Parx wrap: Mad House upsets; No Bien Ni Mal wins again
Mad House set the pace and withstood a late rally from fellow long shot Gateskeeper to score a 23-1 upset in the Grade 2, $400,000 Gallant Bob Stakes, a six-furlong sprint for 10 3-year-olds Saturday on the Pennsylvania Derby undercard at Parx.
The gelded son of Vekoma came into his graded-stakes debut with a three-race winning streak built entirely at Canterbury Park. That followed an 0-for-5 start to his career with losses by an average of nine lengths.
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The surprising outcome came at the expense of odds-on favorite Barnes (2-5), trainer Bob Baffert’s $3.2 million Grade 2 winner. Tyler Gaffalione took him to the rear of the back and wound him up for a big rally down the middle of the homestretch only to finish fourth.
Madhouse, a Vekoma gelding owned by James Thares and trained by David VanWinkle, was ridden by Paco López through early fractions of 21.58, 43.94 and 55.98. His final time was 1:08.77 on the fast main track.
Gateskeeper (83-1), a Churchill Downs allowance winner ridden by Gabriel Sáez, moved forward from mid-pack to place second, 2 3/4 lengths behind. Fire Pit (56-1), who hit the board in two minor stakes this summer at Monmouth Park and Parx, stalked his way to finish third.
Mad House paid $49.00, $16.20 and $14.40; Gateskeeper $59.20 and $39.60; and Fire Pit $30.40. The $2 exacta returned $1,017.20. The 50-cent trifecta paid $3,889.50. The 10-cent superfecta was worth $1,584.21.
No Bien Ni Mal takes Greenwood Cup
No Bien Ni Mal, which is Spanish for neither good nor bad, remained perfect through his two U.S. starts. The Brazil-bred 4-year-old stretched to 1 1/2 miles for the second time in his career to win the $200,000 Greenwood Cup (G3).
Sent off at 3-5 odds, No Bien Ni Mal traveled in third place before jockey Joel Rosario asked for more in the third turn. After passing early pacesetter Digital Ops (9-5), he overtook Double Your Money (16-1) in the final furlong before crossing the finish line a 1 3/4-length winner.
Trained by Paulo Lobo for Duplo Ouro Stables, No Bien Ni Mal paid $3.40, $2.40 and $2.10. Second-place Double Your Money returned $7.80 and $4.60. Praetorian Guard closed from sixth to finish a distant third in the open-company field of seven and paid $6.40 to show.
Digital Ops, My Imagination (84-1), Calibrate (11-1) and Repo Rocks (8-1) were fourth through seventh in that order.
The winning time was 2:31.23 after early fractions of 25.13, 49.22, 1:15.19, 1:41.47 and 2:07.23.
A ridgling by the Tapit stallion Hofburg, No Bien Ni Mal won a 1 1/8-mile allowance race last month at Saratoga. That was his first race in seven months and his first after nine starts in South America, where he won a Group 3 sprint winner in December.