Bullards Alley brings Grade 1 talent to H. Allen Jerkens Stakes

Always on the hunt for valuable real estate, trainer Tim Glyshaw has shipped Bullards Alley from Fair Grounds to Gulfstream Park for the rare opportunity to run two miles on turf in Saturday’s $100,000 H. Allen Jerkens Stakes.

“It’s like hunting. You have to hunt races for these type of horses. There are very few of them,” Glyshaw said.

Bullards Alley, who most recently finished sixth in the Breeders’ Cup Turf (G1) at Del Mar Nov. 4, is the only Grade 1 winner in a field of eight entered Tuesday for the two-mile turf marathon that will honor the memory of the beloved Hall of Fame trainer on a program that will also feature the $75,000 Tropical Park Derby, two divisions of the $75,000 Tropical Park Oaks and the $75,000 Via Borghese.

“This is to get him back started. He loves anything a mile and a half and over. We’re trying to map out a plan to get enough points so that he can get into the Breeders’ Cup Turf again at Churchill,” said Glyshaw, who trains the 5-year-old gelding for Wayne Spalding and Faron McCubbins.

Bullards Alley provided Glyshaw with his first Grade 1 success as a trainer with a 42-1 shocker in the Canadian International at Woodbine in October. The son of Flower Alley pulled off a 10 ¾-length romp over a field of international rivals over a soft turf.

“I think it’s safe to say that he really does excel on a softer turf course. The problem was when we got that softer turf course, all the Europeans wanted it too. It wasn’t like we were gaining too much of an advantage,” Glyshaw said.

Bullards Alley stalked the pace in the 1 ½-mile Canadian International before drawing away powerfully through the stretch run under Woodbine-based Eurico Rosa Da Silva.

“He can be a little bit lazy sometimes and has to have the rider either ride him the whole race or tap him on the shoulder to give him reminders not to get too far back,” Glyshaw said. “In that race he was on his own from the get-go. Da Silva didn’t touch him. He placed himself where he wanted and I knew he was going to make a really good run going into the far turn. To me a good run was to hit the board. Then, when he took the lead at the top of the stretch, I was excited but he had done that in the (July 2) Singspiel up there. He had taken the lead and opened up a couple of lengths and then just got nailed at the wire.

“When he got up by five I knew they weren’t going to catch him,” Glyshaw said. “After that, the more he opened up the more I got excited. I’m not one to jump up and down but it was the first Grade 1 we’ve ever won. It was a really, really cool experience.”

The triumph, which earned him a trip to Del Mar for the Breeders’ Cup Turf, was his first in 15 starts since winning the 2016 Louisville Handicap at Churchill Downs.

“He hadn’t caught any breaks during the year – that was one of the reasons he was winless,” Glyshaw said. “In the American St. Leger [at Arlington Park in August], a horse took a right-hand turn in front of him as he was ready to take the lead at the five-eighths pole. That was going to be a Woodbine-esque sort of race. I think he was going to run off with that race.”

Paco Lopez has the mount aboard Bullards Alley. 

The two-mile distance of the Jerkens also lured the Neil Drysdale-trained Infobedad from Southern California. The 6-year-old Argentina import most recently finished second after setting the pace in the $200,000 Marathon, a 1 ¾-mile stakes on dirt on the Breeders’ Cup Weekend at Del Mar.

The son of Dancing For Me, who was claimed for $62,500 by Waldorf Racing Stables out of a sixth-place finish in an optional claiming allowance race in his previous start, has won two of 14 starts on grass. Joel Rosario has the return mount.

Shug McGaughey-trained Gold Shield, an easy optional claiming allowance winner at Aqueduct over 1 5/8 miles last time out; Christopher Vella-trained English Illusion, who captured a 1 5/8-mile optional claiming allowance over Woodbine’s synthetic track two starts back; and Brian Lynch-trained Infinite Wisdom, the 1 ½-mile Laurel Turf Cup runner-up two starts back; are among the prominent contenders.

El Kurdo, Honovi and Run Time round out the field.

Source: Gulfstream Park news release