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Baffert To Saddle Three Out Of Five Entries In Sunday’s Bob Hope Stakes

Trainer Bob Baffert has Sunday's Grade 3 Bob Hope Stakes at Del Mar surrounded.

The white-haired, Hall of Fame conditioner has not one, not two, but three of the five 2-year-olds in the lineup for the seven-furlong headliner that carries a $100,000 purse. It will go as the day's 8th race on a nine-race program that has a first post of 12:30 p.m.

The Baffert threesome consists of SF Racing, Starlight Racing, et al's Messier; Baoma Corp's Kamui, and HRH Prince Sultan Bin Mishal Al Saud's Winning Map.

The rest of the compact lineup is filled by Lovingier, London or Zondio's Rock N Rye and MyRacehorse.com and Spendthrift Farm's Forbidden Kingdom.

However, trainer Walther Solis indicating Friday morning that Rock N Rye would be scratched from the Hope in favor of a stakes for California breds later on.

Baffert is the king of the 2-year-old set at Del Mar – and he's some degree of royalty at other tracks around the country in that regard, too. By way of example locally, he's won Del Mar's top race for 2-year-olds, the Del Mar Futurity, 14 times. When it comes to the Bob Hope, which has been run locally seven times, Baffert has headed to the winner's circle after it four times already.

Here's the full field in post-position order with riders and morning line odds:

Messier (Flavien Prat, 8/5)
Kamui (Abel Cedillo, 5/2)
Winning Map (Mike Smith, 7/5)
Rock N Rye (Umberto Rispoli, 15-1)
Forbidden Kingdom (Juan Hernandez, 9/2)

Favored Winning Map has run only once, but, not surprisingly, it was a dandy. The gray colt by Liam's Map scooted six furlongs at Santa Anita in 1:10.20 on October 3 to win by better than four lengths at 2-5. He's put in a series of solid works since.

Messier clicked by more than six lengths in his second start October 22 at Santa Anita in the same 1:10.20 for six furlongs. He's a bay colt by Empire Maker.

Stablemate Kamui, a Quality Road offspring, was a six-length winner at Los Alamitos on September 11 in his most recent outing.

Forbidden Kingdom, a son of Triple Crown champion American Pharoah, scored at first asking at Del Mar on August 21, then came back to run third in the Speakeasy Stakes on the grass at Santa Anita on October 1. He's trained by Hall of Fame conditioner Richard Mandella.

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Derby Prep: Red Flag Stretches Out In Los Alamitos Futurity

Red Flag, an impressive winner of the Grade 3 Bob Hope in his stakes debut Nov. 15 at Del Mar, will try two turns for the first time in the $200,000 Los Alamitos Futurity this Saturday.

A Grade 2 held over 1 1/16 miles, the Futurity will be run for the seventh time at Los Alamitos after having its first 33 renewals at Hollywood Park (1981-2013).

Post time Saturday is 12 Noon. The Futurity is the fourth of 10 races and has a scheduled post time of 1:28 p.m.

Won in the past by stars such as Snow Chief, A.P. Indy, Best Pal, Real Quiet, Point Given, Lookin At Lucky and Shared Belief, the Futurity is part of the “Road to the Kentucky Derby'' series. The winner Saturday will receive 10 points towards securing a spot in the starting gate next May 1 at Churchill Downs.

Owned by Jerry and Tina Moss and trained by John Shirreffs, Red Flag, who was supplemented to the Futurity for $7,500, has won two of three starts and banked $94,100.

A son of Tamarkuz and the Stormy Atlantic mare Surrender, Red Flag finished fifth in his career debut Sept. 6 at Del Mar, then scored a narrow victory when switched to turf Oct. 10 at Santa Anita, defeating next out graduate Gator Shining and five others.

Returned to dirt in the Hope, Red Flag was prominent from the outset while in the clear, then powered home in the final quarter of a mile to win by 7 ¼ lengths as a 10-1 outsider in the field of six.

Hall of Fame trainer Richard Mandella will be represented by Petruchio, who is owned by Claiborne Farm, Ramona and Perry Bass II and Adele Dilschneider.

A gelded son of Into Mischief – who won the 2007 Futurity at Hollywood Park for Mandella – and the Distorted Humor mare Satirical, Petruchio earned his first win in his fourth start, defeating maidens as the 11-10 favorite going one mile on turf Oct. 31 at Del Mar.

No worse than third in his career, Petruchio has earned $58,400.

