The race was inaugurated in 1990 as the Preview Stakes and was renamed in 1996 in honor of 1994 Horse of the Year Holy Bull. The race is held at various distances and has been at the current 1 1/16 miles since 2013. The race was first held in 1996 as a grade 3.
Here we look back at some of the best horses to win the Sacred Bull.
GO FOR GIN (1994)
CAREER RECORD: 19 starts – 5 wins, 7 seconds, 2 thirds
CAREER EARNINGS: $1,380,866
This Nick Zito trainee was in good form entering the 1994 Preview Stakes. He won two stakes at Aqueduct that fall, including the Remsen Stakes, and looked like one of the early Kentucky Derby favorites. In a field of six, Go for Gin was sent off as the 7-10 favourite.
He won as an odd-on favorite should, following the pace and coasting to a 3 ½ length victory. That win gave Jerry Bailey his third victory in the Preview; he would win the race five times.
That race turned out to be the highlight of Go for Gin’s preparatory races on the Derby route. He finished second behind champion 2-year-old male Dehere in the Grade 2 Fountain of Youth Stakes, fourth behind none other than Holy Bull in the Grade 1 Florida Derby, and second in the Grade 1 Wood Memorial Stakes. By the time the first Saturday in May arrived, Bailey had jumped ship and been replaced by Chris McCarron, and Go for Gin was the fifth choice at 9.10-1 in the 14-horse Derby field.
Those who kept the faith were rewarded, as Go for Gin took control of the race early on and pulled away to win by two lengths. It was the second Derby victory for both Zito and McCarron. Go for Gin went on to finish second in both the Preakness and Belmont Stakes.
Holy Bull was the 1994 Kentucky Derby favorite, but finished twelfth after a bad break. However, he had the last laugh. While Go for Gin did not win a race for the rest of the year, Holy Bull claimed five consecutive victories on the way to being named Horse of the Year.
HAL’S HOPE (2000)
CAREER RECORD: 33 starts – 9 wins, 5 seconds, 3 thirds
CAREER EARNINGS: $1,098,422
Hal’s Hope seemed the furthest thing from a Derby prospect competing in the 2000 Holy Bull Stakes. His owner, trainer and breeder, Harold Rose, was an 87-year-old who operated a modest year-round stable in South Florida. Jockey Roger Velez was a recovering alcoholic and stroke survivor.
Hal’s Hope ended his two-year-old season with a win against the Benefit Company at Calder Race Course in December, but most punters considered him outclassed in the Holy Bull. He was an outsider of 40.20-1 in the field of 11 horses. When Velez sent him forward and opened a clear lead, almost everyone expected him to disappear.
As it turned out, Hal’s Hope continued as normal. He crushed the field by 5 ¼ lengths and finished more than 11 lengths ahead of heavy favorite Greenwood Lake.
Hal’s Hope had even more magic in store on the Derby route. He finished second in the Grade 1 Fountain of Youth Stakes behind acclaimed Wayne Lukas trainee High Yield. Lukas’ High Yield was the even-money favorite in the Grade 1 Florida Derby, while Hal’s Hope was the fourth choice at 6.90-1.
After a long, persistent battle down the stretch, Hal’s Hope turned the tables on High Yield. He won by a margin, cementing his status as the underdog story of that year’s Derby route.
Although he couldn’t live up to the Hollywood finish in the Kentucky Derby, finishing 16th, Hal’s Hope had a productive career. He was a two-time stakes winner as a four-year-old and won the Grade 1 Gulfstream Park Handicap at the age of five.
BARBARO (2006)
CAREER RECORD: 7 starts – 6 wins, 0 seconds, 0 thirds
CAREER EARNINGS: $2,302,200
Although best known for his achievements on dirt, Barbaro started his career with a perfect 3-for-3 on the grass. Trainer Michael Matz decided to try him out on the Derby course and entered him in his first dirt race at the Holy Bull.
Barbaro enjoyed a good stalking trip alongside the pacer of Doctor Diehard before challenging him into the final corner. He wrested control as he entered the stretch, but then faced new challenges from Flashy Bull and Great Song. Undeterred, he splashed a three-quarter lead on a wet track past the finish line.
In his next start, Barbaro won the Grade 1 Florida Derby by half a length with a similar trip. He gave racing fans the highest of highs and the lowest of lows in his next two starts as he rolled to a dominant victory in the Grade 1 Kentucky Derby before suffering a serious injury in the Grade 1 Preakness Stakes. Although he fought valiantly for his recovery, he developed acute laminitis in July 2006 and was euthanized in January 2007. Barbaro is commemorated with a statue at the main entrance of Churchill Downs.
