Bing Crosby S. (G1) – Race 10 (9:30 p.m. ET)
A “Win and You’re In” for the Breeders’ Cup Sprint (G1), Saturday’s $300,000 Bing Crosby S. (G1) could have added relevance this year. The six-furlong dash is held over the same Del Mar track and distance as the $2 million Sprint on Nov. 6.
Last year’s Breeders’ Cup Sprint runner-up, C Z Rocket, has been installed as the 5-2 favorite on the morning line. Most recently second on the stretch-out in the Steve Sexton Mile (G3) in the Lone Star slop, the Peter Miller veteran is now back in his wheelhouse.
The City Zip gelding had won his prior two at this trip at Oaklawn Park, gaining revenge on Breeders’ Cup champ Whitmore in both the March 13 Hot Springs S. and April 10 Count Fleet Sprint H. (G3). C Z Rocket is also proven at Del Mar, having captured the 2020 Pat O’Brien (G2) in his lone local appearance. The one potential wrinkle is that C Z Rocket will have to run without Lasix here, and as Miller told Daily Racing Form’s Jay Privman, this is something of an experiment for the seven-year-old.
Trainer Mark Glatt has entered three – defending Bing Crosby titleholder Collusion Illusion (4-1), unraced since a third in the Dec. 26 Malibu (G1); Dr. Schivel (7-2), who starred in last summer’s Del Mar Futurity (G1) without Lasix; and Law Abidin Citizen (12-1), third in both the Bing Crosby and Pat O’Brien a year ago. Dr. Schivel just beat elders in his belated reappearance June 18 and interestingly keeps Flavien Prat aboard. Collusion Illusion, hitherto ridden by Prat, now picks up Tyler Baze. Law Abidin Citizen, exiting a Lasix-free score in Pleasanton’s Oak Tree Sprint, reportedly might scratch.
Brickyard Ride, the co-second choice at 7-2, will ensure a torrid pace from the outside post 9. The Craig Lewis colt has wired the San Carlos (G2) and the Cal-restricted Thor’s Echo at Santa Anita this season, but could have a war on his hands early. Quick Tempo (12-1) set blazing fractions before tiring to second in the July 3 Iowa Sprint H. in his sophomore bow. Bob Baffert’s Eight Rings (10-1) likewise has plenty of speed, and the 2019 American Pharoah (G1) winner figures to move forward from his weary comeback fourth in the Triple Bend (G2). Vertical Threat (8-1), hero of a restricted stakes at this track and trip last summer, was last seen dominating the Nov. 23 Steel Valley Sprint on the front end. He’s liable to be fresh off the layoff for Richard Baltas.
Shooters Shoot ranks as the biggest price on the morning line at 15-1, but the race shape gives him a shot to factor as a closer. The pace collapse in the Triple Bend last out helped the Peter Eurton pupil finish second.
