Del Mar: Maiden winner Bullard is early favorite for Bob Hope
Six juveniles were signed on to run seven furlongs Sunday at Del Mar in the 44th running of the Grade 3 Bob Hope Stakes.
Five of the colts are already winners, and the sixth will be making his racing debut.
Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert is well represented in the 2-year-old sprint. There have been 10 runnings of the test at Del Mar and Mr. Baffert has visited the winner’s circle after seven of them, including the last three in a row. The Bob Hope formerly was known as the Hollywood Prevue Stakes and run previously 34 times at the now-closed Los Angeles track.
Baffert will be represented this go-round by a pair of colts owned by the partnership of SF Racing, Starlight Racing, et al’s Kalea Bay and Madaket Road.
Kalea gets top rider Juan Hernandez to do the driving, and the son of Authentic, who was bid in for $700,000 at last September’s Keeneland sale, comes into the race after a score in a straight maiden sprint at Santa Anita on Sept. 28.
Madaket Road, a Quality Road offspring who fetched $650,000 as a yearling at the Saratoga sale last August, begins his career in the Hope after a series of sparkling drills at Los Alamitos and Santa Anita, several of them bullets. He’ll get Antonio Fresu to handle him for this first outing.
The narrow favorite on the morning line is first-out winner Bullard, a Gun Runner colt who came running late to capture his debut on Sept. 1 at Del Mar. Mike McCarthy conditions the colt, who drew a bid of $675,000 at the Keeneland sale last September. Umberto Rispoli once again will be in the irons.
McKinzie Street, a son of the young sire McKinzie who brought $290,000 at a 2-year-old in training sale in Florida in April, scored at first asking at Del Mar on July 28. Then he was stakes-placed twice, first in the Del Mar Futurity (G1) where he finished second to Gaming, then when he ran third in the American Pharoah (G1) at Santa Anita behind Citizen Bull, who went on to capture the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile at Del Mar on Nov. 1. He’s trained by Tim Yakteen.
The Bob Hope will be race 8 on a nine-race program. Post time for the stakes will be approximately 4 p.m.
| Post | Silks | Horse / Sire | Rating | Trainer / Jockey | Last Start / Next Start | HRN |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
McKinzie Street McKinzie |
6.67 | 2-1 | |||
|
Last Race Next Race |
||||||
| 2 |
|
Dr Ruben M Vino Rosso |
5.84 | 20-1 | ||
|
Last Race Next Race |
||||||
| 3 |
|
Kalea Bay Authentic |
0.00 | 9-5 | ||
|
Last Race Next Race |
||||||
| 4 |
|
Madaket Road Quality Road |
0.00 | 10-1 | ||
|
Next Race |
||||||
| 5 |
|
Bullard Gun Runner |
0.00 | 8-5 | ||
|
Last Race Next Race |
||||||
| 6 |
|
Maximus Maximus Mischief |
0.00 | 15-1 | ||
|
Last Race Next Race |
||||||
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