Dual G1-Placed Ferocious to Launch Season in Holy Bull (G3)
At 1h04, on January 30, 2025 • By Gulfstream Park
JR Ranch, Marquee Bloodstock, High Step Racing and OGMA Investments’ twice Grade 1-placed Ferocious, one of the fastest 2-year-olds of 2024, will make his highly anticipated sophomore debut in Saturday’s $265,000 Holy Bull (G3) at Gulfstream Park.
The 36th running of the 1 1/16-mile Holy Bull, the next step on Gulfstream’s road to the $1 million Florida Derby (G1) March 29, headlines a 12-race program that features five stakes for newly turned 3-year-olds worth $925,000 in purses including the $165,000 Fasig-Tipton Forward Gal (G3) for fillies.
Ferocious, purchased for $1.3 million as a 2-year-old in training last March, is favored at 9-5 on the morning line for the Holy Bull against a field that includes five last-out winners, among them Gulfstream’s Mucho Macho Man victor Guns Loaded, and He’s Not Joking, a Grade 3 winner around two turns on synthetic.
“The horse has a lot of talent. If you take a look at the numbers, he’s one of the most qualified horses in the race,” assistant trainer Gustavo Delgado Jr. said. “My dad is of the opinion that the horse is still between 75, 80 percent ready for this race, but it’s a start. You don’t want them to peak at this moment. Of course, if everything goes right we’re thinking Florida Derby and Kentucky Derby (G1), and we’re actually pointing to have the horse really ready and cranked up for that.”
Ferocious registered a 96 Beyer Speed Figure for his dazzling debut victory last summer at Saratoga, romping by 7 ¾ lengths going six furlongs on a muddy, sealed track. It is the third-fastest time given a 2-year-old in 2024, tied with champion Citizen Bull, and three points back of leader Rated By Merit, who swept Gulfstream’s three-race Florida Sire Stakes series.
Following his debut Ferocious was second to Eclipse Award finalist Chancer McPatrick, beaten a half-length, in the seven-furlong Hopeful (G1) and runner-up behind East Avenue in the 1 1/16-mile Breeders’ Futurity (G1) at Keeneland. He finished ahead of both horses when he overcame a troubled trip to be fifth in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (G1) Nov. 2 at Del Mar.
Hall of Fame jockey Javier Castellano, up for both the maiden win and Breeders’ Cup, returns to ride from Post 2 in a field of seven. Ferocious will be equipped with blinkers for the first time.
