HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Bronze Bullet, disqualified out of an apparent dead heat for first in the Pulpit Stakes in his juvenile finale, will return to allowance company when launching his 3-year-old campaign against eight rivals, including stablemate Cabourg, in Thursday’s $86,000 allowance and optional-claiming feature at Gulfstream Park.
Bronze Bullet finished on even terms with Glorious Boy in the Pulpit, a race originally carded for the turf but ultimately decided over the synthetic Tapeta course due to weather issues. The pair separated themselves from the rest of the field by 3 1/2 lengths at the wire.
But following a stewards’ inquiry and claim of foul by the rider of Glorious Boy, Bronze Bullet was disqualified and placed second for drifting in under a right-hand stick to bump with Glorious Boy nearing the finish.
Trainer Jose D’Angelo gave Bronze Bullet some well-deserved time off following the 76 Beyer Speed Figure effort, opting to bring him back against allowance opposition in what is scheduled to be his horse’s first start on turf.
“He ran huge last time and in our mind he is still a stakes winner.” D’Angelo said. “I think he’s going to have a big 3-year-old season, so I gave him a little break after such a hard effort. He’s worked well on the grass, and I really believe he’s just as good on both surfaces. We’ve got some stakes plans mapped out for him after this, but let’s see how he does here first, then we’ll go from there.”
Cabourg also will be trying grass for the first time, and with his speed should complement his late-running stablemate nicely as the projected pacesetter. Cabourg, beaten a neck after setting the early pace under similar allowance conditions here to close his 2-year-old season, has not started since finishing a tiring and distant seventh in the one-mile Mucho Macho Man on Jan. 3.
“He always trained well for us, which is why we took him to Churchill Downs to win his first start,” D’Angelo said. “I sent him out to the farm for 15 days after the Mucho Macho Man. He came back in good shape and his two workouts on turf have been very good.”
The D’Angelo duo will face a field that includes four last-out maiden winners, three of whom – Doctrine, Zucchero, and Immortalised – won their maidens on grass.
Doctrine has the highest last-out Beyer Speed Figure in the field, aside from Bronze Bullet, a 73 earned by rallying from midpack to a hard-fought nose victory going a mile on Jan. 3.
Zucchero has been idle since leading at every call en route to a one-length maiden win going 7 1/2 furlongs here Dec. 5. Zucchero is trained by the red-hot Brian Lynch, who also entered last-out main-track maiden winner Sure to Appeal.
Imortalised improved dramatically when sent two turns for the first time, withstanding a hard-fought stretch duel before emerging with a neck decision to earn his diploma at second asking for trainer Brendan Walsh on Jan. 2.
Fulmine, the only two-time winner in the field, and Sir Newtons Laws complete the lineup.
D’Angelo breaks out of slump
D’Angelo emerged from a long win drought in a big way Sunday, posting a hat trick that began with a popular victory by Il Alchemysta ($5.40) in the second race and concluded with back-to-back tallies by Itza Boss ($8.20) and Pop Rox ($5.60) in the eighth and ninth events. D’Angelo, who won back-to-back Breeders’ Cup races last fall with Shisospicy and Bentornato, had been blanked since sending out Running on Time to capture a $35,000 maiden race here Dec. 22.
“That’s just how this game goes,” D’Angelo said. “We had several close, tough beats before everything finally worked out well for us yesterday.”
While D’Angelo has struggled of late, nobody has been hotter here all winter than Lynch, who won his eighth stakes of the Championship meet when Moon Spun registered a popular and one-sided victory on Saturday in the Ladies’ Turf Sprint.
“If you had told me before the meet started we’d have won eight stakes at this stage, I’d have said it was wishful thinking,” said Lynch, who also won Saturday’s allowance finale with the very promising 3-year-old Wine On Sunday. “We brought the right horses down this year and we’ve been very lucky. But it’s been fun watching it all happen.
“The crew has been working hard, the horses have been running well, and the riders have all been super. Right now, I’m not looking forward to the meet ending.”
Moon Spun was ridden to her second straight stakes tally in the Ladies’ Turf Sprint by Javier Castellano, one of four victories on the card for the Hall of Fame rider who opted to honor his calls locally rather than go to Tampa on Saturday to keep his regular seat aboard the promising 3-year-old The Puma in the Sam F. Davis Stakes. The Puma finished a troubled third in the Kentucky Derby prep. Castellano is represented by agent Kevin Meyocks.
“It was an amazing day. I’m very lucky, very fortunate to be able to be here and win these kinds of races,” Castellano said immediately after the Ladies’ Turf Sprint. “I’m blessed to have a lot of support from all the trainers, and my agent has done a great job picking the right horses. It’s a team effort.”
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