HETSMYLUCKYDAY (2013)
CAREER RECORD: 21 starts – 9 wins, 4 seconds, 2 thirds
CAREER EARNINGS: $1,706,350
Itsmyluckyday was already a three-time stakes winner at the time of the 2013 Holy Bull Stakes. He entered the race after a 6 ¾ length victory in the Gulfstream Park Derby. Based on that victory, this Eddie Plesa trainee was sent away as third choice with 4.70-1 in the Holy Bull. Shanghai Bobby, winner of the 2012 Eclipse Award as 2-year-old male champion, was the even-money favorite. However, it was the day of Itsmyluckyday. He assessed Shanghai Bobby’s speed and then carried him out in the stretch to win by two lengths. He followed with a second-place finish in the Grade 1 Florida Derby, establishing him as a true Derby contender.
Although he finished 15th on the first Saturday of May, he rebounded with a second-place finish in the Preakness Stakes. As a four-year-old, Itsmyluckyday won four stakes races, including the Grade 1 Woodward Stakes.
TIZ DE LAW (2020)
CAREER RECORD: 9 starts – 6 wins, 1 second, 1 third
CAREER EARNINGS: $2,735,300
Following his victory in the Grade 1 Champagne Stakes in October 2019 at Belmont Park, the New York-bred Tiz the Law appeared on many Kentucky Derby top 10 lists. In 2003, the owner-trainer combination of Sackatoga Stable and Barclay Tagg teamed up to win the Kentucky Derby and Preakness with Funny Cide. Almost twenty years later it looked like they had a great chance of winning the Derby again.
Tiz the Law made his 3-year-old debut at the Holy Bull and was the 13-10 favorite in a field of seven. He lived up to the hype, assessed the pace and pulled away for a three-length win. With his victory he avenged Funny Cide’s defeat in the same race 17 years earlier.
Following his win at the Holy Bull, Tiz the Law broke down in the spring and summer of 2020 as the COVID-19 pandemic reshaped the racing calendar. He won the Grade 1 Curlin Florida Derby, the Grade 1 Belmont Stakes Presented by NYRA Bets, and the Grade 1 Runhappy Travers Stakes en route to a rescheduled Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve in September, becoming the first Holy Bull winner to win both the Belmont Stakes and Travers. Tiz the Law was sent off at odds of 7-10 in the Kentucky Derby, the heaviest favorite since Spectacular Bid in 1980, finishing second behind Authentic.
WHITE ABARRIO (2022)
CAREER RECORD: 25 starts – 10 wins, 3 seconds, 3 thirds
CAREER EARNINGS: $7,713,920
White Abarrio showed his potential during his two-year-old season as he started his career with back-to-back victories, posting a 6 ¾-length romp in his career debut and then leading from start to finish in a four-length score in his second start. He capped his junior campaign with a third-place finish in the Grade 2 Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes in his first try against stakes competition for trainer Saffie Joseph Jr.
Race Day’s gray or roan colt made his first start as a three-year-old in the Holy Bull Stakes, authoritatively announcing his presence on the 2022 Kentucky Derby trail. He opened a commanding lead down the stretch under new rider Tyler Gaffalione and cruised to a 4 ½-length victory at odds of 6-1.
White Abarrio followed with another emphatic victory in the $1 million Curlin Florida Derby presented by Hill ‘n’ Dale Farms in Xalapa and was a leading contender for the Kentucky Derby presented by Woodford Reserve. But while Rich Strike shocked the world at odds of 80.80-1 on May 7, 2022, White Abarrio never played a major role and finished 16th.e of 20.
White Abarrio didn’t win again in 2022 — finishing second in the Grade 2 Ohio Derby and third by a half-length in the Cigar Mile Handicap Presented by NYRA Bets — but he regained his elite form as a four-year-old in 2023 after moving to trainer Rick Dutrow Jr. White Abarrio won the Grade 1 Whitney Stakes by six lengths in August and followed with a one-length victory in the $6 million Longines Breeders’ Cup Classic in a season in which he won three of five starts and was a finalist for Horse of the Year. White Abbario remained in training into 2024 but won only one compensation race in four starts, but by the end of the season he started to regain his top form while back under the care of trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. White Abarrio started his 6-year-old season in 2025 with a bang with a record 6 1/4-length victory in the $2,945,400 Grade 1 Pegasus World Cup Invitational Stakes on Jan. 25 at Gulfstream Park. White Abarrio won another higher stakes title in four consecutive starts in 2025 before finishing second in his bid to win again in the 2026 Pegasus World Cup.
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