By Hank Wesch
HOPE GETS CHANGE WHEN FAVORITE SCRATCHES
Prime Engine, the 3-1 morning line favorite for Saturday’s $100,000 Grade III Bob Hope Stakes, was scratched Saturday morning, necessitating a revision of the lineup and morning line.
The connections of Prime Engine, owned by Mark Dedomenico and trained by Jerry Hollendorfer, are considering running the undefeated (2-for-2) 2-year-old son of Northern Afleet in the $1 million Delta Downs Jackpot on November 2 at Delta Downs Racetrack Casino and Hotel in Vinton, La.
“He’s the first one in the Delta Jackpot if there’s a scratch, so we’ll have to kind of play it by ear,” Hollendorfer assistant Dan Ward said Friday afternoon. “The van that brings him down here leaves at 3 a.m. (Saturday), so we’ll have to decide by then.”
Thirteen were pre-entered Wednesday for the Delta Downs race which has a maximum field of 10. Among the pre-entries were two from Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas that ran in $2 million Breeders’ Cup races on November 1 at Santa Anita.
Take Charge Brandi pulled off a $125.40 upset in the Juvenile Fillies. Mr. Z was fifth in the Juvenile.
Wake Up Nick, winner of the Graduation and I’m Smokin Stakes here last summer, is also among the pre-entered. Final entries will be taken and post positions drawn on Tuesday, Nov. 18.
The Hope, 7 furlongs on Polytrack, is the first graded stakes of the Bing Crosby Season. It is the first of two stakes for 2-year-olds this weekend. The $100,000 Desi Arnaz Stakes for 2-year-old fillies headlines Sunday’s program.
The Bob Hope goes as the eighth of Saturday’s program, The Desi Arnaz is the second on Sunday’s card. Nine races are scheduled each day with first post at 12:30 p.m.
The Bob Hope field in post position order, with oddsmaker Russ Hudak’s revised morning line, is: Sebastian’s Heart (Corey Nakatani, 6-1), Story to Tell (Joe Talamo, 6-1), Diamond Majesty (Martin Pedroza, 9-2), Every May (Saul Arias, 15-1), Alright Alright (Kent Desormeaux, 5-2), All Indians (Kent Desormeaux, 9-2) No Problem (Victor Espinoza, 12-1), St. Joe Bay (Elvis Trujillo, 4-1).
STEVENS PLEASED WITH NEW KNEE AND PROSPECTS HERE
Hall of Fame jockey Gary Stevens had replacement surgery on his left knee on July 25, vowing to ride again, and made good on it with two mounts two weeks ago in the Breeders’ Cup.
He’s 0-for-4 on the Bing Crosby season but has three chances to get into the win column Saturday and optimism for the days ahead.
"It (knee) is really good,” Stevens said earlier this week. “Every day is better than the day before and for awhile it used to be the other way around. Every day was worse than the one before.
"I was lucky to pick up the horses I did for the Breeders' Cup. I didn't expect to ride until December 26. But I made it back early, like jockeys do. When the first Del Mar condition book came out, it wasn't known that I'd be riding. Now the second book is out and I'm looking forward to having some better prospects."
LIGHT THE CITY FIGURES BRIGHTLY IN SUNDAY’S DESI ARNAZ STAKES
Light The City, victorious in her first two career starts, heads a field of five for Sunday’s $100,000 Desi Arnaz Stakes for 2-year-old fillies.
The Kentucky-bred daughter of Street Sense, owned by Cheyenne Stables LLC and trained by Jerry Hollendorfer, recorded a 2 ¾-length victory in her first career start on August 24 at Del Mar and followed that with a 2 ½-length score at Santa Anita on October 12. Both were at six furlongs. The Desi Arnaz is an additional eighth of a mile.
Light The City was scheduled to van down from Santa Anita on Saturday morning and school in the paddock during the afternoon. “She’s training really well, she likes this track and she’s ready to go,” Hollendorfer assistant Dan Ward said.
The Desi Arnaz will go as the second on a nine-race program which starts at 12:30 p.m.
The field, from the rail out: Light the City (Elvis Trujillo, 7-5), Maybelline (Rafael Bejarano, 3-1), Into Oblivion (Mike Smith, 5-2), Achiever’s Legacy (Drayden Van Dyke, 4-1) and Xoxo (Edwin Maldonado, 8-1).
WHAT’S IN A NAME – BOB HOPE STAKES
Called the Hollywood Prevue Stakes when presented at Hollywood Park, the race was renamed the Bob Hope Stakes to honor one of the greatest and most popular entertainers in show business history. Hope’s impromptu collaboration with Bing Crosby at post-race parties on the Del Mar turf club patio in the early forties led to their historically-successful series of “Road” films.
BAFFERT & CO. HAVE FIVE TO GO ON WEEKEND
Bob Baffert is 1-for-3 at the meeting via the victory by Flat Footed Mama, owned by his wife Jill, in Thursday’s first race. The Hall of Fame trainer is expected to make his first appearance at the Bing Crosby meeting this weekend when he’ll saddle three horses on Saturday and two on Sunday.
Baffert has Fascinating and Go Get Em Babe in Saturday’s first race and Opsec in the fourth. The latter two are owned by Kaleem Shah, whose Bayern provided Baffert with his first Breeders’ Cup Classic victory on November 1 at Santa Anita.
On Sunday, the Baffert representatives are Maybelline in the Desi Arnaz Stakes, second race on the program, and Steam Play in third race.