Hall of Famer trainer Bob Baffert entered Spielberg as he seeks his seventh consecutive Futurity win at Los Alamitos. Baffert has won the previous six with Dortmund (2014), Mor Spirit (2015), Mastery (2016), McKinzie (2017), Improbable (2018) and Thousand Words (2019). All told, Baffert has won the Futurity 12 times.

Owned by SF Racing LLC, Starlight Racing, Madaket Stables LLC, Golconda Stables, Siena Farm LLC and Robert Masterson, Spielberg, a Union Rags colt out of the Smart Strike mare Miss Squeal, was the beaten favorite in the Hope, finishing a distant fourth at 3-5 odds.

On the board in two G1 races – second behind Dr. Schivel in the Del Mar Futurity and third in the American Pharoah won by Get Her Number – Spielberg is 1-for-5 with earnings of $137,200.

Besides Red Flag, Weston is the only other graded stakes winner in the field.

Co-owned by Chris Drakos and trainer Ryan Hanson, Weston captured the Grade 2 Best Pal earlier this year. The Hit It a Bomb gelding out of the Dixie Union mare Elke has won twice in four races and earned $152,000.

Before finishing fifth in the Hope, Weston was a first out winner June 21 and was third in the Del Mar Futurity a month after his Best Pal victory.

Second against fellow California breds in the Golden State Juvenile Nov. 7, Positivity will stretch out for trainer Paddy Gallagher in his second start since being purchased privately by Annie, Justyn and Charles Winner.

A son of Paynter and the City Zip mare Sam's Sunny City, Positivity is 2-for-3 with earnings of $115,500. His two wins – including a stakes score in the Graduation Aug. 2 at Del Mar – came for former trainer Luis Mendez.

Trained by Doug O'Neill for a partnership that includes ERJ Racing LLC, The Great One is a three-start maiden with earnings of $7,340. In his most recent start Nov. 29, the Nyquist colt out of the El Corredor mare Little Ms Protocol was fourth after setting the pace in a one mile race on the Del Mar turf.

From inside out, the field for the Los Alamitos Futurity: Red Flag, Victor Espinoza rides, 120 pounds; Petruchio, Mike Smith, 120; The Great One, Abel Cedillo, 120; Weston, Tyler Baze, 120; Positivity, Drayden Van Dyke, 120 and Spielberg, Flavien Prat, 120.

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Bloodlines: Red Flag Flies The Banner For Sire Tamarkuz, La Troienne Family

Becoming the seventh freshman sire to get a graded stakes winner, Tamarkuz (by Speightstown) also chalked up his first stakes winner with the victory of Red Flag in the Grade 3 Bob Hope Stakes at Del Mar on Nov. 15.

Red Flag rolled into contention at the half-mile marker after odds-on favorite Spielberg (Union Rags) and second-choice Weston (Hit It a Bomb) roasted each other with a quarter-mile in :22.73 and a half in :45.34. At the half-mile pole, Red Flag was already at Weston's throatlatch, and the red colt went on to win by 7 1/4 lengths in 1:23.56 for the seven furlongs.

This was the second victory from three starts by the progressive colt that trainer John Shirreffs described as “not a great work horse in the mornings.” That contributed to making Red Flag the second-longest price on the odds board, but such will not be the case in the future.

Nor was Red Flag the only longshot who succeeded on Sunday; the immediate success of his sire Tamarkuz was not a given. A handsome son of leading sire Speightstown, Tamarkuz proved his mettle on the racetrack, racing through his 6-year-old season and winning his best race at that age in the Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile, when he had subsequent champions Gun Runner and Accelerate behind him.

With only 29 foals in his first crop, Tamarkuz was not warmly embraced by local breeders when the horse went to stud. Nonetheless, he is making believers.

For any young sire prospect to be commercially effective, he needs to attract 100 mares or more in his initial book. That general number is necessary for a new sire to have much chance of keeping up with the other top members of any entering stallion crop of the last quarter-century or so.

Yet Tamarkuz, from 29 foals, has 10 starters, five winners, a graded stakes winner, and he now sits in 23rd on the list of freshmen sires.

Bred in Kentucky by Elaine Macpherson, Red Flag is the second stakes winner out of Surrender (Stormy Atlantic), whom Macpherson purchased through agent Gayle Van Leer for $40,000 out of the 2014 Keeneland November sale. At the time of sale, Surrender was a 5-year-old and was carrying her second foal on a cover to the Tiznow stallion Morning Line. The foal she produced in 2015 was a filly later named Surrender Now, and two years later, Surrender Now won the 2017 Landaluce Stakes.

