A contentious field of 2-year-olds will go post-ward in the $100,000 Pulpit Stakes on the Gulfstream Park turf this Friday. The 7-1/2F test drew nine entrants and is part of the $10,000 Turkey Bowl promotion all holiday weekend with 1/ST BET and Xpressbet (hit 10, $10 win bets for your share of $10,000). The Pulpit also caps a $1 pick 3 wager that shapes up this way:

GP 7th race (3:16 p.m. EST) -- Trainer Jose D’Angelo is 35-for-149 the last two years with synthetic track entrants transitioning from turf. He has two live entrants in this $12,500 claimer at 1 mile and 70 yards, but both could be underlays in the wagering. FULL NELSON, multiple stakes-placed on the turf last year as a 3-year-old, hasn’t raced on this surface since a 6-1/2-length victory in a $35,000 optional claimer two years ago. But he only beat two rivals in his last three starts combined, albeit in better company. NINJA STAR finished first or second in 8 of 12 starts on the synthetic track – including a stakes win against state-bred rivals in January -- but he drops in for half of his September 14 claiming price. He chased the wire-to-wire winner when second three starts back but finished ahead of two next-out winners. He ran into trouble as a follow-up favorite, then failed to rally in a fast-paced mile last out on the lawn. LEO MONTE, an eight-time winner on the synthetic surface, exited a ‘triple key’ grass race under these conditions at Monmouth two months ago, then advanced 4-wide on the final turn and finished second against New Jersey breds at the Meadowlands. He changed tactics and set the pace at 1-1/16 miles as the beaten favorite most recently. SUNSHINE FROLIC is a good-priced option to consider for Bet 3 purposes. He rallied for third from post 11 three starts ago, finishing 3-1/4 lengths behind Light Fury, who took the measure of Sunshine Frolic again for his sixth wire-to-wire victory at Gulfstream this year. He ‘navigated traffic’ into the far turn in his most recent start, finishing third again in a longer route race dominated by closers.

GP 8th race (3:46 p.m. EST) -- The action switches from the synthetic track to conventional dirt for this $6,250 claiming sprint. ETENDRE, claimed by leading trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. for $8,000 two starts ago, should get back on the winning track after his three-peat bid was cooked in a fast-paced duel. He pressed repeat winner Raging Fury, who paired up his 81 Beyer speed figures. MAJOR KING is 9/2-2-1 in $6,250 claimers this year, finishing on both sides of photo finishes three times since September. He gets in light on the cutback from one mile to 6-1/2F.

GP 9th race (4:16 p.m. EST) -- SUNRISE pressed the pace on the backstretch, dueled through the turn and was resilient in holding off the trip-sitting closers in a 1-1/16-mile maiden win at Saratoga that produced two next-out winners. The son of 2014 Breeders’ Cup Mile winner Karakonite was no factor in the Laurel Futurity, but he starts fresh and adds blinkers with a bullet workout last Friday. BRONZE BULLET wore down the fleet-footed, 2-to-5 favorite in his 5F debut, then he was bumped at the start and chased his winning stablemate in a $75,000 optional claimer to finish second. He takes off the blinkers but could be the target in his first long sprint attempt. His sire, Leinster, won three graded stakes at 5-1/2F on the lawn with triple-digit Beyers. The faster the pace, the better the chances GLORIOUS BOY continues his improved form on the switch to turf. He trailed into the stretch against three rivals in the 6F Awad Stakes at Aqueduct, but rallied determinedly on the rail and galloped out past the even-money winner. BEHOLD THE KING, the lone stakes winner in the featured Pulpit Stakes, out-gamed SKIPPING STARS in the one-mile Armed Forces on the Gulfstream lawn, now both runners are major players again while moving from inside to outside posts.

Suggested $1 Ticket
GP 7th Race: 2, 3, 5, 7
GP 8th Race: 3, 9
GP 9th Race: 2, 5, 6
Cost: $24