BENSALEM, Pa. – As predicted, a far-off shipper traveled to Parx Racing on Saturday and took the Grade 2, $400,000 Gallant Bob Stakes in impressive fashion. But it wasn’t Barnes, the heavily favored Bob Baffert-trained colt crashing in from California.  Fans at Parx were left rifling through their programs when 23-1 longshot Mad House kicked clear after a grueling early duel to win his graded stakes debut by 2 3/4 lengths. Greatly exceeding his initial ambitions, trainer David Van Winkle will return home with his first graded stakes victory.  “It scared me a little bit, trust me,” Van Winkle said of the competition on Saturday. “Even if we got a piece of it, I would have been happy.”  Paco Lopez took the mount on Mad House with about as much information as a handicapper. The gelding was entering the Gallant Bob off three straight gate-to-wire victories at Canterbury, beginning with an 11 1/2-length romp in a $23,000 maiden special weight in June and culminating in a similarly commanding 8 1/4-length win in a $24,000 allowance last month.   Van Winkle said that he chose the Gallant Bob because the Canterbury meet was ending soon and he couldn’t find a suitable stakes for 3-year-olds at home. He was understandably concerned about the competition at Parx, but it didn’t change his approach. :: Access the most trusted data and information in horse racing! DRF Past Performances and Picks are available now. When Van Winkle spoke with Lopez, he told the jockey that the gelding did his best running on the front end, and the jockey said afterward that he didn’t need a second invitation. Lopez and Mad House flew out of the gate alongside fellow longshot Fire Pit and completed the opening quarter-mile of the six-furlong race in 21.58.  While Barnes, the 2-5 favorite, broke dead last in the field of 10, the seemingly overmatched front-runners fought for the lead with reckless abandon, completing the half-mile in 43.94. Gateskeeper, who closed at 83-1 for trainer Jade Cunningham, stalked close behind with Kentucky Derby runner Neoequos. By the time those four turned for home, Neoequos was the only one who had folded.  With better track position on the rail, Lopez continued asking more of Mad House, who responded well to kick clear of Fire Pit and enter the stretch with a two-length lead. Gateskeeper kept on and picked off the runner-up, but he could not make up an inch on the leader.  “I know she was going fast,” Lopez said. “I had to ride her a little bit, but I waited until the sixteenth [pole] and hit her a couple times and she made it to the wire.”  As Mad House continued his torrid run in the stretch, Barnes finally entered the frame on the far outside, charging from well back and picking off tired runners at will. Baffert may have had the fastest horse at the end, but the colt was far too late and couldn’t even make up ground for third.   With the other early leaders wilting behind him and the closers still well out of it, Lopez and Mad House might as well have been back at Canterbury, the last ones standing in a fierce battle. The gelding completed the race in 1:08.77 (93 Beyer Speed Figure) and paid $49 to win.   Gateskeeper prevailed by a half-length for second over Fire Pit, the vanquished front-runner who managed to hold off Barnes by the same margin for third. The $1 exacta paid $508.60 and the 50-cent trifecta paid $3,889.50.  Van Winkle was succinct in the winner’s circle after the race. He said that it was “a big achievement” to win his first graded stakes and that he thought his gelding belonged because his speed was right for the distance. He was exactly right.  :: Subscribe to the DRF Post Time Email Newsletter: Get the news you need to play today's races!  Liberty Bell Stakes It might not have come as easily at Parx Racing, but Mystic Lake dug deeper on the front end to earn her fourth straight victory in the $150,000 Liberty Bell Stakes on Saturday.  Last month, trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. had less reason to worry when his filly easily controlled a four-horse field under soft fractions and rocked home to a three-length victory in the $250,000 Misty Bennett Pink Ribbon. But when Mystic Lake was pressured to complete the opening quarter-mile in 21.88 seconds on Saturday, the trainer knew she would have more work to do.  “Last time, we got the run of the race,” Joseph said. “Today, we got pressed the whole way. I mean, we were on the lead, but they're going quick. So it took a little toll at the end, but thank God she had enough to hold it off.”  By breaking out of the gate so quickly, Mystic Lake managed to gain a slight advantage by running half the field off its feet in the early going. Even under quick fractions, the race was so spread out that only two runners stood any chance of chasing the front-runner down.   