Red Flag is the mare's fourth foal and second stakes winner. Sent to the 2018 Keeneland November sale, Red Flag sold for $50,000 to Rosetown Bloodstock out of the Warrendale Sales consignment. Brought to the 2019 Keeneland September yearling sale, the colt resold out of the Eaton Sales consignment for $220,000 to Michael Dorsey and races for Tina and Jerome Moss.

All of Surrender's four foals of racing age are winners, and the mare has a yearling colt by Tiznow named Tiz Toujours, who was bought back for $23,000 at the 2020 October yearling sale at Fasig-Tipton Kentucky. The mare's weanling is a colt by first-crop sire Mendelssohn and already carries the name Calm Sea, and Surrender was covered by Catholic Boy in his first season at stud in 2020.

A non-winner from two starts on the racetrack, Surrender has a most distinguished family. By one of Storm Cat's most consistent sons in Stormy Atlantic, Surrender is out of the Mr. Prospector mare Beaucette, a stakes-placed daughter of the graded stakes winner Mackie (Summer Squall).

Mackie was one of seven stakes winners out of the great broodmare Glowing Tribute (Graustark). The others included Grade 1 winners Sea Hero (Polish Navy), winner of the Kentucky Derby and Travers, and Hero's Honor (Northern Dancer), winner of the G1 United Nations and Bowling Green, as well as the latter's full sister Wild Applause.

Wild Applause was the only one of Glowing Tribute's daughters to carry on in a fashion similar to her famous dam, producing four graded stakes winners: Yell (A.P. Indy), Roar (Forty Niner), Trumpets Blare (Fit to Fight), and Eastern Echo (Damascus).

Although not that successful, Mackie produced a pair of graded winners, the Grade 2 Arlington Classic winner Mr. Mellon (Red Ransom) and Grade 3 winner Seeking the Best (Seeking the Gold). This branch of the family went a bit quiet with Beaucette, but her daughter Surrender has put this branch of the great La Troienne family back in the spotlight again.

Sold out of Marcel Boussac's stud in France to E.R. Bradley nearly a century ago, La Troienne produced 14 named foals, first for Bradley and then for Greentree Stud after the dispersal of Bradley's bloodstock. Five of the great mare's foals won stakes and even more became important producers. From the champions and major performers that her family has produced decade after decade around the world, La Troienne is a touchstone of quality in international breeding.

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Tamarkuz Colt Red Flag Cruises To Bob Hope Victory At Del Mar

The million-dollar yearling Spielberg went off as the odds-on favorite, but it was Red Flag – who “only” cost $220,000 at the same Kentucky sale – flying home the winner Sunday in the seventh edition of the Grade 3 Bob Hope Stakes for 2-year-olds at Del Mar.

Red Flag, from the first crop of the Speightstown stallion Tamarkuz, battled early with his more-expensive rival, but assumed command under Victor Espinoza approaching the quarter pole and drew out under a hand ride to an easy 7 1/4-length triumph. The victory was worth $60,000 from the $100,500 purse and pushed the youngster's earnings to $94,100 after three starts. He covered the seven furlongs in 1:23.56.

Red Flag is owned by Tina and Jerome Moss of Los Angeles and is trained by John Shirreffs. The chestnut colt's green and pink colors were familiar ones to those who followed the amazing career of the champion mare Zenyatta, co-owned by Jerome Moss and trained by Shirreffs.

Finishing second was Eric Homme's Uncle Boogie and third was Reddam Racing's Ambivalent. Spielberg, who is owned by a group that includes SF Racing, Starlight Racing or Madaket Stables and others, and went off at 3-5, finished fourth nearly 10 lengths behind the winner.

Red Flag paid $23.40, $9.60 and $9.40 across the board. Uncle Boogie returned $6.00 and $5.60, while Ambivalent paid $6.60 to show.

“John (trainer Shirreffs) said, 'You know him (Espinoza broke his maiden on him last out on Oct. 10 at Santa Anita), go ahead and see what you can do with him.' He broke running and he wanted to go. He seemed to be more professional today than last time. He's still a baby and he was fooling around before. Be he was good today and did all the right things. He'll go farther, for sure. With the way he ran today, why not?”

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

Leading rider Abel Cedillo and leading trainer Peter Miller won the nitecap together with Magical Thought ($20.60) and stayed on top in each of their categories after eight days of the current 15-day session. Cedillo now has 13 firsts and Miller has seven. Cedillo was the top rider at last fall's Bing Crosby meet and Miller has won four different versions of the “second season” at Del Mar.

Del Mar will return to action on Friday with first post at 12:30 p.m.

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