A less-than-ideal break from the gate forced jockey Edgard Zayas to change his plan of attack with Whitham Thoroughbreds' homebred Burnham Square, but the gelding persevered and rallied to capture the $265,000 Grade 3 Holy Bull Stakes Feb. 1 at Gulfstream Park.

The victory over 1 1/16 miles on a fast track earned Burnham Square 20 qualifying points for the May 3 running of the Kentucky Derby presented by Woodford Reserve.

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"I feel like he was a little worked up before the race, and he was kind of a little nervous," Zayas said. "He kind of broke out of there a little slow. I had to go into plan B. I dropped into the rail and just let him do his thing. He doesn't get tired. Once I was closing around the quarter pole, I knew I had a really good shot of winning."

Sent off at 4.30-1 in the seven-horse field, Burnham Square settled off the pace and made progress at the rail down the backstretch as Kinetic Control led through an opening quarter in :23.42. Guns Loaded then took over for splits of :47.60 and 1.11.69 through the first half and three-quarters of a mile.

After bumping He's Not Joking near the half-mile pole and making progress two wide around the far turn, Burnham Square angled outside as favored Tappan Street made his move to the lead heading into the stretch.

Burnham Square ($10.60) overtook the leader and pulled away to finish 1 3/4 lengths ahead of Tappan Street in a winning time of 1:43.60.

Tappan Street, ridden by Luis Saez, earned 10 qualifying points on the Road to the Kentucky Derby. He finished 9 1/4 lengths ahead of third-place Burning Glory, who earned six points.

Burnham Square wins the Holy Bull. (Coglianese Photos/Gulfstream Park)

Burnham Square made it 2-for-2 since trainer Ian Wilkes added blinkers. He won a maiden special weight race by nine lengths at Gulfstream Dec. 28 after finishing second and third, respectively, in his first two career starts.

"That's night and day. Without the blinkers, he doesn't run," Wilkes said.

Wilkes also trained Burnham Square's dam, graded stakes winner Linda, for Whitham Thoroughbreds.

"He overcame a lot of adversity today," Wilkes said. "He didn't break as sharp. I thought he might have been really close to the lead today, but he broke a little bit tardy. Got a little hot in the post parade. There were some things he did wrong today I need to correct, but the good thing about it, he overcame the adversity, and he doesn't get tired."

Burnham Square's next start figures to be in the March 1 Grade 2 Fountain of Youth Stakes or the March 29 Grade 1 Florida Derby. -- Charlie McCarthy