8 Ready to Rumble in Bing Crosby Stakes
By: Nicolle Neulist, Blinkers-Off
Take a plane, take a train, take a
car: summer racing at Del Mar is here, and this Saturday’s card is anchored by
the Bing Crosby Stakes (G1), which offers a $300,000 purse as well as a Win and
You’re In berth in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint (G1) to its winner. Throughout its history, three winners of the
Bing Crosby have gone on to win the Breeders’ Cup Sprint: Thirty Slews (1992),
Lit de Justice (1996), and Kona Gold (2000).
The race, of course, takes its name
from Bing Crosby. He was not only a multifaceted entertainer, but he owned
Thoroughbreds as well and helped fund the founding of the seaside track. Whether it’s Bing Crosby Stakes Day or any
other one, you can’t go through a day at Del Mar without hearing his voice, as
his song “Where the Turf Meets the Surf” is ubiquitous.
This year's Bing Crosby drew a field
of just eight. Forward has been the
place to be in sprint races at Del Mar, though there is no shortage of early
speed. Class-testing Calexman, on
the rail, has true five-furlong speed; there's plenty of gas, but he's the
sharpest.
Chief Cicatriz only knows one way to go, as does
outside-drawn up-and-comer Jalen Journey.
Cistron, the "now" sprinter on the
West Coast, has been getting underneath shares from just off the pace, but his
real winning game is on the front end.
Might he make the front in this?
He'll at least be close, though he'll probably have to battle tooth and
nail with Calexman and company. He has
typically gone longer than this six furlong trip, though he has a handful of
tries going shorter than six furlongs, and did battle on the pace before being
run down for 3rd in a five-furlong turf dash allowance last year.
Recruiting Ready won't be far from the lead, but at
least he won the Gulfstream Sprint from just off the pace, and last time he was
as gutsy and gritty as could be to run second behind Catalina Cruiser in an
uncommonly tough True North. That was at six and a half furlongs, and
Recruiting Ready is better at a flat six.
If he can track just off the speed and string together another good race
— something he has shown he can do — he could make the whole plan of avoiding
Mitole in the Vanderbilt (G1) and trying to nab the Ship-and-Win money a
fruitful one.
Line Judge got a perfect setup last out in the
Kelly's Landing, tracking toward the rear off an honest pace and kicking away
with authority in the lane. He'll get a
cozy setup for his off-pace style once again.
The question is whether he can run back to his last, since it was such a
huge effort. But there are reasons he
can. For one, the Kelly's Landing was at seven furlongs, but Line Judge is
3-for-4 at six furlongs, suggesting he will take well to the cutback in trip.
And, as sharp as trainer Peter Miller is first off the claim, he's still smart
second off the claim: 21% winners and 58% in the money in the last five years.
The only time over that period when he put a horse in a graded stakes second
off the claim, he knew he had a good one: it was eventual 2018 champion turf
horse Stormy Liberal, who ran 2nd in the 2016 San Simeon (G3) second off the
Miller claim.
Selections:
#7 Recruiting Ready (2/1)
#4 Line Judge (8/1)
#3 Cistron (5/2)
Longshot: #2 Desert Law (12/1) steps up
from a romping victory in the Thor's Echo Stakes, a California-bred stakes, and
makes a jump up in class for this. That was his first attempt in any kind of a
stakes race, and this is tougher yet. The big question is whether he regresses,
since he does come off a sharp career best.
But, on the other hand, Desert Law comes third off the layoff, he is a
six-furlong specialist, and he has sharp yet tactical speed. He keeps top-class
California rider Bejarano, as well. If you're going to throw one of the longer
shots into your ticket, he is the one with the most upside.
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