Pudding rallies to Benny the Bull triumph

Pudding is solid.

The 7-year-old gelding whose nature as a racehorse is counterintuitive to the flimsy dessert came through as the favorite Saturday in capturing the $65,000 Benny the Bull Stakes at Gulfstream Park in South Florida.

Pudding rallied from mid-pack for a one-length triumph in the Benny the Bull, returning $5.40 after finishing seven furlongs in 1:24.22 over a fast track. Leonel Reyes was up for trainer Elizabeth Dobles, who owns him in partnership with Imaginary Stables.

Gatsby, the first to go past front-running King Cab after the field swung for home, held well for second, with longshot Morgan Point third and Shivaree fourth.

The field was reduced to seven Florida-breds with the notable early scratch of Dean Delivers, the 9-5 program favorite. Dean Delivers will run instead in a Sunday allowance.

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Pudding, by Two Step Salsa, now has won 10 of 36 starts and has earned $389,140. Imaginary and Dobles claimed him for $25,000 at Gulfstream in July 2021.

The $2 exacta (4-7) paid $50.60, the $1 trifecta (4-7-3) returned $244.60, and the 10-cent superfecta (4-7-3-2) was worth $128.63.

Rainbow 6 pays $72,766

The Benny the Bull was part of the Rainbow 6 (races 6-11), which was subject to a forceout by Gulfstream management after the carryover jackpot had not been emptied for more than five weeks. Each winning 20-cent ticket returned $72,766.04.

The forceout drew new handle of $1,247,813 chasing a carryover of $311,589. The winning numbers were 3-5-8-8-4-7, and their respective odds were 8-1, 8-1, 5-2, 7-1, 8-5, 5-1.