Latest news with #DrVenkman
Yahoo
26-07-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Dr. Venkman 'A Better One-Turn Horse,' But Faces East Coast Shippers In Bing Crosby
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 Bing Crosby is a "Win and You're In" race for the Breeders' Cup Sprint at Del Mar this 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 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.
Forbes
22-06-2025
- Sport
- Forbes
Stephen Foster Tops Charts On Closing Weekend At Churchill Downs
Kentucky Derby 150 champion Mystik Dan headlines a star studded Foster field The Stephen Foster has long been one of the signature races of the Churchill Downs Spring Meet. Run since 1982, this mile and an eighth test for older horses on dirt began to really climb the charts in 1998 when the purse was bumped to an eye-popping $750,000. Always considered a logical launching pad for the Breeders' Cup Classic, this race gained even more importance with the implementation of the 'Win and You're In' program in 2010. That means the horse that plays a winning tune in the Stephen Foster gets a fees paid automatic entry into the richest race run on American soil. The 44th running of the Foster will take place on June 28 and features a field that makes it a chart topper. It highlights an action-packed card that features six super competitive Stakes races on the final Saturday of the 2025 Spring Meet. Top action on both turf and dirt will be spinning the hits on this Super Saturday. The grade 2 Fleur De Lis goes off as race 7 and offers an automatic berth to the Breeders' Cup Distaff starting gates on November 1. Reigning Horse of the Year Thorpedo Anna will take on four other talented females as they fight for their share of $500,000 in purse money. 2024 Kentucky Oaks champ and Horse of the Year Thorpedo Anna runs in the Fleur De Lis on June 28The Kelly's Landing Stakes will feature West Coast invader Dr. Venkman as he takes on seven rivals in this six-and-a-half-furlong sprint race on dirt. Going off as race 9, these older males will dash for $250,000 in cash. Race 10 will be the grade 2 Wise Dan stakes for older males on turf. Named for one of the greatest grass runners ever ( 17 wins 2 seconds in his last 19 career starts), this mile and a sixteenth tussle on the turf features seven Stakes winners in the nine-horse field. The album cover song of the day is race 11, the grade 1 Stephen Foster. Six of the seven entrants are graded stakes winners. Included in this super six are the top two finishers in the 2024 Kentucky Derby (Mystik Dan, Sierra Leone), the Dubai World Cup winner (Hit Show), a four-time graded Stakes winner (First Mission), the 2025 Hollywood Gold Cup winner (Skippylongstocking), and the 2025 Churchill Downs Stakes winner (Mindframe). As further testament to the quality of this field, the entrants have just over $26 million in career on-track earnings. 'When you line up the winner of Kentucky Derby 150 against the Grade 1 winners of the Breeders' Cup Classic, Dubai World Cup, and Churchill Downs Stakes as well as the Oaklawn Handicap and Hollywood Gold Cup winners, you have the making of what could be the race of the year', says Darren Rogers, senior director of communications for Churchill Downs. The day concludes with the American Derby in race 12. Three-year-old males go a mile and a sixteenth on grass with eyes on a $250,000 purse. Featured in this tantalizing ten horse field will be 2025 Kentucky Derby entrants Flying Mohawk and Tiztastic. The competition promises to be fierce and the speculation opportunities numerous. The final six races on the card are all Stakes races and this will make up the 20-cent pick six. Also, an All-Stakes $3 turf pick 3 will be featured on closing weekend. First post on June 28 will be at 12:45 eastern time.
