Hong Kong Harry © Benoit Photo
The steady veteran Hong Kong Harry will be among eight grass runners aiming for the first prize in Saturday’s $200,000, Grade II headliner at Del Mar, the 47th edition of the Seabiscuit Handicap.
The mile and one-sixteenth proved right up “Harry’s” alley last year when the son of the Irish stallion Es Que Love came running late to score under Flavien Prat. The gelding won’t have Prat aboard this time (the rider is in Kentucky where he has calls on live horses in four major stakes over the next several days), but he shouldn’t mind his replacement at all. He teamed up with top rider Juan Hernandez last out at Santa Anita in the City of Hope Mile and came away a winner in a photo. Hernandez will be aboard once more as they break from Post 4 in Saturday’s headliner. The multiple-stakes winner of more than $775,000 in purses is owned by the partnership of Anastasi, Ukegawa and Valazza and is listed as the 8/5 favorite in the morning line.
Here’s the full field for the Seabiscuit with riders and morning line odds from the rail out:
Perry and Ramona Bass’ Sumter (Edwin Maldonado, 12-1); Madaket Stables’ Easter (Antonio Fresu, 3-1); Little Red Feather Racing and Madaket Stables’ Balnikhov (Hector Berrios, 8-1); Hong Kong Harry; Kenneth Ramsey’s Yes This Time (Kyle Frey, 20-1); Kretz Racing’s Cabo Spirit (Victor Espinoza, 8-1); Bamford or Tabor’s Astronomer (Umberto Rispoli, 3-1), and George Sharp’s Front Run the Fed (Giovanni Franco, 12-1).
It appears that the geldings Easter and Astronomer are the chief threats to the top one. The former had been racing out of the barn of top eastern conditioner Graham Motion, but has been turned over to top western trainer Phil D’Amato since he proved best winning a mile turf test at Santa Anita in October. The French-bred is a five-time winner of more than $300,000 and has a nifty stretch kick.
Astronomer just missed to Hong Kong Harry in the City of Hope in September, then finished far back in the Breeders’ Cup Mile at Santa Anita on November 4. Simon Callaghan conditions the bay, who’ll be making only his ninth start in the Seabiscuit.
The feature goes as Race 7 on a nine-race program Saturday. First post on the day is the usual 12:30 p.m., while the stakes is scheduled to go off at approximately 3:30 p.m.