*Originally posted on 1/31/25 on www.thoroughbreddailynews.com, written by Stefanie Grimm”
Two turns, zero problems.
With racing action largely limited to the far south across the rest of the country, Nearly (Not This Time) gave the frozen East Coast something to cheer about and passed his stretch-out test with authority Saturday, capturing the GIII Holy Bull Stakes at Gulfstream Park and picking up 20 points on the Road to the Kentucky Derby.
A Florida-bred and Virginia-certified son of Not This Time, Nearly built on a lackluster Aqueduct debut in October, coming back less than a month later to destroy fellow Florida-breds at Gulfstream by 9 1/4 lengths. Going seven furlongs against winners in his 3-year-old debut, the Todd Pletcher runner put up a 97 Beyer Speed Figure in a five-length winning performance Jan. 2. And if that failed to catch the eye, Nearly entered Saturday’s Holy Bull off a best-of-25 work going four furlongs at Palm Beach Downs in :48 2/5 on Jan. 24.
The second choice at 8-5 behind favored ‘TDN Rising Star’ Cannoneer (Into Mischief) just to his inside, Nearly hooked his rival right from the jump and the pair sped off on the short run into the first turn on this 1 1/16-mile journey. The slightly speedier Cannoneer held a heads-length advantage into the backstretch with Nearly content to sit just off his flank through fractions of :22.82 and :45.96.
New York-bred Bravaro (Upstart) sat in that pair’s wake a length back and Global Aviator (Global Campaign) was the only other runner left in the shot as the dueling leaders continued to duke it out around the far turn.
With just over a quarter-mile left to run, Nearly stepped on the gas and Cannoneer failed to respond to the move, falling back as his rival hit a new gear down the lane. Bravaro did well to run a strong second but there was no doubting the winner as Nearly cruised home under a hands and heels ride from John Velazquez. 40-1 longshot Project Ace (War of Will) out-finished Cannoneer to fill out the trifecta.
“I thought it was going to be a two-horse race, but I didn’t think my horse would be that close,” said Velazquez. “He got a little aggressive today. He was never like that. Normally, it takes him a little while to get his legs under him, but today he was there right away. This race he elevated to a different level. I didn’t expect him to be that aggressive, but that’s what good horses do.”
Now with 20 points on the Road to the Kentucky Derby, Nearly sits officially tied for second with GIII Lecomte Stakes winner Golden Tempo (Curlin). The leader however, Nearly’s ‘TDN Rising Star’ stablemate Ted Noffey (Into Mischief), was recently pulled off the Derby trail with bone bruising. Bravaro earned 10 points for his runner-up finish and now sits 15th on the leaderboard for Saffie Joseph Jr. while Project Ace added 6 points and sits 20th for Albaugh Family Stables whose On Time Girl won the earlier GIII Forward Gal.
“We wanted to get to the first turn forwardly, not necessarily on the lead but in a good stalking position,” added Pletcher. “He kind of broke inward a little bit and recovered. Those two went to the first turn and they were clicking right along. It looked like he got into a good rhythm. At that point I was a little worried about who might be closing from behind because they went pretty fast together early, but it looked like he turned for home and had a lot of horse under him. It was an impressive race.”
“We always felt like he would handle the stretchout but it’s always good to see. The horse has been training super and we felt good coming into this but, yeah, that was everything we hoped it would be.”
“You have ups and downs in this game, that’s just the way it is. [Ted Noffey] won’t be the only defection on the way to the Derby. We were fortunate he had a magnificent 2-year-old campaign, and it just wasn’t meant to be in the early spring for this year. We’re happy the prognosis is good for a healthy comeback and we look forward to getting him back at Saratoga. I don’t really look at it like this one replaces that one. This horse has been doing well on his own and we have high hopes for him. We’re happy to have him.”
Pletcher indicated that Nearly would likely stay at Gulfstream Park to compete in the GI Curlin Florida Derby, the track’s final leg on Road to the Kentucky Derby.
“We kind of talked about it,” Pletcher said. “This was his third race pretty close together and we felt like we’d get the two-turn race under his belt and see where we stood. I think after seeing that today, I’ll talk to Don Little and the Centennial [Farm] guys and we’ll come up with a plan. But the horse is three-for-three at Gulfstream and there’s plenty of time to the Florida Derby. It probably makes sense to take a close look at staying home.”