Smith picks up mount on Mastery for Bob Hope

DEL MAR, Calif. – Looks like Big Money Mike has landed another big one.

With Rafael Bejarano out the first part of the Del Mar meet owing to six days of suspensions plus an injury to his right hand, jockey Mike Smith has picked up the mount on the highly regarded 2-year-old Mastery for the $100,000 Bob Hope Stakes on Saturday, trainer Bob Baffert said Wednesday.

Bejarano was aboard Mastery for his impressive debut win Oct. 22 at Santa Anita, in which he dispatched maidens by 4 1/4 lengths after getting hammered down to 1-5 odds. By using the man he calls “Big Money Mike,” Baffert is going to the rider with whom he combined in recent months to win the Travers and Breeders’ Cup Classic with Arrogate.

The Bob Hope, at seven furlongs, is expected to have a small field. Baffert on Wednesday said he would also enter Bernin Sensation. Others expected were Ann Arbor Eddie for Doug O’Neill and Oopper Wallah for Matt Chew. California Diamond, a multiple stakes winner trained by Peter Miller, was possible.