Maybelline, owned by Jill Baffert, raced three times at Del Mar last summer and won an optional claiming race at Santa Anita on October 23.
“She broke her maiden here this summer and hopefully we can win a stake with her,” Jim Barnes, top assistant to Baffert, said Friday in the Del Mar stable area.
Steam Play is a son of Stroll, co-owned by Baffert and Bernie Schiappa, that will be making his racing debut.
“It looks like he has some talent,” Barnes said.
IT'S ALL ABOUT THE BING
For the inaugural Bing Crosby Season at Del Mar, we offer a daily note, quote or anecdote about the track’s founding father for whom the fall meeting is named.
Bing famously co-starred with Bob Hope, for whom today’s featured stakes is named, in a series of seven movies that had “Road To” as the first two words of the title. The destinations, and years, of the pictures were Singapore (1940), Zanzibar (1941), Morocco (1942), Utopia (1946), Rio (1947), Bali (1952) and Hong Kong (1962).
WORD RECEIVED OF DEATH OF PETE MORENO
Pete Moreno, leading rider at Del Mar in 1960 and winner of the George Woolf Memorial Jockey Award in 1961, died last August 23 at the age of 87 years old as the result of a variety of ailments, it was learned today.
Moreno, older brother of l953 Kentucky Derby-winning jockey Henry Moreno, was one of the top riders on the Southern California circuit for many years and topped the standings at Del Mar in 1960 when he won 48 races. He was the “go-to” rider for Farrell Jones, who led the trainer standings that summer.
A resident of Hemet at the time of his death, Moreno had been battling kidney disease for a couple of years, according to his wife, Jan.
During a successful 16-year career, Moreno rode 1,650 winners with lifetime earnings of $6.8 million. He competed in Del Mar’s inaugural “Rocking Chair Derby” in l973 alongside John Longden, Ken Church, Bill Harmatz, Ralph Neves, George Taniguchi, Angel Valenzuela and the recently-deceased Dean Hall who won the exhibition race.
CLOSERS – The victory aboard Practising in Friday’s seventh race was No. 4,996 for Hall of Fame jockey Alex Solis … Three wins Friday propelled Tyler Baze to the top of the rider standings. Selected workouts Saturday morning – Bellarmine (4f, :50.80), Romantic Wish (4f, :49.20), Conquest Harlanate (5f, 1:02.00), Dramaticat (5f, 1:01.60), Kaigun (5f, 1:02.20), Lexie Lou (1:00.20), Magic Lily (5f, :59.80).
DEL MAR STATISTICS
Jockey Standings
(Current Through Friday, November 14, 2014 Inclusive)
|
Jockey |
Mts |
1st |
2nd |
3rd |
Win% |
Money Won |
|
Tyler Baze |
29 |
6 |
2 |
2 |
21% |
$138,660 |
|
Elvis Trujillo |
24 |
5 |
6 |
1 |
21% |
$178,024 |
|
Martin Pedroza |
15 |
4 |
3 |
2 |
27% |
$140,824 |
|
Edwin Maldonado |
21 |
3 |
3 |
3 |
14% |
$106,808 |
|
Fernando Perez |
16 |
3 |
1 |
4 |
19% |
$105,730 |
|
Alex Solis |
7 |
3 |
1 |
0 |
43% |
$90,340 |
|
Mike Smith |
11 |
3 |
0 |
1 |
27% |
$167,840 |
|
Tiago Pereira |
18 |
2 |
3 |
2 |
11% |
$84,600 |
|
Victor Espinoza |
18 |
2 |
3 |
1 |
11% |
$107,328 |
|
Kent Desormeaux |
20 |
2 |
2 |
3 |
10% |
$67,170 |
Trainer Standings
(Current Through Friday, November 14, 2014 Inclusive)
|
Trainer |
Sts |
1st |
2nd |
3rd |
Win% |
Money Won |
|
Mike Puype |
15 |
3 |
1 |
2 |
20% |
$127,370 |
|
Peter Miller |
19 |
2 |
5 |
2 |
11% |
$88,878 |
|
Leandro Mora |
22 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
9% |
$94,694 |
|
Robert B. Hess, Jr. |
9 |
2 |
2 |
1 |
22% |
$47,880 |
|
Barry Abrams |
6 |
2 |
1 |
3 |
33% |
$78,520 |
|
Richard Baltas |
10 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
20% |
$88,040 |
|
Vladimir Cerin |
5 |
2 |
1 |
0 |
40% |
$35,210 |
|
John W. Sadler |
10 |
2 |
1 |
0 |
20% |
$91,580 |
|
Patrick Gallagher |
2 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
100% |
$68,940 |
|
Jorge Periban |
2 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
100% |
$24,000 |
Winning Favorites Report
(Current Through Friday, November 14, 2014 Inclusive)
Winning favorites -- 14 out of 43 -- 32.56%
Winning favorites on Polytrack -- 10 out of 26 -- 38.46%
Winning favorites on turf -- 4 out of 17 -- 23.53%
Winning odds-on favorites -- 1 out of 4 -- 25.00%
In-the-Money favorites -- 23 out of 43 -- 53.49%
In-the-Money odds-on favorites -- 1 out of 4 -- 25.00%
Saturday, November 15, 2014 Contact: Dan Smith 858-792-4226/Hank Wesch 858-755-1141 ext. 3793