HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Zandon is on schedule to make his 3-year-old debut later this month for Chad Brown. Jack Christopher – not so much. Zandon, beaten a nose by Mo Donegal in the Dec. 4 Remsen at Aqueduct in just his second start, will be shipped to Fair Grounds for the Risen Star on Feb. 19 at 1 1/8 miles rather than run in the 1 1/16-mile Holy Bull on Saturday at Gulfstream Park. “We went back and forth on whether to start out with him here,” Brown said. “But we prefer the longer distance of the Risen Star, and it has more points.” :: Access morning workout reports straight from the tracks and get an edge with DRF Clocker Reports The Risen Star awards 50 points to the winner toward the Kentucky Derby on May 7 instead of 10 for the Holy Bull. Zandon, owned by Jeff Drown, has been working steadily at Payson Park, with a half-mile breeze in 49.80 seconds on Saturday being his sixth work since Dec. 27. But Jack Christopher – the more highly regarded of Brown’s Derby prospects – apparently isn’t coming around all that quickly. Owned by a partnership that includes Coolmore, the Munnings colt earned a 102 Beyer Speed Figure in winning the Champagne on Oct. 2 at Belmont Park, but missed the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile on Nov. 5 with a minor shin problem and got time off before returning in mid-January to Brown’s care at Payson Park, some two hours north of Gulfstream. “He’s not close to a breeze,” Brown said with a touch of disappointment. “He is back galloping, and we’re happy about that, but we are certainly behind with him. We’re just going to have to take it week to week with him. We are not going to rush the horse just to make the Derby. The owners are completely on board with that.” Meanwhile, the first Kentucky Derby qualifier of the Gulfstream championship meet is set for Saturday, with Mo Donegal, Giant Game, and Tiz the Bomb the top contenders in the Grade 3, $250,000 Holy Bull. About eight 3-year-olds are expected to enter. Mo Donegal will be looking to continue the torrid streak the Todd Pletcher stable is riding. The Uncle Mo colt ended 2021 with his hard-fought score in the Grade 2 Remsen at Aqueduct and will be making his 3-year-old debut off six works since Dec. 24 at Pletcher’s winter base at Palm Beach Downs. Giant Game, third behind Corniche and Pappacap in the BC Juvenile, will be ridden for the first time by Luis Saez, the meet’s leading jockey. The Giant’s Causeway colt has been on a steady work pattern at Gulfstream for trainer Dale Romans since Dec. 20. Others expected for the Holy Bull include Simplification, a four-length winner of the Mucho Macho Man on Jan. 1, along with Galt, Spin Wheel, and White Abarrio. The Florida-based 3-year-olds Howling Time, trained by Romans, and God of Love, trained by Mark Casse, initially were intended for the Withers on Saturday at Aqueduct, but are being diverted instead to Tampa Bay Downs for the Sam F. Davis on Feb. 12. Like the Holy Bull, the Sam Davis is among the last of the 10-4-2-1 qualifiers. Both trainers said the likelihood of poor weather in New York this week factored into their decisions. Similarly, trainer Brian Lynch said he is opting for the Davis instead of the Holy Bull with Classic Causeway, who figures to inherit the favorite’s role for the 1 1/16-mile Tampa race. “The Holy Bull came up awfully tough,” Lynch said from Palm Meadows. “I’ll be able to get one more really good work into the horse, and we’ll go on over to Tampa and take it from there.” Incidentally, Casse said that BC Juvenile runner-up Pappacap, his top Derby hope, will have a new jockey in Tyler Gaffalione when he runs back in the Risen Star. The colt was third as the favorite under Joe Bravo in the Lecomte on Jan. 22 at Fair Grounds. :: Want to start playing with a $510 bankroll and have access to free Formulator? Learn more The Holy Bull is one of five Grade 3 stakes, all for 3-year-olds, to be run here Saturday. The other races are worth $100,000 each – the Swale and Forward Gal, both at seven furlongs, and the Kitten’s Joy and Sweetest Chant, both at 1 1/16 miles on turf. The Swale lost its apparent favorite early this week when High Oak, winner of the Saratoga Special last August, was withdrawn by trainer Bill Mott after spiking a fever. Letruska works toward return Letruska, widely expected to be named the 2021 Eclipse Award winner for outstanding older dirt female runner, breezed five furlongs Monday in a bullet 59.80 seconds at Palm Meadows. It was the third work for the 6-year-old Super Saver mare since she got a freshening following the Breeders’ Cup Distaff on Nov. 6. Trainer Fausto Gutierrez is targeting the Royal Delta on Feb. 26 at Gulfstream as the return spot for Letruska. “She is doing very well,” he said. ◗ Search Results had three Payson works in January and is on pace to return to action in March, Brown said. Runner-up in the Kentucky Oaks and winner of the Grade 1 Acorn last spring, the 4-year-old Flatter filly has gone unraced since finishing third in the Grade 1 Test in early August.