Bully Pulpit Prevails At Northfield

Published: June 1, 2020 10:48 pm EDT

A return to front-pacing tactics proved beneficial for Bully Pulpit ($7.20), who scampered free of pressure on the far turn and barely held off Windsong Leo in Monday's (June 1) $13,500 Open Handicap Pace at Northfield Park.

In his second start back since racing resumed in Ohio, the seven-year-old pushed to the fore early in line to Dan Noble and cleared Atta Boy Dan (Brady Brown) just beyond a :27 first quarter. Bully Pulpit maintained a vigorous pace of his own volition through a :54.4 half, and was nudged along by the first-over Our Corelli N (Kurt Sugg) to three-quarters in 1:22.2.

While his early pressure came from a 53-1 shot and his mid-race pressure from a 44-1 shot, Bully Pulpit's main rivals — Windsong Leo (Chris Page) and Southwind Amazon (Ronnie Wrenn Jr.) — were perched second- and third-over, respectively. Windsong Leo mounted a three-wide rally on the final turn and 3-2 favourite Southwind Amazon pointed four-wide turning for home, but Bully Pulpit shrugged off Our Corelli N to gain 1-1/2 lengths of clearance off the corner. Southwind Amazon failed to fire, but Windsong Leo overcame his stalled cover to give stout chase — surging to within a neck of Bully Pulpit's 1:51.4 mile. Luis Alberto N (Luke Ebersole) emerged up the pegs from traffic to finish third.

Brian Loney trains Bully Pulpit, a seven-year-old Well Said gelding with 29 career wins to his credit, for Bradley Schwartz.

Havefaithinme N ($4.00) lived up to favoured billing in the sub-featured $11,500 Open II Pace, throwing down the gauntlet to rebuff a late bid from pocket rival Major Nemesis and sprint off to win by 4-3/4 lengths in 1:50.1. Ronnie Wrenn Jr., who recorded his sixth win of the night in the act, drove the nine-year-old Bettors Delight gelding for trainer J.D. Perrin and the partnership of the Blindswitch Racing Stable and Bukers Stable.

Tags
Have something to say about this? Log in or create an account to post a comment.