Kobe’s Back preps for Bing Crosby

Three-time stakes winner Kobe’s Back worked five furlongs in 1:00.20 on Friday at Santa Anita and will start in the $300,000 Bing Crosby Stakes at six furlongs July 26 at Del Mar.

Trainer Peter Eurton said the Grade 1 Crosby has appeal since it is part of the Breeders’ Cup Win and You’re In program, offering a fees-paid berth in the BC Sprint at Keeneland on Oct. 31.

Earlier this year, Kobe’s Back won the Grade 3 Commonwealth Stakes at seven furlongs at Keeneland but was sixth in the Grade 1 Metropolitan Mile Handicap at Belmont Park on June 6.

“We want to get back to what he’s done well,” Eurton said, referring to shorter, one-turn races. “That’s why we went to Keeneland to find out if he liked the racetrack. We got an answer.”

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In Friday’s workout, Kobe’s Back began 4 1/2 furlongs from the finish and ran a sixteenth of a mile past the wire, Eurton said. He timed Kobe’s Back in 59 seconds.

Owned by Lee and Susan Searing, the 4-year-old Kobe’s Back has won 3 of 12 starts and earned $541,250. He was fifth in the 2014 Bing Crosby when the race was run on a synthetic track. Del Mar since has installed a dirt surface.

Eurton said there is a likelihood that Kobe’s Back will start in the $250,000 Pat O’Brien Stakes at seven furlongs Aug. 22 at Del Mar.