In 1994, a promising 3-year-old colt who had last raced and won at Calder Race Course in Miami, staked his claim as one of the top sophomores with a stakes win at Gulfstream Park. While Holy Bull, who won the Hutcheson Stakes en route to going off the post time favorite in that year's Kentucky Derby, did not ultimately win the Run for the Roses, the colt would go on to develop into one of the more popular and talented runners of the last decade. Eleven years later, Saturday at Gulfstream, an undefeated Calder-based 3-year-old will try to emulate the great, grey Horse of the Year in the race named in his honor.

High Fly, a son of Atticus owned by Charlotte Weber's Live Oak Plantation, will likely be the favorite in the grade III, $150,000 Holy Bull Stakes by virtue of his perfect, three for three record that includes an eye-catching performance in the Aventura Stakes last month. The nine-length victory came against easier competition and around just one turn, so the colt will have something to prove as he faces a field of seven other talented sophomores, but what he's shown so far is impressive. Originally trainer Bill White was planning on skipping the Holy Bull and waiting for the Fountain of Youth Stakes on March 5. An easy, 5-furlong workout on January 23rd, though, caused the former special education teacher to reconsider.

"He came out of the Aventura good and appears on top of his game right now," White, annually among the leading trainers in South Florida, explained in Daily Racing Form. "He's not been over raced up to this point in his career, having only had three previous starts. And I'm anxious to see if he'll go a mile and one-eighth."

Another trainer eager to see how his charge fares at the mile and an eighth distance is Rick Violette, who enjoyed great success last year with the three-year-olds Readthefootnotes and Swingforthefences. This year, Violette is excited about Beverly Green's homebred Dearest Mon, a son of Maria's Mon who has won his last two starts including a half-length score in a 7-furlong allowance race at Gulfstream last month.

"I was really impressed with that effort under the circumstances," Violette told reporter Mike Welsch. "He was in a drive for the last half-mile of the race and was still able to get by the leader over a track that favored speed. The Holy Bull seems like a logical spot, since I think he naturally wants to go two turns."

"The good thing about the race is that under the conditions…we'll get weight from High Fly and any of the other major stakes winners in the field," he continued. "And this race isn't the be-all and end-all for us. He doesn't have to win or squeeze it dry in this one with several bigger and better races down the road."

One trainer who would like to see a big race is Nick Zito, who will saddle G P's Black Knight in the Holy Bull for the first time since acquiring him from trainer Danny Hurtack. The Calder stakes-winner will break from the rail in the Holy Bull and is now owned by Robert LaPenta, owner of one of last year's top three-year prospects The Cliff's Edge, in partnership with golfing legend Gary Player.

"We're trying to see if we can get him going forward," said Zito, a 2-time Kentucky Derby winner. "He's in great shape and we want to see what we've got. At this time of year it's all about getting them to each step and getting them to move forward."

The field for the Holy Bull (with jockeys), from the rail out:
1. G P's Black Knight (Prado)
2. Closing Argument (Velasquez)
3. Kansas City Boy (Blanc)
4. Drum Major (Santos)
5. Criminal Mind (Coa)
6. Dearest Mon (Bailey)
7. Hostile Witness (Penalba)
8. High Fly (Castro)

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