By J. Keeler Johnson (“Keelerman”) Twitter: @J_Keelerman
Sunday’s $100,000 Bob Hope S. (G3) at Del Mar isn’t the Road to the Kentucky Derby Qualifiers, and records show it hasn’t produced a Kentucky Derby winner since 1982’s Gato Del Sol. But everything has a first, and Bob Hope — a junior seven-mile run — has seen the quality of its winners increase in recent years.
The standout trainer in Bob Hope is Bob Baffert. The Hall of Fame coach has won Bob Hope 11 times since 1996, including seven of the 11 editions since 2011. Future Class 1 winners Mastery (2016) and Mucho Gusto (2018) ) won the top prize for Baffert and Messier (2021) placing at the Grade 1 level before starting in the Kentucky Derby.
Seven horses participated in Bob Hope 2022 and three were trained by Baffert. It can sometimes be difficult for disabled people to separate Baffert’s light racehorses, but in this case, #2 Havnameltdown seems to be a standout.
The son of Uncaptured (who won 5 stakes at the age of 2), Havnameltdown showed talent at an early age. On his July 24 debut, the five-long sprint at Del Mar, Havnameltdown took the lead to beat the next winner by 2 1/4. Just three weeks later, Havnameltdown was back in action for Del Mar’s six-feather Best Pal S. (G3), in which he beat fast fractions of : 21.74 and : 44.87 en route to winning. wins with 2 1/2 lengths.
Havnameltdown continued his busy summer in Del Mar Futurity (G1), in which he stepped on seven stretchers and ran a daring race against heavy favorite Cave Rock. Havnameltdown takes on Cave Rock for the first quarter-mile at: 21.56, a fiery half-mile from the lead at: 43.65, and finally fights for a clear finish at second place while Cave Rock dominated in record time.
In terms of Brisnet Speed ratings, Havnameltdown beats Bob Hope School. He scored 102 in Best Pal and 98 in Del Mar Futurity, numbers notable as none of his Sunday opponents have achieved ratings higher than 94. Havnaltedown has been training hard since. Del Mar Futurity and clearly boast a fondness for oval California’s shoreline, suggesting he will be hard to beat on Sunday. The fact that Havnameltdown will be driven by driver Juan Hernandez is another positive, as Brisnet stats show Hernandez has won 10-19 (53%) in partnership with Baffert over the past 60 days.
Another reasonable intern of Baffert is #7 New Gate, the excellent first-place sprinter at Del Mar, who finished fourth in Del Mar Futurity. Newgate was completely unable to keep up with the tense initial pace that day, racing in third place before waning on the way home to finish at Havnameltdown 5 1/4 of the way. Newgate also failed to fire his best shot as he stretched over 1 1/16 mile for Breeders’ Futurity (G1) at Keeneland, ramping up the pace early before fading to finish fifth at 7 1/4 lengths. .
But Newgate has faced formidable competition. Where in point? Breeders’ Futurity (Forte) winner is back to claim the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (G1), defeating hero Del Mar Futurity Cave Rock. The relegation and the gap should give Newgate a spot on Bob Hope’s exact list, even if turning the tide with Havnameltdown proves difficult.
Baffert’s last trainee was
#1 Hard to imagine, who finished third behind Newgate (beating 4 and a half innings) in their joint debut. Hard to Figure finished in third place again, stretching in the first mile special weight class at Del Mar, then breaking his first in the Capote S. 6 1/2 long at the Capote S. Los Alamitos. With a career-best 85 Brisnet Speed rating, Hard to imagine seems a bit slower than his steady buddies, even though he’s on the right track and has a racehorse to scale High Flavien Prat is assigned to ride.
It wouldn’t be a surprise to see Baffert cadets run 1-2-3 in Bob Hope, but we’ll try to beat Hard to Figure for third place with #6 Realistic movethe first winner of the one-mile race at Santa Anita last month.
Despite the fact that Real Motion got his first win on a track, his sprint form was arguably superior. In a special pair of 6 1/2 long hair girls at Del Mar over the summer, Practical Move came in second behind Cave Rock and third behind National Treasure, who returned to place in American Pharoah S. (G1 ) and the Juvenile Breeders’ Cup. The owner of Practical Move, Practical Joke, has done his best work as a sprinter/sprinter, and I’m optimistic that Practical Move will appreciate the cut down to seven feathers.
Option
1st time: Havnameltdown
Monday: New Gate
3rd: Actual Move
Now it’s your turn! Who do you like in Bob Hope?
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J. Keeler Johnson (also known as “Keelerman”) is a writer, cinematographer, voice actor, disabled athlete, and all-around horse racing enthusiast. A huge fan of racing history, he considers Dr. Fager the greatest racehorse ever made in America, but considers Zenyatta his all-time favorite.