Carmelina, the 4-5 favorite trained by Butch Reid, and Volleyballprincess, a stakes winner trained by Lou Linder Jr., parked right behind the front-runner and continued to hound her through a half-mile in 44.08 seconds. The stalking pair were seven lengths clear of the next runner by this point.  After the race, jockey Tyler Gaffalione told his groom that he was surprised to see such quick fractions, even as his filly blitzed most of the field out of contention early on the backstretch. The circumstances were much different than they were at Charles Town last time out, but Gaffalione’s plan remained the same.   “Very straightforward,” Gaffalione said. “Like I said, she does things very easy. She controls the race, she knows what she's doing. She's a true professional.”  Carmelina tried to keep pace around the far turn and into the stretch, but applying pressure from third proved more taxing for the stalker than the front-runner. The heavy favorite faded to sixth, but Volleyballprincess remained resolute in the stretch. Jockey Dylan Davis urged the 3-year-old filly forward to challenge her older rival, and she continued to push all the way to the wire.  For a moment, it seemed like Mystic Lake might fold to the determined 13-1 outsider, but just as Gaffalione expected, the filly dug in and easily kept her only challenger at bay to win by 1 3/4 lengths. She completed the 6 1/2-furlong sprint in 1:15.87 (81 Beyer Speed Figure) and paid $4.40 to win.  Bella Queen, a 44-1 longshot trained by Howard R. Brown Jr., made up steady ground from last and closed to finish third, 3 1/4 lengths behind Volleyballprincess.   Joseph said that he is considering a short layoff for Mystic Lake after a highly eventful 4-year-old campaign. In seven starts at seven different tracks this year, the filly has earned five stakes victories, including the Grade 2 Inside Information at Gulfstream in January. Things may end as they began, as Joseph said that he will likely bring her back to Florida for the Championship Meet this winter.  :: Get the Inside Track with the FREE DRF Morning Line Email Newsletter. Subscribe now.  Parx Sprint Stakes Those who stuck around for the 15th and final race at Parx Racing on Saturday were treated to a raucous celebration for a local star when Buccherino dusted nine rivals to win the $150,000 Parx Sprint Stakes by 1 1/2 lengths. It was his sixth win in seven starts at Parx, and he remains undefeated in four races at 6 1/2 furlongs.  But while the connections boisterously cheered on the 4-year-old colt and jockey Paco Lopez, a four-race winner on Saturday, trainer Alfredo Velazquez inspected his four-time stakes winner with a gloomy disposition. Though he won the race, the trainer noticed that Buccherino was bleeding in his front left hoof, a recurring problem that has cost him time before.  “I don’t know how bad it is yet,” Velazquez said. “It’s sad for me, sad for the owners.”  In Buccherino’s graded stakes debut last year on the same Pennsylvania Derby Day card, he sustained a more severe form of the same injury while finishing third in the Grade 2 Gallant Bob. He did not race again until May this year.   Velazquez is gravely concerned about yet another potential setback, but as he stood in the winner’s circle on Saturday, he still could not help but marvel at his colt’s heart.   “When he’s running, he doesn’t care,” Velazquez said of the injury. “Now, we have to work with him, but when he’s running, it don’t matter.”  Though he was clear at the end, Buccherino had to fight for every inch of his eventual advantage within a trio of pacesetters. Running within a head of Maximus Meridius and Damon’s Mound in the early going, he completed the opening quarter-mile in 22.03 seconds and the half-mile in 44.40.  Several front-runners survived early duels on the Parx card Saturday, but few of those runners did it like Buccherino. Lopez was still between horses when he tried to kick clear on the far turn, and his colt responded with a grinding move to edge clear by a length in the stretch.  Several runners seemed poised to make late bids down the center, most notably Full Moon Madness, who defeated Buccherino in the $100,000 Alapocas Run at Delaware Park in June. But at his home track, Buccherino didn’t run a step out of place and kept the familiar rival at bay. In another determined effort at 6 1/2 furlongs, he finished in 1:15.41 (88 Beyer Speed Figure) and paid $6.80 to win.  Deep closer Full Moon Madness, a 5-year-old gelding trained by Michelle Nevin, and early leader Maximus Meridius, a 4-year-old gelding trained by Butch Reid, finished in a dead heat for second, a neck ahead of Damon’s Mound in a five-horse blanket finish behind the winner.   Since returning to the track in May, Buccherino has not finished worse than second in five starts on the dirt and has racked up three stakes victories in that span. Velazquez said he may have a better idea of his status in the coming days. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.