The first Grade 1 stakes of the 2024 Del Mar summer meet is set for Saturday when elite sprinters clash in the $400,000 Bing Crosby. The 6-furlong event is co-featured on a card that includes the San Diego Handicap, the top local prep toward next month’s Pacific Classic. These races take on even more impact this year with Del Mar hosting the Breeders’ Cup in the fall.
Let’s meet the contenders for the Crosby (Race 10):
#1-ANARCHIST: Last summer’s Grade 2 Pat O’Brien winner returns to Del Mar and looks to avenge last year’s head runner-up result in this race. Doug O’Neill trainee has made only 1 start since, a tired sixth in the Kelly’s Landing on the road at Churchill Downs in June. Well-traveled son of Distorted Humor is 10-for-13 in the exacta lifetime while 7 times the bridesmaid.
#2-SEE THROUGH IT: Longshot takes a huge class hike off back-to-back starter allowance victories at Los Alamitos just 14 days apart. No match vs. Bing Crosby return rivals The Chosen Vron and Happy Jack when beaten more than 13 lengths in the Kona Gold at Santa Anita. Jockey Tiago Pereira rides for trainer Genaro Vallejo, whose biggest career win came in the Grade 3 Berkeley Stakes of 2009 with 30-1 stunner Autism Awareness.
#3-STRAIGHT NO CHASER: Speedster has made the early lead in 7 of 8 career starts, winning half of those. First Del Mar dirt try for 2022 summer local debut turf sprint winner, perhaps best known for winning the Grade 3 Maryland Sprint at Pimlico in romping fashion 14 months ago. Only start since was a disappointing fourth as the 3-5 favorite in Aqueduct’s Grade 3 Runhappy Stakes on May 11. Jockey Antonio Fresu takes over the reins for the first time on this Dan Blacker trainee.
#4-GIANT GAME: Kentucky transplant exited the Dale Romans barn recently and has relocated with Peter Eurton on the west coast. Won the 1-1/8 miles Grade 3 Cornhusker in 2023 and notably finished third in the 2021 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile in his only prior appearance at Del Mar. Curious distance cut-back as he’s never raced in a sprint stakes and has never competed at a trip this short.
#5-ROLL ON BIG JOE: Bob Hess Jr. trainee takes a big class leap following 6 straight exacta finishes, winning a Santa Anita allowance May 24 most recently. Florida-bred has split time on both coasts in his 9-race career. Makes his first start at Del Mar since being outran by Speed Boat Beach in a strong maiden sprint in September of 2022. Reylu Gutierrez gets the mount for the first time.
#6-CLOSETHEGAME SUGAR: Kentucky-based Girvin gelding has done little wrong with an 8: 5-2-0 career mark while well-placed. This by far will be his most ambitious spotting after back-to-back listed stakes wins in the Aristides and Kelly’s Landing at Churchill Downs. The $10,000 yearling purchase from the 2021 Keeneland September sale has bagged $507,865 and is playing with house money. Adam Rice gives the call to Umberto Rispoli for the first time.
#7-HAPPY JACK: Bombed in the 2022 Kentucky Derby and Preakness, this 5-year-old since has found a home sprinting … and his pair of starts in 2024 are the best of his career. Strong second to The Chosen Vron in the April 27 Kona Gold at Santa Anita and then romped to victory in that one’s absence next out in the Grade 2 Triple Bend. This will be his first 6-furlong attempt since his winning debut at Santa Anita in January of 2022. Doug O’Neill trains the son of 2013 Preakness winner Oxbow, while Edwin Maldonado gets the return assignment after a smashing first-pairing victory in the Triple Bend.
#8-THE CHOSEN VRON: Defending Bing Crosby champion (pictured above) carries a 5-race winning streak. He can become the fifth back-to-back winner of the Bing Crosby all-time, a race that dates back to 1946. Cal-bred Vronsky gelding’s only loss in his last 14 starts came in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint. Regular rider Hector Berrios returns for trainer Eric Kruljac in what may be a final tune-up for a return bid in the BC Sprint. This was his final prep in 2023.
#9-JACKSTOWN: Undefeated Speightstown 4-year-old seeks a third victory while rising into the stakes ranks for the first time. Del Mar debut winner in summer 2022 raced just once since, winning a June 14 allowance at Santa Anita. Exceptional workout July 13 at Santa Anita in company with rising star sophomore Parenting, going the better of the pair as seen at XBTV. Trainer Bob Baffert is a 4-time Bing Crosby winner, dating back to Thirty Slews in 1992.
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