Bulletin a cut above peers in William Walker Stakes
RACE REPLAY IS NOT AVAILABLE
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Perfection is elusive, but not so far for a colt named Bulletin. Three starts have resulted in easy wins, most notably in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint last fall at Churchill Downs, and now a fourth is right around the corner.
Bulletin will be heavily favored when he breaks from post 1 in a field of eight 3-year-olds in the $125,000 William Walker, a 5 1/2-furlong turf race that highlights a 10-race Downs After Dark card that opens the Churchill spring meet Saturday night. Javier Castellano will be back aboard the City Zip colt for trainer Todd Pletcher and an ownership group led by WinStar Farm.
“We’re not too worried about the 1 hole because he usually breaks very sharp,” said Ginny DePasquale, the longtime Pletcher assistant who has overseen the day-to-day training of Bulletin here in Kentucky since a 1 1/2-length triumph in his seasonal debut, the April 4 Palisades Turf Sprint at Keeneland. “We’re very happy with how he’s trained since his last race. He’s actually trained very well, very straightforward.”
The fifth start for Bulletin is supposed to come overseas in the Group 1 Commonwealth Cup on June 21 at Royal Ascot, where the competition surely will be far tougher than what he’ll face in the Walker. With an uncommon turn of foot, Bulletin has proven superior in all three prior races, bounding away on the lead before spurting away from his pursuers once he straightens for home. It’s a scenario likely to repeat itself Saturday.
Abyssinian (post 7, Julio Garcia), who gave closest chase to Bulletin for much of the Palisades before settling for third, is a logical second wagering choice in the Walker. She and Jo Jo Air (post 5, John Velazquez), both trained by Wesley Ward, are the only fillies in the lineup.
Other considerations include another son of City Zip, Hartel (post 8, Florent Geroux), making his first start outside of Southern California, and Legends of War (post 3, Adam Beschizza), adding blinkers and Lasix for Doug O’Neill in his North American debut.
Rounding out the cast are Sovereign Impact, Uncapped, and Neverland Rock.
This is the fifth running of the Walker, named for the black jockey who rode Baden-Baden to win the third Kentucky Derby in 1877. It goes as the eighth race on a card that starts at 6 p.m. Eastern, with the feature set for 9:39 and the last race for 10:42. General admission is $10.
