Bob Hope S. | Horse Racing Free Tips

Baffert Has Strong Hand In Bob Hope

Trainer Bob Baffert has accounted for seven of the last 11 winners of the GIII Bob Hope S., including two of the final three renewals when the race was known as the Hollywood Prevue S., and three out of the last four during the Bing Crosby meet capped by 'TDN Rising Star' Messier (Empire Maker) 12 months ago.

It would appear that this year's running also goes through the Baffert shedrow, which sends out three of the seven entrants. Havnameltdown (Uncaptured) is the most accomplished of the trio and is accordingly the 6-5 pick on the morning line. A smooth maiden winner on his five-furlong debut over this strip July 24, the bay overcame the 10 hole to post a popular 2 1/2-length victory in the GIII Best Pal S. Aug. 14 and was last seen completing a Baffert 1-2 behind 'Rising Star' Cave Rock (Arrogate) in the GI Runhappy Del Mar Futurity over track and distance Sept. 11.

Newgate (Speightstown) was similarly impressive first time out, graduating by a widening 3 1/2-length margin, but stubbed his toe a bit when beaten double digits into fourth in the local Futurity. The $850,000 Keeneland September purchase cuts back to one turn off a weakening fifth in Keeneland's GI Claiborne Breeders' Futurity–won by next-out GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile hero Forte (Violence)–and gets the blinkers off Sunday.

The third of the Baffert entry is the rail-drawn Hard to Figure (Hard Spun), recent winner of the restricted Capote S. at Los Alamitos Sept. 25 and who gets a major upgrade in the saddle to Flavien Prat.

Three-time maiden Practical Move (Practical Joke) was runner-up in Cave Rock's debut and was third sprinting Sept. 3 before being promoted to the victory going a mile at Santa Anita Oct. 10.

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Empire Maker ‘Rising Star’ Rallies Into Fast Pace to Take Bob Hope

Heavily-favored Messier sat off of a supersonic pace in Sunday's GIII Bob Hope S. at Del Mar and rallied to score going away in the end, giving Bob Baffert–who had three of the four starters–his 11th victory in the seven-furlong test for 2-year-old males.

Hammered down to 1-2 favoritism on debut June 27 at Los Alamitos, the $470,000 Fasig-Tipton Selected Yearling buy cruised to an easy 6 1/2-length graduation off a brief layoff Oct. 22 at Santa Anita to earn 'TDN Rising Star' honors. Taking the bulk of the play here while removing blinkers, the bay broke smoothly but was out-footed by his three rivals early and sat at the back of the pack under Flavien Prat as the lone non-Baffert entry, Forbidden Kingdom showed the way through a scorching :21.40 half. Poking his head into third as the half went up in a blistering :43.23, he spun into the clear approaching the lane as the field started to condense. Forbidden Kingdom fought valiantly until around the eighth pole, but the early fractions took their toll and Messier took charge before kicking clear for a comfortable victory in the end.

“We were in a good spot,” said Prat. “There was plenty of pace in the race and that was to our advantage. When I asked, he was there. And I think this horse will be fine with running on.”

“Messier shipped down this morning. He didn't train here during the summer and had never been here,” added Baffert. “First time on a trailer, first time he'd seen Del Mar and he walked into the paddock like he owned it. The track is pretty glib so the fractions were fast. In the summer, 21 and [two] wouldn't hold up, but this time speed carries and they were rolling.”

Pedigree Notes:
With the win, Messier becomes the 67th stakes winner and 37th graded stakes winner for the late Empire Maker. He's the lone foal to race thus far out of his dam, who took back-to-back renewals of Woodbine's Trillium S. in 2014 and 2015. His third dam is Canadian champion Catch the Ring (Seeking the Gold), who in turn produced a Canadian champion in Catch the Thrill (A.P. Indy). Sold to Silesia Farm for $290,000 as part of the Sam-Son Farm dispersal at Keeneland January this year, Checkered Past foaled a Candy Ride (Arg) filly Feb. 7 before being bred to Authentic.

