BY GULFSTREAM PARK PRESS OFFICE (Edited)
HALLANDALE BEACH, FL—D. J. Stable and Robert Cotran’s 2024 Holy Bull (Grade 3)-winner Hades will face synthetic specialists Classic Mo Town, Prevent, Private Thoughts and Iron Hand while making his debut on the all-weather course in Saturday’s $100,000 San Cristobal overnight handicap at Gulfstream Park. The San Cristobal, for 4-year-olds and older, is scheduled for one-mile-and-70-yards.
Hades has made 15 of his 16 career starts on the main track, winning each of his first three capped by the Holy Bull before running fifth to champion Fierceness in the Curlin Florida Derby (G1). Placed in five subsequent stakes, he next won a second condition, $32,000 optional claimer on December 6 at Tampa Bay Downs and most recently finished third after setting the pace in the mile-and-one-sixteenth, $75,000 Sunshine Classic on January 10.
Hades is by Ocala Stud stallion Awesome Slew out of The Shady Lady, by Quality Road and was bred in Florda by Ocala Stud, Joseph M. O’Farrell III, David O’Farrell, et al.
He is 12-1 on the morning line and will be ridden from post five by Edgard Zayas.
Classic Mo Town won the Eclipse (G2) at a mile-and-a-sixteenth last spring on the all-weather surface at Woodbine, finishing off the board in four following graded attempts. A five-time winner on synthetic, the 6-year-old gelding was sixth last out in the Carousel Club overnight handicap on January 24 on the undercard of the Pegasus World Cup (G1).
Classic Mo Town is by Mo Town out of Potra Clasica (Arg), by Potrillon (Arg) and was bred in Florida by John B. Penn and Sue’s Farm II.
He is 10-1 in the program and will be ridden from post four by David Egan.
The one-mile, 70-yard Carousel Club was won by Florida-bred Prevent, who has been first or second in 10 of 15 career synthetic starts, seven of them wins, including the 2025 Sabal Palm and Mambo Meister overnight handicaps.
Prevent will have John Velazquez up from post nine and they are 9-2 on the morning line.
Florida-bred Iron Hand, whose last three races have come on turf, was perfect in four starts on the Gulfstream all-weather course last year with two wins at the San Cristobal distance.
Florida-bred Private Thoughts owns eight career wins, four on synthetic, with overnight handicap victories in the 2025 St. Augustine on synthetic and Jet Propulsion on turf.
Palazzi is two-for-seven lifetime on the synthetic highlighted by a come-from-behind victory in Woodbine’s 2024 Eclipse. He is also a two-time stakes winner on the grass highlighted by the 11-furlong Singspiel (G3) at Woodbine.
Tomasello, Act a Fool, Florida-bred Ciao Chuck, Lost and Confused, Florida-bred Brawn, Horsepower complete the field. Florida-bred Takecareofbusiness is on the also-eligible list.
Return to the February 27 issue of Wire to Wire
