Hess looks for huge effort from Peaceful Transfer
Trainer Bob Hess Jr. won with his sole starter in the Bull Dog Stakes at the Big Fresno Fair, and he hopes to win the race again when he runs Peaceful Transfer in Sunday’s closing-day running of the $75,000, 1 1/8-mile stakes race.
Peaceful Transfer has been first under the wire in his past two starts, although he was disqualified to second in his last start, the E.B. Johnston at Los Alamitos on Sept. 12.
“He’s a cool horse,” said Hess of the 6-year-old Ministers Wild Cat gelding. “I’d been watching him for two years before we claimed him.”
Hess won the 2005 Bull Dog with Easy Million, and Peaceful Transfer won his lone start at Fresno in 2019, when his name was Royal Trump and he was trained by Mark Glatt.
Sunday’s race will be his first at the 1 1/8-mile distance, but Hess is confident his runner can handle the distance. His past two starts since changing his name have been at a mile, and he’s been a pace factor in both of them.
“He’ll place himself in a good spot,” said Hess.
Hess thinks Peaceful Transfer will appreciate Fresno’s dirt surface. “It’s more like real dirt, like Los Alamitos,” he said.
Southern California-based runners Zestful and Sash could provide competition, but the Northern California-based 3-year-old Tesoro could pull off a surprise in his first start against older.
Trained by O.J. Jauregui, the Anchor Down colt was first under the wire when making his career debut at a mile but was disqualified. He was then entered in the El Camino Real Derby but was no factor behind eventual Preakness winner Rombauer.
He won his next start before running fifth to Stalking Shadow in the California Derby before going to the sidelines for over four months, returning with a game allowance win at a mile at Golden Gate Fields.
“I’ve always believed in the horse,” said Jauregui, who gave the colt the time off to grow and mature.
The layoff seemed to help, and the colt has worked nicely at Fresno since the track opened, recording a minute-flat five-furlong work on Monday.
“He handled the dirt really good,” said Jauregui, who thinks his colt is well equipped to handle the added distance.
Harmon, who ran third in the Rolling Green on the turf at Golden Gate after an allowance victory at Pleasanton, has four victories from seven starts this year and is at the top of his game.
Honos Man won the Humboldt County Marathon but is meeting much tougher here.