Khozan in a cakewalk at Gulfstream Park

Khozan effortlessly took over on the far turn, with ears pricked, and after

reaching six furlongs in 1:11 2/5, he bid the field adieu. Widening his margin

down the length of the stretch, the promising sophomore completed the one-turn

mile in 1:38 and paid $2.10.

"Unbelievable -- that's what we live for with the horses," Castellano said.

"I always like to see horses like that. The way he did it today was so easy.

"My strategy today was not to rush him and let him have a chance to pick it

up, because today was a mile race. He reacted so good behind horses. He took

dirt in his face and didn't mind at all. He put himself in a good spot. I saved

all the ground and cut the corner. I really liked the way he did it today. He's

a brilliant horse." 

"It was another very impressive performance," Pletcher said. "It was what we

were hoping for, but we were glad to see it all the same. He got a little bit of

an education today and did some things he didn't do in his debut." 

Pletcher mentioned that the plan was to educate Khozan, who had clear sailing

on the outside in his maiden voyage.

"You don't want to take the risk of losing a race, but at the same time you

want to educate him a little bit," Pletcher said. "We talked about it in the

paddock a little bit that because he drew so far outside in his first start he

might be in a situation where he gets some dirt in his face, so see how he

reacts.

"Javier said he reacted really well to it so he let him kind of stay there

and take a little bit and then he opted to go inside. It couldn't have gone much

better than that."

Now unbeaten from two starts, Khozan has earned $49,200. He was bred by Adena

Springs in Kentucky and originally sold for $350,000 as a yearling at Fasig-Tipton

Saratoga. The well-bred colt later went to his current connections for $1

million as a Fasig-Tipton Florida two-year-old in training, but he did not race

at two.

The dark bay will therefore have to buck history if he lines up in the

Churchill Downs starting gate on the first Saturday in May, for he is subject to

the "Apollo curse" -- that no unraced juvenile has gone on to win the Kentucky

Derby since Apollo in 1882.

"We'll discuss it, but I think the logical next race would probably be the

Florida Derby," Pletcher said. "He's two-for-two over the track and he's trained

well here. He's run well over the track, so we'll talk about it and see."    

Khozan hails from a terrific family. In addition to Royal Delta, he has

another high-profile half-sister in Crown Queen (Smart Strike), winner of last

season's Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup (G1) on the Keeneland turf. They are

out of multiple Grade 3 vixen Delta Princess (A.P. Indy), herself a full sister

to Grade 1 queen Indy Five Hundred and a three-quarter sister to Italian Group 1

victor Biondetti (Bernardini).

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