Baffert's High Velocity, Thousand Words Head Bob Hope
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Photo: Anne M. Eberhardt
Bob Baffert is aiming for his 10th victory in the Bob Hope Stakes
Although the Nov. 16 featured race at Del Mar is named after late entertainer Bob Hope, it is another Bob—Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert—who is often the center of attention for the $100,000 Bob Hope Stakes (G3), having won it nine times since 1996.
He looks for his 10th win Saturday when he runs High Velocity and Thousand Words in the seven-furlong race for 2-year-olds, a race that often launches its winner into the Los Alamitos Futurity (G2), a $200,000 race Dec. 7 going 1 1/16 miles at Los Alamitos Race Course. Only four others are lined up to face the duo, including a pair trained by Doug O'Neill: Strongconstitution and Howbeit.
Even without Baffert's winning Bob Hope history, High Velocity and Thousand Words would be imposing entrants, having won their only starts at Santa Anita Park. High Velocity scored Oct. 13, racing 5 1/2 furlongs in 1:04.60 on his way to a two-length victory, and Thousand Words was a half-length winner Oct. 26, going 6 1/2 furlongs in a snappy 1:16.77.
Both were fancied auction horses at the 2018 Keeneland September Yearling Sale. High Velocity sold for $350,000 to agent Ben Glass, purchasing on behalf of owners Gary and Mary West, and Thousand Words fetched $1 million from owners Albaugh Family Stables and Spendthrift Farm.
Drayden Van Dyke rides High Velocity, a son of Quality Road out of the grade 3-placed Dixie Union dam Ketel Twist.
Video: Race 1 (MSW) at SA on 10/13/19
Flavien Prat has the mount on Thousand Words, a colt by Pioneerof the Nile out of multiple graded stakes winner Pomeroys Pistol, by Pomeroy.
Video: Race 4 (MSW) at SA on 10/26/19
Baffert has won three of the past four renewals of the Bob Hope with Toews On Ice (2015), Mastery (2016), and Mucho Gusto (2018). The latter was later second to stablemate Improbable in last year's Los Alamitos Cash Call Futurity when that race was a grade 1.
O'Neill's Strongconstitution is expected to be the more fancied at the betting windows of his two entries. He won a five-furlong maiden race Aug. 23 at Del Mar on grass before finishing second, beaten a neck by stablemate Fore Left, in the restricted Oct. 20 Sunny Slope Stakes at Santa Anita. Pocketed in third during the early portion of that race, he dove inside loose-on-the-lead Fore Left for the stretch run but proved unable to pass in relatively intimidating quarters.
Abel Cedillo replaces Martin Garcia aboard the 2-year-old Constitution colt owned by Roadrunner Racing and Sayjay Racing.
C T R Stables' Howbeit, by Secret Circle , is more of an outsider for O'Neill, stepping into the stakes ranks for the first time after winning a maiden race at Los Alamitos Sept. 21 and a starter allowance Oct. 10 at Santa Anita. Rafael Bejarano rides.
The other horses in the field are Rager, a maiden winner on debut in a 5 1/2-furlong turf race Oct. 20 at Santa Anita, and Zimba Warrior, third in the Sunny Slope Stakes.
Post time for the Bob Hope is 7 p.m. ET.
Del Mar, Saturday, November 16, 2019, Race 8Entries: Bob Hope S. (G3)
PP
Horse
Jockey
Wgt
Trainer
M/L
1
1Rager (KY)
Martin Garcia
118
Andrew Lerner
12/1
98
2Howbeit (KY)
SCRATCHED
0
UNKNOWN
-
2
3Thousand Words (FL)
Flavien Prat
118
Bob Baffert
7/5
3
4Zimba Warrior (FL)
Jose Valdivia, Jr.
118
J. Keith Desormeaux
12/1
4
5High Velocity (KY)
Drayden Van Dyke
118
Bob Baffert
5/2
5
6Strongconstitution (KY)
Abel Cedillo
118
Doug F. O'Neill
9/5
