Dr. Venkman 'A Better One-Turn Horse,' But Faces East Coast Shippers In Bing Crosby

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26-07-2025

Dr. Venkman 'A Better One-Turn Horse,' But Faces East Coast Shippers In Bing Crosby originally appeared on Paulick Report.
For the first time in three years, a horse with a name other than The Chosen Vron will win the G1 Bing Crosby at Del Mar. We know this because The Chosen Vron, back-to-back winner of Del Mar's premier sprint race the past two years, has been retired, leaving a void that nine aspiring horses are ready to fill.The Bing Crosby is a "Win and You're In" race for the Breeders' Cup Sprint at Del Mar this fall.Last year's G2 San Diego winner Dr. Venkman has returned to sprinting this year and comes into the Bing Crosby off a near miss in the G3 Kelly's Landing at Churchill Downs last month.'I thought he was pretty unfortunate,' trainer Mark Glatt says. 'You can always make excuses for why a horse gets beat but I really felt the rail draw and the trip that he got cost him. He could never get off of the inside and he's a horse that doesn't particularly like running on the inside. If he had a different post or could have gotten out, I think he would have won the race.'That was a 6 ½ furlong race and his 2025 debut, a second to Nysos in the G3 Triple Bend was a seven-furlong sprint.'I think he's a better one turn horse,' Glatt adds. 'I don't know if six furlongs is his greatest distance but a one-turn elongated sprint is probably his best gig.'
He's facing some serious speed, starting with Hejazi who returned from a 17-month layoff and ran a game second in a second-level allowance last month.'He was off for a long time,' trainer Bob Baffert concedes. 'He actually ran a really big race off the layoff. It's asking a lot to jump into a Grade 1 but he has some past class. I think he fits in with them.'Hejazi is one of several horses in Baffert's barn with a high price tag. The son of Bernardini sold for $3.5 million at Fasig-Tipton Mid-Atlantic 2-year olds in training sale in May of 2022 to Amr Zedan of Zedan Racing Stables.'He worked really well (at the sale),' Baffert remembers. 'He was a standout.'Hejazi has shown flashes of brilliance, running second to stablemate Speed Boat Beach in the 2023 G1 Malibu. And while he's run in the money in 8-of-his-10 starts, he's only made it to the winner's circle twice.
As usual, the Bing Crosby has a couple of out-of-town entries. Crazy Mason, the winner of the G2 Carter at Aqueduct ships in from New York. There's also World Record, who brings his front running speed from Kentucky where he just missed in the G3 Aristides at Churchill Downs last time out.Roll On Big Joe, based in Southern California for much of 2024, spent the spring in Kentucky where he won the G3 Kelly's Landing last out.'It was exciting,' trainer Bob Hess recalls. 'I loved the fact that they gained, basically caught up to him and then he held them all off. He's got a lot of heart.'The big gray son of Prospective has won four of his last five races including the G3 Palos Verdes at Santa Anita this past February. Hess says he's coming into this race better than ever.'We worked him once at Keeneland and then flew him into here,' Hess notes. 'He had a perfect workout here. Clean scope, legs are ice cold and he's got to be enjoying this weather better than the humidity back there.'
The 80th running of the G1 Bing Crosby, a 'Win and You're In' for the Breeders' Cup Sprint, is Race 10 on the 11-race program. Probable post is 6:30 p.m.
Crazy Mason (Christopher Elliott, 6-1);
Dr. Venkman (Antonio Fresu, 4-1);
Hejazi (Juan Hernandez, 7/2);
Smooth Cruisein (Kyle Frey, 20-1);
World Record (Flavien Prat, 3-1);
Roll On Big Joe (Julien Leparoux, 6-1);
Mbagnick (Armando Ayuso, 5-1);
Spirit of Makena (Abel Cedillo, 20-1), and
Lovesick Blues (Geovanni Franco, 20-1).
This story was originally reported by Paulick Report on Jul 25, 2025, where it first appeared.