Algorithms charged past Hansen in early stretch and pulled away powerfully to win the $400,000 Holy Bull Stakes (gr. III) at Gulfstream Park by a dominating five lengths.
Trained by Todd Pletcher and ridden by Javier Castellano -- who also paired up to win the $200,000 Forward Gal Stakes (gr. II) with Broadway's Alibi earlier on the card -- Algorithms got off to a good beginning and settled into second early on as race favorite and 2011 Eclipse champion two-year-old male Hansen set the pace. Making his first start since winning the Breeders' Cup Juvenile (gr. I) back in November, Hansen stumbled at the start but recovered quickly to pull away from the field early on to establish a three, even four length lead while running fractions of :23.64 and :45.67. Silver Max was sitting in third along the rail, followed by Fort Loudon, Consortium, and My Adonis, the latter trailing the field by a sizable margin early on.
Rounding the turn, Algorithms and Silver Max made simultaneous bids to try and catch Hansen, with Algorithms moving strongest. Hansen still held the lead into the homestretch after running three-quarters in 1:10.21, but was clearly beginning to tire. This enabled Algorithms to go by him in fairly easy fashion and continue onward to the wire to win impressively, stopping the clock for one-mile in 1:36.17. Hansen drifted out several paths in the stretch, but managed to hold off the late-closing My Adonis for second by a half-length. Fort Loudon, Silver Max, and Consortium completed the order of finish.
Algorithms is owned by Starlight Racing and has stamped himself as a serious contender not only for the Fountain of Youth Stakes (gr. II) and Florida Derby (gr. I) later during the Gulfstream meet, but for the Kentucky Derby (gr. I) at Churchill Downs on the first Saturday in May.
-Keelerman
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