Freshman Sire Independence Hall Gets First Stakes Win

Glorious Boy became the first black-type stakes winner for freshman stallion Independence Hall in being declared the winner of the $100,000 Pulpit Stakes at Gulfstream Park Nov. 28. Originally finishing on even terms with Bronze Bullet at the wire, Centurion Thoroughbred Club's Glorious Boy became the sole winner when stewards at Gulfstream park disqualified Bronze Bullet for interference and placed him second. The latter was found responsible for the contact between the two horses nearing the completion of the mile-and-70-yard feature on Gulfstream's synthetic Tapeta surface. "I objected because there was some contact that I felt impeded my horse. In the moment, it was so close I wasn't sure if I won, so I made sure I claimed foul," Glorious Boy's jockey Rajiv Maragh said. Shipmate set the pace in the Pulpit, originally scheduled to be renewed at 7 1/2 furlongs on turf, pressed by A Million Dreams and Behold the King past fractions of :23.40 and :47.57 for the first half-mile. Bronze Bullet, who rated kindly in fourth for jockey Emisael Jaramillo, made a four-wide sweep on the turn into the homestretch to take the lead turning for home. Meanwhile, Glorious Boy put in his run to loom as the sole threat to Bronze Bullet, who drifted out in midstretch before dropping down toward the inside rail. Glorious Boy had shifted to the inside to make his stretch run and was put in tight quarters by the favorite nearing the wire. "I wasn't sure about the DQ because it seemed like there was some incidental contact both ways," winning trainer Carlos Martin said. "It was a tough call," Bronze Bullet's trainer Jose D'Angelo added. "I think he was tired. They are babies going two turns for the first time." Glorious Boy was coming off a second-place finish in the 6-furlong Awad Stakes on turf at Aqueduct Racetrack after breaking his maiden in his third start Glorious Boy, as well as Bronze Bullet, covered the 1 mile and 70 yards in 1:40.74. "This horse ran a really great race today. We were expecting a top performance. This hit the point or exceeded the expectations," Maragh said. "To win the Pulpit Stakes—there's never been a bad horse that's won this race. He seems like he still has room to improve and mature." Friday's Pulpit score moved Maragh within two victories of the 2,000-win milestone. "I'm chipping away, and I have some really good mounts this weekend, so I'm really sweating it," Maragh said. A Million Dreams finished third, 3 1/2 lengths behind the top two. A flashy, near-black son of Constitution, Independence Hall was a precocious 2-year-old, landing the 2019 Nashua Stakes (G3) at Aqueduct in his second start, who became a top-class competitor into his 4-year-old year. He delivered an encore performance when taking the 2021 Fayette Stakes (G2) at Keeneland and was graded stakes-placed three times that season before retiring to WinStar Farm near Versailles, Ky. Independence Hall will stand the 2026 breeding season for $10,000. He entered racing Friday as the sixth-leading first-crop sire in North America.