Jockey Edgar Prado pours cool water over the neck of Harlan's Holiday after guiding him to a win in the Blue Grass.

The Ohio-bred son of Harlan evened his series with archrival Booklet at two wins each Saturday, galloping to 4½-length victory in the $750,000 Blue Grass Stakes at Keeneland.

It was the second straight commanding performance for Harlan's Holiday, who won the Grade I Florida Derby by 3½ lengths last month. He now has six wins and four seconds in nine career starts for owners Jack and Laurie Wolf of Louisville.

"This feels great today," Jack Wolf said. "Kenny had this horse prepared perfectly. Obviously, this was a big win for us, but we're looking forward to the first Saturday in May."

McPeek, a Lexington native who was upset when favored Tejano Run finished a disappointing third in the 1995 Blue Grass, was ecstatic as Harlan's Holiday drew away from Booklet over the final furlong.

He only wished he could have watched it unfold.

"My wife was shaking me so hard I couldn't see anything through my binoculars," McPeek said with a grin. "We finally got one for my hometown. Now it's time to get one for Jack's."

The crowd of 28,270, the fifth-largest in Keeneland history, roared its approval as Harlan's Holiday and Booklet engaged in their much-hyped showdown through the stretch.

In the pair's first two meetings, Booklet edged his nemesis at the wire to win the Grade I Fountain of Youth and Grade III Holy Bull. He led the first half of the Florida Derby before fading to finish fourth.

"These two horses have really battled all year," McPeek said. "It seems like we've seen this scenario over and over."

Jockey Edgar Prado did little to urge Harlan's Holiday over the final strides at Keeneland, however, as the duo combined to win their second straight Grade I stakes race.

"I thought I was going to go by real easy, but Booklet was fighting real hard," Prado said. "I thought we'd fight all the way to the wire, but we were able to pull away over the final eighth."

Booklet trainer John Ward hedged when asked if Booklet would try to break the tie in a fifth meeting with Harlan's Holiday at Churchill Downs.

"The thing that would make us run in the Derby is the attrition over the next couple of weeks," Ward said. "It will be up to (owner) John Oxley.

"I think we ran a good, strong 1 1/16 miles. My feeling is that we probably saw the best our horse has to give today."

Ocean's Sound came was another 1½ lengths back in third, 14 lengths ahead of the Nick Zito-trained Straight Gin.

"It was a great run and I was really pleased," said Ocean's Sound trainer Jim Cassidy. "I'm going to wait and talk to the owners before deciding whether to run in the Derby. I'm 50-50 right now."

Bob's Image, who led the six-horse field through much of the race, faded late to finish fifth ahead of Azillion.

Harlan's Holiday covered 1 1/8 miles in 1:51 2-5, the slowest time since Granacus beat Intensive Command by three lengths in 1988.

"I wouldn't trade him for any other horse," Prado said. "Time only matters when you're in jail."

Booklet jumped out of the gate strong and set the pace with Bob's Image entering the backstretch.

The speedy son of Notebook pulled ahead midway through the backstretch and held a slight lead over Bob's Image until Harlan's Holiday made his move on the pacesetters entering the far turn.

Harlan's Holiday, the 3-5 favorite, returned $3.40, $2.20 and $2.10.

Booklet, the 5-2 second choice, paid $3 and $2.40, and Ocean's Sound paid $2.80.