Exotics plays for Harlan's Holiday Stakes on Dec. 18

A talented field of six will travel 1 1/16 miles at Gulfstream Park in Saturday’s $150,000 Harlan’s Holiday S. (G3).

The event is led by the Todd Pletcher-trained #6 Fearless, who earned his top victory to date in the Gulfstream Park Mile (G2) on the course in February. By Ghostzapper, the five-year-old gelding has compiled a nifty 4-3-1-0 mark on the oval in his lifetime, and he had a nice prep for Saturday when a game runner-up in an overnight stakes tilt at Gulfstream last time out.

The lightly raced five-year-old secured an ideal post on the outside of the compact crew to stalk the pace while always in the clear under Luis Saez. Fearless will track the proceedings from third place around the backside before making his presence felt approaching the turn for home. He is a top-two must use in my opinion.

Two-time Canadian classic winner #1 Mighty Heart led throughout in the recent Autumn S. (G2) at Woodbine for trainer Josie Carroll. The four-year-old son of Dramedy has speed, class, and tenacity, and the colt has also handled the synthetic-to-dirt move with excellent results in the past.

Mighty Heart posted a pair of good morning drills at Palm Meadows in advance of his local debut, and with a clean break from the gate under John Velazquez, the Ontario-bred could be leading the pack from the early stages of the race.

The third contender that I will include is #4 Eye of a Jedi. Trained by Steve Budhoo, the Kentucky-bred has registered 19 top-three finishes on the oval in his career, including a second-place result in the race in 2020.

The Grade-3 winning son of Eye of the Leopard might be a notch below the aforementioned pair, but I love the chances of the bay to rally for a placing inside the final furlong, nonetheless. The six-year-old gelding will have Javier Castellano in the stirrups.

I believe that the red-hot #2 Blue Steel will get tested for class in this spot and fade in the stretch after forcing the tempo early on. #5 South Bend is a talented late runner for Bill Mott, but the shape of the race and tendencies of the speed-favoring surface will play against him in this spot. And #3 Twenty Twice simply looks a bit overmatched at this stage of his development.

Harlan’s Holiday Exotics Wagers

$15 trifecta key 6 with 1, 4 ($30)

$10 trifecta 6 with 1 with 4 ($10)

$5 trifecta 1, 6 with 1, 6 with 4 ($10)