts and career earnings of $576,550.

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Canadian Champion Mighty Heart Faces Pletcher-Trained Fearless In Harlan’s Holiday

Repole Stable's Fearless will make a bid to return to graded stakes-winning form while making his second start off a six-month layoff in Saturday's $150,000 Harlan's Holiday (G3) at Gulfstream Park.

The Harlan's Holiday, a 1 1/16-mile stakes for 3-year-olds and up, and the $200,000 Fort Lauderdale (G2), a 1 1/8-mile turf event for 3-year-olds and up, will co-headline Saturday's program, on which the $100,000 Sugar Swirl (G3), a six-furlong sprint for fillies and mares, the $100,000 Suwannee River (G3), a mile turf stakes for fillies and mares, and the $100,000 Rampart, a mile event for fillies and mares, will be renewed.

The Harlan's Holiday and Fort Lauderdale are preps for the $3 million Pegasus World Cup Invitational (G1) and the $1 million Pegasus World Cup Turf Invitational (G1), respectively, Jan. 29 at Gulfstream. The Suwannee River is a prep for the $1 million Pegasus World Cup Filly & Mare Turf (G3) on the same program.

Fearless is coming off a second-place finish in the Nov. 21 Miami Gardens overnight handicap, in which he lost for the first time in fourth starts at Gulfstream. The 5-year-old Ghostzapper gelding was the even-money favorite in his first start since finishing third in the May 14 Pimlico Special (G3).

“He likes the track and he ran a good race off the layoff, so we're thinking that should set him up good for the Harlan's Holiday,” trainer Todd Pletcher said.

Prior to coming up a length short of beating Girolamo's Attack, Fearless had gone 3-for-3 at Gulfstream, including a victory in the Feb. 27 Gulfstream Park Mile (G2).

Due to his large size, Fearless didn't make his career debut until the very tail end of his 3-year-old season, capturing a six-furlong maiden special weight race at Gulfstream. He came right back to win a 1 1/16-mile optional claiming allowance at the Hallandale Beach track.

“I remember him as a yearling, and the one concern was – how big he was,” Pletcher said. “Fortunately, he hasn't grown a lot. He was big enough to begin with. He was a horse that the guys at WinStar said was a difficult horse to break and get ready.

“He's been gelded and since then, his behavior has been good and he's been consistent. He added.

Luis Saez is scheduled to ride Fearless for the first time since guiding the Pletcher trainee to victory in his debut.

Multiple graded-stakes winner Mighty Heart looms as a formidable opponent for Fearless in the Harlan's Holiday. The Lawrence Cordes homebred is coming off a front-running victory in the Autumn (G2) at Woodbine after finishing fourth in the Durham Cup (G3).

“In his prior race, he blew a shoe and didn't show up. We figured something went wrong. Coming back, we were expecting him to run well,” trainer Josie Carroll said.

The 4-year-old son of Dramedy won the 2020 Queen's Plate over Woodbine's Tapeta surface before capturing the Prince of Wales on dirt at Fort Erie. The Ontario-bred colt won the Blame Stakes at Churchill Downs, finished second in the West Virginia Governor's Cup (G3) at Mountaineer, and finished third in an optional claiming allowance at Keeneland in his other starts on dirt.

“He's obviously run well on synthetic, but he's also run really well on dirt. He won the Prince of Wales on dirt. When he ran great at Churchill Downs when he won the Blame. His race at Keeneland was also very good.” Carroll said.

Hall of Fame jockey John Velazquez is scheduled to ride Mighty Heart for the first time in the Harlan's Holiday.

Owner/trainer Steve Budhoo's Eye of a Jedi, who finished second in last year's Harlan's Holiday, will seek to improve on a trio of recent starts at a mile around one turn.

“The mile has been killing him. He needs two turns,” Budhoo said.

The 6-year-old gelding won the 1 1/8-mile Ghostzapper (G3) around two turns with Javier Castellano aboard last year. The Hall of Fame rider will return aboard Eye of a Jedi Saturday.

James Woodruff's Blue Steel, winner of the Claiming Crown Iron Horse Kent Sterling Memorial; Gary Barber, Wachtel Stable, Peter Deutsch and Pantofel Stable LLC's South Bend, an optional claiming allowance winner at Churchill Downs; and Calumet Farm's Twenty Twice round out the field.

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Mandatory Rainbow 6 Jackpot Payout Yields $41,039 Payoff Saturday At Gulfstream

A mandatory payout of the 20-cent Rainbow 6 jackpot pool yielded multiple payoffs of $41,039.94 Saturday at Gulfstream Park in Hallandale Beach, Fla.

The popular multi-race wager had gone unsolved for 21 racing days in a row following a $461,035.47 jackpot payoff Oct. 9 at Gulfstream Park.

There was one ticket eligible to take down the whole pool heading into the final race of the six-race sequence (Races 5-10) with No. 5 Spinning Kitten, who finished off the board.

The Rainbow 6 carryover jackpot is usually only paid out when there is a single unique ticket sold with all six winners. On days when there is no unique ticket, 70 percent of that day's pool usually goes back to those bettors holding tickets with the most winners, while 30 percent is carried over to the jackpot pool. However, on mandatory-payout days, the entire pool is paid out to the bettor or bettors with the most winners in the six-race sequence.

A jackpot pool of $450,473.78 was carried over to Saturday's program. Betting on the six-race sequence reached $2,048,201 Saturday.

The Rainbow 6 will start anew Sunday, the closing day of the inaugural Fall Meet, with a $75,000 jackpot pool guarantee. Sunday's first-race post time is sent for Noon.

Sunday's program will be co-headlined by a pair of $60,000 overnight handicaps at a mile – the Miami Gardens for 3-year-olds and up in Race 3 and the Opa-Locka for fillies and mares in Race 10.

Todd Pletcher-trained Fearless, who captured the Grade 2 Gulfstream Park Mile last winter, is scheduled to come off a six-month layoff in the Miami Gardens. Rated as the 1-2 favorite in the morning line, the Repole Stable's 5-year-old son of Ghostzapper followed up his Gulfstream Park Mile score with a close second in the G2 Oaklawn Handicap and a third in the G3 Pimlico Special before going to the sidelines. Paco Lopez has the call.

Steve Budhoo-trained Eye of a Jedi, who captured the G3 Ghostzapper during the Championship Meet, and Saffie Joseph Jr.-trained Girolamo's Attack, who captured the Oct. 27 Miami Beach Handicap, will challenge Fearless.

Joseph Jr.-trained Queen Nekia, also a graded-stakes winner during the Championship Meet, is scheduled to return from a three-month layoff in the Opa-Locka. The 6-year-old daughter of Harlington, who captured the G3 Royal Delta at Gulfstream, went on to finish fourth in the G1 Ogden Phipps at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., and third in the G2 Delaware Handicap in Wilmington, Del.

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