Ransom the Moon, Prat repeat in Bing Crosby

DEL MAR, Calif. – He lost his whip, and then he lost it, in a good way. Jockey Flavien Prat, not one to showboat, thrust his right fist in the air crossing the wire Saturday aboard Ransom the Moon in the Grade 1 Bing Crosby Stakes, then gave Ransom the Moon a couple of animated taps on the head while galloping out.

Prat had just won the Crosby for the fourth straight year, tying a track record for consecutive wins by a jockey in an individual stake. He knew he had a chance to equal the mark going in, and he was beaming moments after the race.

“It’s kinda cool. It’s funny that a European rider would win a Grade 1 sprint four straight years,” said Prat, a native of France.

Prat has been in this country long enough to prove he’s as adept going short on dirt and he is long on turf. He’s forged a special relationship with Ransom the Moon, whom he has ridden nine straight times, and to four victories.

Ransom the Moon was the defending race winner of the Crosby, though the 2017 victory was marred by controversy when Drefong lost jockey Mike Smith leaving the gate and then interfered with Roy H.

This time, in a Crosby rematch, Ransom the Moon ($11.60) got the best of Roy H without anyone running interference for him. He closed furiously down the center of the track, rallying from ninth to first in the final quarter-mile to win by 2 1/4 lengths.

Roy H, the 6-5 favorite, was second while making his first start since finishing third in the Golden Shaheen in Dubai in March. Roy H, last year’s male sprint Eclipse Award winner and winner of the Breeders’ Cup Sprint, was a half-length better than Touching Rainbows, with Edwards Going Left and St. Joe Bay right there in the battle for third.

American Anthem was sixth, then came, in order, Stallwalkin’ Dude, Stone Hands, Annie’s Candy, American Pastime, and Tribal Storm.

Ransom the Moon completed six furlongs on the fast main track in 1:10.08. The victory earned him a fees-paid berth to the Breeders' Cup Sprint through the Win and You're In program.

Prat said he purposely took Ransom the Moon farther back than he had in prior sprints.

“I wanted him to close,” he said. “I think I got his kick away from him laying too close. I decided to sit back, and I thought there would be enough speed.”

There was, as St. Joe Bay and American Pastime flew through the opening quarter in 21.93 seconds. Ransom the Moon had only two horses behind him through the first half-mile of the race, then was angled to about the five path coming off the bend and closed with a rush. Prat lost his whip nearing the sixteenth pole, but it was of no consequence other than he missed it for his post-race celebration.

Prat won the Crosby in 2015 with Wild Dude and in 2016 with Lord Nelson before winning with Ransom the Moon the past two years. He joins Bill Shoemaker and Chris McCarron as the only riders to win the same Del Mar stake four straight years. Shoemaker did it once, McCarron three times. Prat, though, is the only one who has done it in a Grade 1 race.

Phil D’Amato trains Ransom the Moon, as well as third-place finisher Touching Rainbows.

Ransom the Moon most recently had finished fifth in the Met Mile in only his second start of the year on June 9. He was second to the ill-fated Bobby Abu Dhabi in the Kona Gold at Santa Anita in April.

Ransom the Moon, 6, a horse by Malibu Moon, is owned by Agave Racing Stable and Jeffry Wilke. He earned $180,000 from the gross purse of $302,070 to bring his career total to $848,829.