Mike Smith recalls Florida Derby winner Holy Bull

Though it will be 30 years this month, Mike Smith recalls the 1994 Florida Derby (G1) like it was yesterday, as well he should. His mount, Holy Bull, dispatched at no better than third choice in a full field of 14, made quick of work of his rivals en route to a performance for the ages.

For Smith, then a 28-year-old rising star that had already won more than 100 graded-stakes and was coming off the first of back-to-back Eclipse Awards as North America’s champion jockey, it was a life-changing experience.

“It’s been a while [but] it sure doesn’t seem like it. I can remember it very well, I can tell you that,” Smith said. “It was just such an honor. He was just such a cool horse to ride and such a talented horse. He made me feel like I was invincible, like we couldn’t be beat almost.

“You always know in this game it’s tough to win one or two in a row, but he just gave me that feeling. I was always extremely confident when I rode him, and I think it showed in the way I rode him most of the time,” he added. “He took me to another place, to another level.”

Holy Bull’s victory in Gulfstream Park’s signature race, to be run for the 73rd time Saturday, March 30 as the headliner of a program featuring 10 stakes, five graded, worth $2.425 million in purses, was particularly notable since he was bred in Florida by Rachel Carpenter’s Pelican Stable.