Bullards Alley gives Glyshaw first graded stakes win in Louisville Handicap

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Bullards Alley earned the first graded stakes victory for himself and his trainer Saturday when he drew off in the stretch run of the Grade 3, $100,000 Louisville Handicap over the Churchill Downs turf.

With Francisco Torres riding, Bullards Alley looped into contention after tracking a slow pace and went on to prevail by 2 1/4 lengths over Johns Kitten. Roman Approval was another half-length back in third in a field of six older horses. The winner paid $13.80 as fourth choice.

“I entered with the idea of running if the race came off [the turf],” said Tim Glyshaw, who trains 4-year-old Bullards Alley for Wayne Spalding and Faron McCubbins. “He’s the nicest horse in our barn. Cisco rode him great.”

Glyshaw, a 47-year-old Indiana University graduate who grew up in Evansville, has a sizable stable currently split between Churchill and Indiana Grand. It was his 16th stakes triumph in a career dating to 2004 but his first in a graded event.

With favored Dynamic Sky tracking closest, Wireless Future set an easy pace over a course rated “good,” loping along in 26.04 seconds, 52.51, and 1:19.04. But neither had any response leaving the quarter pole when Torres sent Bullards Alley up to challenge.

“I couldn’t have asked for a better trip,” said Torres. “He’s the kind of horse that stays and he won so easy.”

A Kentucky-bred gelding by Flower Alley, Bullards Alley was running back just nine days after winning an off-the-turf allowance at Churchill by a nose. The triumph was his fifth from 19 overall starts and his first in a stakes.

After the top three, the order was Tiz Town, Dynamic Sky, and Wireless Future. Aldous Snow was an early scratch.

The $2 exacta (3-4) paid $94.60, the $1 trifecta (3-4-2) returned $156.20, and the 10-cent superfecta (3-4-2-1) was worth $46.68.