Los Pollos Hermanos and JayEmEss Stable’s Masochistic, brilliant winner of the Grade I Triple Bend in near track-record time last month at Santa Anita, figures to be an odds-on favorite versus five rivals Sunday in the Grade I $300,000 Bing Crosby Stakes at Del Mar.
The 70th running of the six-furlong sprint, honoring the memory of Del Mar’s co-founder, is part of the Breeders’ Cup Challenge Series wherein the winner’s entry fees and travel expenses are paid by the Breeders’ Cup. The 2015 Breeders’ Cup is scheduled for late October at Keeneland race course, Lexington, Kentucky.
Masochistic, a California-bred five-year-old gelded son of Sought After, has won six of eight career starts with a single second, his only off-the-board defeat coming in his career debut in March of last year. In addition to the Triple Bend, he also won the Kona Gold last April at Santa Anita. Tyler Baze has the call from trainer Ron Ellis who assumed the conditioning role of Masochistic prior to the Kona Gold.
According to allowance conditions, Masochistic will pack highweight of 123 pounds, conceding two pounds to Wild Dude, Flavien Prat, and four to Kobe’s Back, Gary Stevens; Distinctiv Passion, Edwin Maldonado; Caminetto, Martin Garcia, and Appealing Tale, Joe Talamo.
Sunday’s supporting feature is the $150,000 California Dreamin Handicap at a mile and one-sixteenth over the infield Jimmy Durante Turf Course. The race attracted eleven California-bred runners.
Post time for the first of ten races Sunday is 2 p.m.