SATURDAY, DECEMBER 17, 2016 >CHROME= PREPS FOR HARLAN=S HOLIDAY GOES THROUGH PLETCHER PEGASUS AT LOS ALAMITOS A trio of Todd Pletcher-trained runners, headed by 9-5 morning-line favorite and last year=s GI Travers S. hero Keen Ice (Curlin), figure to share the spotlight in Saturday=s GIII Harlan=s Holiday S. at Gulfstream Park. Keen Ice, the only horse to defeat American Pharoah (Pioneerof the Nile) during his historic 2015 Horse of the Year campaign, is using the Harlan=s Holiday as a prep for the $12-million GI Pegasus World Cup. He was last seen finishing a well-beaten third in the GI Breeders= Cup Classic at Santa Anita Nov. 5. AHe seems to be in sharp form,@ Pletcher said. AThe mile and a sixteenth doesn=t seem like his ideal distance, but we want to get him something between now and the Pegasus. We feel sharpening him up is better than waiting to run him Jan. 28.@ Cont. p3 IN TDN EUROPE TODAY California Chrome makes the penultimate start of his career in Saturday=s Winter Challenge S. at Los Alamitos | Gary Tasich MONTJEU LONG GONE, BUT NOT FORGOTTEN Since the shuttering of Hollywood Park, California Chrome Emma Berry pens an Op/Ed discussing the late Montjeu (Ire) (Lucky Pulpit) has called Los Alamitos--the Quarter Horse track and his legacy. Click or tap here to go straight to TDN Europe. turned Thoroughbred facility--home, thrilling his legion of fans by his mere presence, not to mention his several outstanding breezes over the surface. Saturday afternoon, the 2014 Horse of the Year makes his final raceday appearance in the Golden State against nine severely overmatched rivals in the $180,000 Winter Challenge S., a race in which a challenge may be difficult to find. Here=s the tale of the tape: California Chrome enters the Winter Challenge with $14.45 million in earnings in 25 career starts, having posted triple-digit Beyers on eight separate occasions, not including his G1 Dubai World Cup romp and handicap prep earlier this year. His rivals, including the pair on the list of also-eligibles, have bankrolled just over $2.2 million in a combined 236 career starts, with a grand total of three Beyer Speed Figures north of 100, all of which belong to Point Piper (Giant=s Causeway). With a giant payday and a grudge match with Arrogate (Unbridled=s Song) looming in the GI Pegasus World Cup Jan. 28, the tank won=t be emptied Saturday, but California Chrome should gallop them into the ground in Orange County. Field p3 PRESIDENT & CO-PUBLISHER Barry Weisbord @barryweisbord [email protected] SR. V.P. & CO-PUBLISHER Sue Morris Finley @suefinley [email protected] V.P., INTERNATIONAL OPERATIONS Gary King @garykingTDN [email protected] Saturday, December 17, 2016 EDITORIAL [email protected] Editor-in-Chief Jessica Martini @JessMartiniTDN Managing Editor Alan Carasso @EquinealTDN Senior Editor Steve Sherack @SteveSherackTDN Racing Editor Brian DiDonato @BDiDonatoTDN Associate Editors Christie DeBernardis @CDeBernardisTDN Ben Massam @BMassamTDN Assistant Editors Heather Anderson @HLAndersonTDN Joe Bianca @JBiancaTDN ADVERTISING [email protected] Director of Advertising Alycia Borer Advertising Manager Lia Best Advertising Designer Amanda Crelin Advertising Assistants Alexa Reisfield Michelle Benson Photo Editor/Dir. of Distribution Sarah K. Andrew @SarahKAndrew Homecoming. V.E. Day returned to the site of his greatest triumph, upstate New York, [email protected] on Friday after a brief (and rather fitting, given his name) campaign in France. The Social Media Strategist 2014 Travers winner, who retires with just over $1m in career earnings, will take up Justina Severni stud duties at Dr. Jerry Bilinksi’s Waldorf Farm in North Chatham, New York, at Director of Customer Service $6,500 in 2017. | Skip Dickstein Vicki Forbes [email protected] RCI ADJUST POINTS, EXPANDS OOC RULE 7 Director of Information Technology The next set of ARCI Model Rules will contain important changes Ray Villa as it relates to violation points and new out-of-competition testing [email protected] guidelines. WORLDWIDE INFORMATION International Editor TODAY’S GRADED STAKES Kelsey Riley @kelseynrileyTDN EST Race Click for TV [email protected] 1:30p Sugar Swirl S.-GIII, GP TJCIS PPs TVG European Editor 2:00p Rampart S.-GIII, GP TJCIS PPs TVG Emma Berry 3:01p Harlan’s Holiday S.