Stronghold to Bing Crosby
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Stronghold, the multiple stakes winner who is unbeaten in two starts this year, is on schedule for his first appearance in a Grade 1 stakes in 18 months in the $400,000 Bing Crosby Stakes at Del Mar on July 25.
Trainer Phil D’Amato considered Saturday’s Grade 2 San Diego Handicap at 1 1/16 miles for Stronghold before settling on the six-furlong Bing Crosby, the track’s leading annual sprint.
“He’s in for the Bing and doing well,” he said. “This is as good as he’s ever been.”
Owned by Eric and Sharon Waller, Stronghold has won 5 of 14 starts and earned $1,339,200. He won the Grade 1 Santa Anita Derby at 1 1/8 miles in April 2024 and was later seventh in the Kentucky Derby.
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In his last start in a Grade 1 race, Stronghold finished 10th in the Pegasus World Cup Invitational at Gulfstream Park in January 2025. He did not race again until last August, finishing a game second in the Grade 2 Pat O’Brien Stakes at Del Mar in what turned out to be his final start of the year.
Earlier this year, Stronghold finished in a dead heat for first in an allowance race at 1 1/16 miles at Oaklawn Park in April and was the easy winner of the Grade 3 Triple Bend Stakes at seven furlongs as the 1-2 favorite at Santa Anita on May 31.
D’Amato said the Grade 1 status of the Bing Crosby was a deciding factor in choosing a race for Stronghold, who is by Ghostzapper.
“We want to make him a stallion in Kentucky,” he said. “We’re looking for Grade 1 wins for him.”
The Bing Crosby field is also expected to include Cornucopian, the winner of two Grade 3 sprint stakes at Santa Anita and Churchill Downs this year for trainer Bob Baffert. The winner of the Bing Crosby Stakes receives a fees-paid berth to the Breeders’ Cup Sprint at Keeneland on Oct. 31.