Sunday, Del Mar
BOB HOPE S.-GIII, $98,000, Del Mar, 11-14, 2yo, 7f, 1:22.74, ft.
1–MESSIER, 120, c, 2, by Empire Maker
1st Dam: Checkered Past (MSW, $334,284), by Smart Strike
2nd Dam: Catch the Flag, by A.P. Indy
3rd Dam: Catch the Ring, by Seeking the Gold
'TDN Rising Star' 1ST BLACK-TYPE WIN, 1ST GRADED STAKES
WIN. ($470,000 Ylg '20 FTKSEL). O-Golconda Stable, Madaket
Stables LLC, SF Racing LLC, Siena Farm LLC, Starlight Racing,
Waves Edge Capital LLC, Catherine Donovan, Robert E.
Masterson & Jay A. Schoenfarber; B-Sam-Son Farm (ON);
T-Bob Baffert; J-Flavien Prat. $60,000. Lifetime Record:
3-2-1-0, $105,600. Werk Nick Rating: A.
Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Forbidden Kingdom, 120, c, 2, American Pharoah–Just
Louise, by Five Star Day. 1ST GRADED BLACK TYPE. ($300,000
Ylg '20 FTKSEL). O-MyRacehorse & Spendthrift Farm LLC;
B-Springhouse Farm (KY); T-Richard E. Mandella. $20,000.
3–Winning Map, 120, c, 2, Liam's Map–Starlet O'Hara, by
Discreetly Mine. 1ST BLACK TYPE, 1ST GRADED BLACK TYPE.
($55,000 Ylg '20 KEESEP; $525,000 2yo '21 OBSMAR). O-HRH
Prince Sultan Bin Mishal Al Saud; B-H & E Ranch (KY); T-Bob
Baffert. $12,000.
Margins: 3HF, 1 3/4, 4HF. Odds: 1.20, 5.00, 1.60.
Also Ran: Kamui. Scratched: Rock N Rye. Click for the Equibase.com chart, the TJCIS.com PPs or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. VIDEO, sponsored by TVG.

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Baffert Has Bob Hope Surrounded

The always well-stocked Bob Baffert barn, fresh off its victory in the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile last week with Corniche (Quality Road), has three more pricey and full-of-potential juvenile colts entered against just two other rivals in Sunday's seven-furlong GIII Bob Hope S. at Del Mar. Baffert already owns a record 10 Bob Hope trophies and has won four of the last six renewals.

Breaking from the rail is 'TDN Rising Star' Messier (Empire Maker), a 6 1/2-length second-out winner at Santa Anita Oct. 22. He now sheds blinkers off the graduation–a move Baffert has employed in the past with the likes of Bob Hope winner Mastery, Triple Crown winner Justify, champion juvenile Game Winner, etc. Drawn to Messier's right is $400,000 KEENOV weanling Kamui (Quality Road), who was second–demoted to third for interference–behind re-opposing Forbidden Kingdom (American Pharoah)–at Del Mar Aug. 21. The Baoma Corp. colorbearer aired by six lengths at Los Al Sept. 11. Winning Map (Liam's Map) rounds out the Baffert trio and boasts the field's top Beyer Speed Figure of 85. The $525,000 OBSMAR (:20 3/5) acquisition justified 2-5 odds when cruising clear to a 4 1/4-length debut victory in Arcadia Oct. 3.

The aforementioned Forbidden Kingdom returns to the main track after checking in third as the favorite in Santa Anita's Speakeasy S., a prep for the GII Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf. Rock N Bye (Stay Thirsty) ventures for the first time out of Cal-bred company, where he annexed the local Graduation S. in August before two more stakes placings.

