Gulfstream: Comedy Town Looks to Hit Paydirt in Saturday’s Benny the Bull

By David Joseph —-

Comedy Town Looks to Hit Paydirt in Saturday’s Benny the Bull

HALLANDALE BEACH, FL – It took three and a half long years of racing before Comedy Town, through no fault of his own, finally found his calling.

No joke.

Comedy Town had run the first 24 races of his career on either turf or Tapeta, winning a race here and there on both surfaces, before being given the opportunity to run on dirt. When that opportunity arrived, the 6-year-old gelding took full advantage.

The Saffie Joseph Jr. trainee will seek his third straight victory over Gulfstream Park’s main track in Saturday’s $100,000 Benny the Bull. The son of Speightstown, who captured the Smile Sprint last time out, has been installed as the 6-5 morning-line favorite in a field of eight assembled for the seven-furlong sprint for 3-year-olds and up.

“It’s crazy how things turn out when you try things. Sometimes they work, and most of the time they don’t work,” Joseph said. “When they do work, it feels pretty nice.”

Comedy Town was claimed for $25,000 by Joseph and Ten Twenty Racing March 15 after finishing a close second on Tapeta. He was given one more chance on the all-weather surface before his new connections decided to make a change of surfaces.

“We were just hoping to come back in the same class on the same surface, Tapeta or turf. We were really hoping to get him on the turf. He seemed to be a little better on turf than Tapeta,” Joseph said. “Once we started training him, we kind of liked the way he was training on dirt. We ran him back on Tapeta the first time because that’s were he’d been running. He didn’t run very good, so we said, ‘Let’s try him on dirt,’ because he seemed to like the dirt.”

Comedy Town went on to register a front-running two-length victory over a sloppy track in a June 8 optional claiming allowance at six furlongs. He came right back to earn a 100 Beyer Speed Figure in the July 6 Smile Sprint, in which he rallied from mid-pack to win by 1 ¼ lengths after running six furlongs in 1:10.

“He had won on slop his last time out. Going into the race, we knew he liked the dirt, but we didn’t know if he’d like the slop. He wins on the slop, so then you need to find out if he likes the dry dirt, although he trained well on it,” Joseph said. “The Smile, I thought, was a very good performance. He sat behind horses and quickened late. It was a big surprise. Going into the Smile, you don’t think you’re going to win. You hope to win, but, realistically, I didn’t think he’d win. Then, he won like that. It was a pleasant surprise. He showed he was legit.”

Run Classic, the Gulfstream Sprint winner, and Sibelius, the two-time Mr. Prospector (G3) winner who won the 2023 Dubai Golden Shaheen (G1), finished second and third, respectively, in the Smile Sprint.

Drayden Van Dyke, who rode Comedy Town for the first time in the Smile Sprint, has the return call aboard the Florida-bred gelding, who has prepared for the Benny the Bull with a series for four workouts at Palm Meadows, Gulfstream’s satellite training facility in Palm Beach County.

“He’s trained well since then. He’s in good form,” Joseph said. “He’s going seven-eighths this time. It’s a bit further, but I think it’s within his reach.”

Joseph will also be represented in the Benny the Bull by Gentry Farm’s Positive Review, who captured the mile Wildcat Red Handicap before finishing fourth last time out in the Tackleberry Handicap.

“He won two back with a good trip. Last time, I feel he had a trip that was not ideal for him. He was kind of bottled up the whole way and never had the room to run. I think it was better than it looked. When he finally got the room, he kind of flattened,” Joseph said. “Overall, I think it was a good run, because twice he’s been between horses and quit and ran off the board.”

Edgard Zayas, who was aboard for the Wildcat Red win, returns for the Benny the Bull.

Petal Power Racing Stable’s Big Data will make his 2024 debut in the Benny the Bull. The 4-year-old son of Cloud Computing finished off his 2023 campaign with a victory in the 1 1/16-mile Super Derby at Louisiana Downs and a second-place finish in the 1 1/16-mile Bourbon Trail at Keeneland.

“He’s been trailing really well. I was looking for an allowance race, but this was the only option to bring him back to get his season started,” trainer Michael Lerman said. “Our goal is to go long with him. This is just a jumping-off point.”

Emisael Jaramillo has the return call on Big Data, who is rated third at 4-1 on the morning line behind Daniel Walters and Dennis Smith’s Big Martini at 7-2.

Big Martini is coming off a 3 ¼-length optional claiming allowance victory under Jaramillo. Joseph Trejos has the call aboard the Rohan Crichton-trained 4-year-old gelding Saturday.

Gary Barber’s Classic Car Wash, Mad Dog Racing Stable and Joseph Park’s Loco Abarrio, Viejo Perro Stable Corp.’s Vivir Con Alegria, and Whisper Hill Farm LLC’s Saint Tapit round out the field.

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