HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Friday’s $100,000 Pulpit Stakes at Gulfstream Park began with the race being switched from the turf to the Tapeta course due to showers the previous afternoon and ended in both a dead heat and disqualification that ultimately awarded victory to New York invader Glorious Boy.
Glorious Boy finished the Pulpit, run at one mile and 70 yards, on even terms with Bronze Bullet following an eventful stretch run. One which saw Bronze Bullet first drift out, forcing Glorious Boy to alter course to the inside near midstretch and then angle sharply inward to initiate a bumping incident with that rival as the duo neared the finish line.
The stewards lit the inquiry sign, and rightly so, before the official order of finish was even posted on the tote board. It then took approximately ten minutes adjudicating the incident prior to announcing their decision to break the dead heat by disqualifying Bronze Bullet, the 2-1 favorite, for causing interference in late stretch.
Glorious Boy shipped locally for the Pulpit off a second-place finish behind Throckmorton in the six-furlong Awad Stakes at Aqueduct on Nov. 9. Ironically, Throckmorton is trained by Jose D’Angelo Jr., who is also the trainer of Bronze Bullet. The Pulpit marked the first time Glorious Boy had ever competed over a Tapeta surface or raced around two turns. Glorious Boy paid $19.40.
“I wasn’t sure there would be a disqualification,” said Carlos Martin, who trains Glorious Boy for the Centurion Thoroughbreds Club. “It seemed like there was a little incidental contact, our horse kind of came back and bumped him. I’m just glad they took it down. A tie is great but it’s better to have the win. I was a little bit leery about stretching him out. I didn’t know if he was going to be a closing sprinter or if he would stretch out. Now we know he will and can also handle Tapeta as well.”
Bronze Bullet also turned in a determined effort while stretching out beyond 5 1/2 furlongs for the first time in his career. With D’Angelo saying he believed the decision could have gone either way moments after the final results of the race were made official.
“Our horse ran a huge race, he got tired, but they are babies and it was their first time in a two turn race and it looked like they might have bumped each other,” D’Angelo offered. “It was a tough call and a tough way to lose the race.”
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