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Tamarkuz Colt Dominates Bob Hope to Become Sire’s First Stakes Winner

Tina and Jerry Moss’s Red Flag became the stakes winner for his freshman sire, 2016 GI Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile victor Tamarkuz (Speighstown), with a romping 7 1/4-length score in the GIII Bob Hope S. at Del Mar Sunday. Sent off at 10-1, the chestnut colt was widest of four scrambling on the front end early, with Weston (Hit it a Bomb) down along the rail and favored Spielberg (Union Rags) and Coastal Kid (Coast Guard) all to his inside. Weston took a slim advantage after a quarter in :22.37, but the race changed in an instant when Coastal Kid, caught in tight quarters between the tiring Spielberg and the rallying Red Flag, took up sharply near the three-eighths pole. Red Flag surged to the lead with authority after a half in :45.34 and extended his advantage with every stride down the lane. Uncle Boogie (Ride On Curlin) rallied for second over Ambivalent (Constitution). Spielberg settled for fourth. After an inquiry into the incident on the turn, the stewards made no change to the order of finish.

“He broke running and he wanted to go,” said winning rider Victor Espinoza. “He seemed to be more professional today than last time. He’s still a baby and he was fooling around before. But he was good today and did all the right things. He’ll go farther, for sure. With the way he ran today, why not?”

Winning trainer John Shirreffs admitted the romping victory surprised him.

“I didn’t really expect that kind of performance,” said Shirreffs. “I was hoping to get a placing. He broke his maiden from way off the pace and he’s been doing better and better in the mornings, but he’s not a brilliant work horse. So this was a pleasant surprise. You always hope but you never know.”

Red Flag opened his career with a well-beaten fifth-place effort going 5 1/2 furlongs over the main track at Del Mar Sept. 6, but moved to the lawn to graduate in late-running style going that same distance at Santa Anita Oct. 10.

“He’s gone from 5 1/2 furlongs to seven, so it looks like he’ll be able to go longer,” Shirreffs said. “It’s special because Mr. and Mrs. Moss were here today and got to see him run.”

Pedigree Notes:

Canadian breeder Elaine Macpherson purchased Surrender, in foal to Morning Line, for $40,000 at the 2014 Keeneland November Sale. The foal the mare was carrying was Surrender Now, who won the 2017 Landaluce S. The 11-year-old mare has a yearling colt by Tiznow, who RNA’d for $23,000 at last month’s Fasig-Tipton October Yearling Sale. She produced a colt by Mendelssohn this year and was bred back to Catholic Boy.

The winner’s third dam is graded stakes winner and Grade I placed Mackie, dam of graded winner Mr. Mellon (Red Ransom) and Seeking the Best (Ire) (Seeking the Gold).

Sunday, Del Mar
BOB HOPE S.-GIII, $100,500, Del Mar, 11-15, 2yo, 7f, 1:23.56, ft.
1–RED FLAG, 120, c, 2, by Tamarkuz
                1st Dam: Surrender, by Stormy Atlantic
                2nd Dam: Beaucette, by Mr. Prospector
                3rd Dam: Mackie, by Summer Squall
1ST BLACK-TYPE WIN, 1ST GRADED STAKES WIN. ($50,000
Wlg ’18 KEENOV; $220,000 Ylg ’19 KEESEP). O-Jerome S. & Tina
Moss; B-Elaine MacPherson (KY); T-John A. Shirreffs; J-Victor
Espinoza. $60,000. Lifetime Record: 3-2-0-0, $94,100. *1/2 to
Surrender Now (Morning Line), SW, $281,585. **First
black-type winner for freshman sire (by Speightstown).
Werk Nick Rating: B+.
Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Uncle Boogie, 120, c, 2, Ride On Curlin–Rated Xtreme, by
Magna Graduate. ($11,000 Ylg ’19 OBSOCT; $38,000 2yo ’20
OBSOPN). O-Eric Homme; B-Pinky Mendoza (FL); T-Andrew
Lerner. $20,000.
3–Ambivalent, 120, c, 2, Constitution–Screwgie, by Smart Strike. ($95,000 Ylg ’19 KEESEP; $550,000 2yo ’20 OBSMAR). O-Reddam Racing LLC; B-J Stephen McDonald (KY); T-Doug F. O’Neill. $12,000.
Margins: 7 1/4, 1, 1 1/4. Odds: 10.70, 4.50, 9.10.
Also Ran: Spielberg, Weston, Coastal Kid.
Click for the Equibase.com chart, the TJCIS.com PPs or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. VIDEO, sponsored by Fasig-Tipton.

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