There’s hope for a 2-year-old trained by someone other than Bob Baffert in the $100,000 Bob Hope Stakes (G3) on Sunday at Del Mar – Bullard.
The $675,000 colt rallied in the stretch and beat Baffert’s ‘Hope’ hopeful Kalea Bay by 1 ¼ lengths at 6 furlongs on Sept. 1. He’s trained by Michael McCarthy and will be ridden by Umberto Rispoli.
That makes Bullard the slight 8-5 favorite over 9-5 Kalea Bay, with McKinzie Street at 2-1, Baffert’s Madaket Road 10-1, Maximus 15-1, and Dr Ruben M at 20-1.
Baffert, as usual, makes a habit of winning 2-year-old races in California, and has won seven of the last 10 editions of the Bob Hope, including three in a row.
Kalea Bay, who will be ridden by Juan Hernandez, comes in off a win in a maiden sprint on Set. 28. Madaket Road makes his racing debut; Antonio Fresu has the call.
McKinzie Street won at first asking at Del Mar on July 28, then was second in the Del Mar Futurity (G1) and third in the American Pharoah (G1). He’s trained by former Baffert assistant Tim Yakteen.
The vibe for this one is Baffert has a bevy of 2-year-olds he’s testing to see if they are on a path that could lead to the 2025 Kentucky Derby (G1). He should get an answer on both in this sprint, but Bullard looks like a promising prospect for McCarthy who can pull out a victory.
The Bob Hope is race 8 on the card with a 7 p.m. ET post time.
For those who bet horse racing …
The picks: 1 Bullard 2 McKinzie Street 3 Kalea Bay