-GIII, GP TJCIS PPs TVG [email protected] Newmarket Bureau, Cafe Racing Sean Cronin & Tom Frary [email protected] 60 Broad Street, Suite 100 Red Bank, NJ 07701 732-747-8060 | 732-747-8955 (fax) www.TheTDN.com TDN HEADLINE NEWS • PAGE 3 OF 8 • THETDN.COM SATURDAY • DECEMBER 17, 2016 Harlan=s Holiday S. cont. Keen Ice fired a five-furlong bullet in 1:01 3/5 (1/8) at Palm Beach Downs Dec. 10. Stanford (Malibu Moon), a close second in the GII Gulfstream Park H. in March, makes his first start since finishing a well-beaten eighth in the GI Met Mile at Belmont Park June 11. He previously captured the GII Charles Town Classic in front-running fashion Apr. 23. AHe=s doing well,@ Todd Pletcher | Sarah K. Andrew Pletcher said of Stanford. AWe gave him some time off after the Met Mile. He seemed to kind of tail off a little bit. We gave him a little bit of a break. He=s come back and is training very well and he ran well over this track last year.@ Madefromlucky (Lookin At Lucky), unraced since finishing second in the GIII Excelsior S. at HARLAN'S HOLIDAY S.-GIII, 3yo/up, Aqueduct Apr. 9, 1 1/16m rounds out the PP Horse Sire Pletcher trio. The 1. Stanford K Malibu Moon 2. Madefromlucky K Lookin At Lucky 2015 GII Peter Pan S. 3. Joshua's Comprise Comprise and GII West Virginia 4. Awesome Slew Awesome Again Derby hero finished 5. Hy Riverside K Macho Uno a close second in this 6. Keen Ice K Curlin race last year. 7. Applicator Henrythenavigator Awesome Slew (see Graded Stakes Entries) (Awesome Again), a runaway winner of the GIII Smarty Jones S. at Parx Sept. 5, takes on his elders following a fifth-place finish in the GII Pennsylvania Derby Sept. 24. Follow the TDN staff on Twitter Thoroughbred Daily News @kelseynrileyTDN @BDiDonatoTDN @SteveSherackTDN @JessMartiniTDN @CDeBernardisTDN @BMassamTDN @EquinealTDN @HLAndersonTDN @suefinley @MKane49 @barryweisbord @thorntontd @garykingTDN @SarahKAndrew @theTDN @JBiancaTDN TDN HEADLINE NEWS • PAGE 4 OF 8 • THETDN.COM SATURDAY • DECEMBER 17, 2016 Saturday, Los Alamitos Race Course, post time: 7:28 p.m. EDT The colt=s trainer, Kiaran McLaughlin, said that he has been WINTER CHALLENGE S., $180,000, 3yo/up, 1 1/16m approached by connections with confirmed berths inquiring PP HORSE SIRE JOCKEY TRAINER ML about leasing the horse for the Pegasus, but so far no deals have 1 Howdy Sundarban Sutherland Eurton 30-1 been struck. 2 Wrightwood Elusive Quality Verenzuela Koriner 50-1 McLaughlin also said that 3 Presidentsky Vronsky Pena Brocklebank 50-1 if the Pegasus turns out not 4 Point Piper Giant’s Causeway Gutierrez Hollendorfer 6-1 to be an option, he is 5 Ain’t Misbehavin Elusive Warning Desormeaux Cerin 20-1 6 Lucky J Lane Lucky J. H. Theriot Koriner 30-1 looking at the $400,000 7 Avanti Bello Include Van Dyke O’Neill 10-1 Poseidon, also at 1 1/8 8 Unusual Meeting Unusual Heat Pereira Stute 30-1 miles on the dirt and part of 9 Papacoolpapacool Temple City Baze D’Amato 20-1 the Pegasus undercard, as 10 California Chrome Lucky Pulpit Espinoza Sherman 1-5 an alternative. The Also Eligible: Sticksstatelydude | Chelsea Durand Discovery runner-up 11 Air Pocket Smart Strike Arroyo, Jr. DeLeon 30-1 Neolithic (Harlan=s Holiday) 12 Ground Rules Smart Strike Arroyo, Jr. Sise, Jr. 20-1 likely punched his ticket to the Pegasus with a powerful allowance win at Gulfstream Wednesday. STICKSSTATELYDUDE WORKS FOR PEGASUS AHe is pointing toward a race on Jan. 28,@ McLaughlin said. Potential GI Pegasus World Cup entrant Sticksstatelydude AThere is a $400,000 race on the undercard, or the Pegasus, if (First Dude), a last out impressive winner of the GIII Discovery S. someone needs a horse. We could be talked into a lease for that at Aqueduct Nov. 12, turned in a four-furlong work in :49.75 day. He will continue to work weekly and we=ll hope for the (20/31) at Palm Meadows Friday. best. At least there is the option of the other race if we don=t get The 3-year-old, owned in a partnership that includes brothers, into the Pegasus.@ Alvin Haynes Jr. and Mitch Haynes, does not currently have a slot in the gate for the $12-million race. $10,000 LFSN Half-Brother to Grade 1 Test Stakes Winner Sweet Lulu (G1) Anchor Down’s half-sister, Sweet Lulu, shown winning the Grade 1 Test Stakes at Saratoga Gainesway Farm 859.293.2676 / Michael Hernon 859.621.6295 Ian Tapp 678.429.2755 / Neil Howard 859.621.6273 Brian Graves 859.621.6270 LGB, LLC 2016 / Photo: Adam Coglianese TDN HEADLINE NEWS • PAGE 5 OF 8 • THETDN.COM SATURDAY • DECEMBER 17, 2016 North American News cont. Despite that recent success on the dirt, Midnight Storm had ARROGATE COULD FACE >STORM= posted the bulk of his big-race wins on the turf, including this year=s GI Shoemaker Mile S. at Santa Anita. Victorious in the GII Venneri Racing Inc. and Little Red Feather Racing=s Midnight Eddie Read S. and the GII Del Mar Mile H. over the summer, the Storm (Pioneerof the Nile), the 7 3/4-length winner of the 5-year-old led into the stretch of the GI Breeders= Cup Mile and GIII Native Diver S.