Baffert takes three solid shots at Bob Hope Stakes

DEL MAR, Calif. – A host of familiar 2-year-olds, along with fresh troops for the winter sprint division, reappear Sunday at Del Mar.

As usual, trainer Bob Baffert surrounded the Grade 3 Bob Hope Stakes by entering a trio of juvenile colts in the seven-furlong sprint he has won 11 times, six at Hollywood Park and five at Del Mar.

Front-runner Havnameltdown and Newgate are the Baffert principals, in addition to Hard to Figure. The $100,000 Bob Hope is often a prep for the Grade 2 Los Alamitos Futurity, scheduled for Dec. 17.

The Bob Hope is Del Mar’s featured eighth race Sunday, and it shares the spotlight with an allowance that resembles a graded stakes. Four of the six entrants are graded winners, including Ginobili, Forbidden Kingdom, Get Her Number, and Howbeit. The six-furlong allowance is race 4.

Havnameltdown was Baffert’s first 2-year-old winner of 2022, wiring a July 24 maiden race opening weekend of the Del Mar summer meet. Four months later, he remains one of the quickest 2-year-olds in California and the horse to catch in the Bob Hope.

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“He’s real fast,” Baffert said. No kidding. Havnameltdown followed his maiden win with a front-running victory three weeks later in the Grade 3 Best Pal, and capped off summer finishing second to stablemate Cave Rock in the Grade 1 Del Mar Futurity.

Baffert considered sending Havnameltdown to Keeneland for an Oct. 29 stakes, but plans for the $200,000 Bowman Mill were shelved when the colt spiked a temperature. The Bob Hope is the first start for Havnameltdown since September; his rider is Juan Hernandez.

If seven furlongs is too far for Havnameltdown, stablemate Newgate might win the Bob Hope from behind. A debut winner in July, Newgate subsequently was unplaced in the Del Mar Futurity and Grade 1 Breeders’ Futurity at Keeneland. Baffert and John Velazquez will experiment Sunday by changing equipment and strategy.

“I took the blinkers off,” Baffert said. “We’ve been sending him away from there and he’s been flattening out. He might want to go one turn. I thought with the blinkers off, get him to relax . . . I think he’ll be more effective with that style.”

Newgate drew perfectly, the outside post in the seven-runner field. Baffert’s third Bob Hope entrant is rail-drawn Hard to Figure, who won a restricted stakes at Los Alamitos in September.

While the Bob Hope determines the direction for Havnameltdown and Newgate, Baffert is contemplating winter campaigns for 2-year-olds Cave Rock, National Treasure, Arabian Lion, and Arabian Knight.

Cave Rock won his first three starts, including two Grade 1s, prior to finishing second in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile.

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“I ran him hard. I’m going to freshen him up and point to something like the Rebel,” Baffert said. The Grade 2, $1 million Rebel is Feb. 25 at Oaklawn Park.

National Treasure followed his debut victory by finishing second in the Grade 1 American Pharoah and third in the BC Juvenile. Plans are undetermined for National Treasure.

“I’m just going easy with him. I want him to fill out,” Baffert said, suggesting the Grade 3 Sham Stakes on Jan. 8 at Santa Anita as an option.

Arabian Lion, debut winner and allowance runner-up, was scheduled to work Saturday and is being considered for the Los Alamitos Futurity. Plans are pending for Arabian Knight, the $2.3 million Uncle Mo colt who dazzled with a 97-Beyer debut romp on Nov. 5 at Keeneland.

“I might put him on the Flightline schedule,” Baffert joked. “Every four months.”

Arabian Knight’s 3-year-old campaign is undetermined.

Others in the Bob Hope include Lloyds Logic, winner of the Gottstein Futurity at Emerald Downs; Mixto, a maiden; and Practical Move, maiden winner via disqualification and entering off a dynamite workout Nov. 13. Giver Not a Taker entered, while remaining a candidate for the $100,000 King Glorious Stakes for California-breds on Dec. 10 at Los Alamitos.

Race 4 marks the return of fast-working Ginobili, now trained by Peter Miller. Ginobili is 3 for 5 at Del Mar, including a 2021 win the Grade 2 Pat O’Brien Stakes for Richard Baltas. Miller also entered Get Her Number, who won the 2020 American Pharoah at age 2.

Forbidden Kingdom will use the Sunday allowance to prep for the Grade 1 Malibu on Dec. 26 at Santa Anita. Forbidden Kingdom had an alibi for his off-the-board finish as the even-money favorite last month in the Grade 2 Santa Anita Sprint Championship.

Trainer Richard Mandella said a glue-on shoe cracked. “While he was running, the shoe was moving into the sole of his foot. It pinched, it hurt,” he said.

Forbidden Kingdom is expected to set the pace Sunday.

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