Bishops Bay wins bob over Coal Battle to take Ack Ack
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Bishops Bay has a knack for drama. The 6-year-old horse in June lost the Salvator Mile at Monmouth Park by a nose. In August, he won the Iselin at Monmouth by a neck after a stretch-long duel. And on Saturday at Churchill Downs, Bishops Bay came out on the right side of a head bob, besting Coal Battle by a short head in the Ack Ack Stakes.
Bishops Bay also just has a knack for winning races. Saturday’s tally in the Grade 3, $400,000 Ack Ack ran his career mark to 18-11-6-0.
Brad Cox has trained Bishops Bay throughout his career, first for Spendthrift Farm and Steve Landers, and then for the Saudi Arabian owner KAS Stable following a private purchase between the Forty Niner Stakes and the Cigar Mile last fall. Bishops Bay began his 6-year-old campaign with a very respectable fourth in the $20 million Saudi Cup.
Bishops Bay showed talent from the start but didn’t race from June 2023 to November 2024 and required a few starts to fully find his footing, but Bishops Bay established himself as a solid Grade 2-level miler, at least, and has held his form admirably.
He and jockey Tyler Gaffalione broke alertly in the Ack Ack, a one-turn mile, as 50-1 shot Macho Music came through on the rail to wrestle the lead away from Bishops Bay in the first furlong. Those two ran nearly as a team through fractions of 22.92 seconds and 45.51 before Macho Music threw in the towel, leaving Bishops Bay alone in front.
East Avenue made some outside progress past the quarter pole and into the homestretch, while Owen Almighty gathered momentum along the fence, but it was Coal Battle, coming outside East Avenue in midstretch, who mounted the most serious challenge. Bishops Bay looked fairly gassed a half-furlong out, Gaffalione offering serious encouragement as Coal Battle closed ground with every stride, but at the wire it was Bishops Bay with his head going down, Coal Battle gathering himself for a next stride, and that was the margin of victory.
Coal Battle finished one length ahead of Owen Almighty as East Avenue slid back to fourth. The race’s disappointment was Nu What’s New, who failed even to show his customary early speed and checked in a distant fifth as the narrow favorite.
Bishops Bay is by Uncle Mo out of Catch My Drift, by Pioneerof the Nile. He clocked 1:34.59 and paid $7.68 as the strong third choice after a dramatic finish in the Ack Ack.
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