Big Macher to continue comeback in Bing Crosby

DEL MAR, Calif. - Three years have passed since Big Macher won the Grade 1 Bing Crosby Stakes at Del Mar, the track’s leading sprint. Since then, Big Macher has been to Dubai – where he was fifth in the $2 million Golden Shaheen in March 2015 - and gone 18 months between starts because of a suspensory injury.

Big Macher won his comeback race in the Thor’s Echo Handicap for California-breds at Santa Anita on June 11, and will run in the $300,000 Bing Crosby Stakes on Saturday.

The Bing Crosby offers a berth to the BC Sprint here on Nov. 4 to the winner. The race is expected to be led by Drefong, the champion sprinter of 2016. Other candidates include Denman’s Call, Kobe’s Back, Lord Simba, Moe Candy, Ransom the Moon, Roy H, Solid Wager, and St. Joe Bay.

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Big Macher deserves a chance in the Bing Crosby, trainer Richard Baltas said over the weekend.

“He’s sound and working good, so I’ll take a shot,” Baltas said. “You never know - sometimes heart prevails.”

A 7-year-old, Big Macher has won six stakes in his 20-race career and earned $744,288. He was claimed for $20,000 from a maiden race in his debut in July 2013 by current owners Tom Mansor and Brendan Bakir. The 2015 Bing Crosby was the first Grade 1 win for the owners and Baltas.

“He’s meant a lot to me already,” Baltas said.

In the Thor’s Echo, Big Macher closed from third in a field of five to win by a length as the 4-5 favorite. Baltas knows the Bing Crosby will be much tougher. Regardless, the win in the Thor’s Echo was gratifying.

“I thought it was a good race off a long layoff,” Baltas said. “He ran one of his better races.

“Any time you can get a horse to comeback and compete at the same level it means a lot.”

Running Big Macher in the Bing Crosby seemed unlikely a year ago. Big Macher was diagnosed with a suspensory injury in late 2015, which required a lengthy rest at Bobby Mitchell’s Bonnie Acres Farm in nearby Hemet, Calif.

“He was at the farm for 12 months,” Baltas said. “Bobby Mitchell rehabbed him. He’s old school. He’s good at that kind of stuff.

“I thought it was a small injury that would need a lot of time. It was a small tear. He got 18 months.”