McKinzie Dials Back in Distance for Bing Crosby Stakes

Four-time grade 1 winner McKinzie will be asked to run the shortest distance of his racing career to date Aug. 1 when he tries to add a fifth top-level score to his resume in the $250,000 Bing Crosby Stakes (G1) at Del Mar.

Owned by Karl Watson, Mike Pegram, and Paul Weitman and trained by Hall of Famer Bob Baffert, the son of Street Sense  has earned graded wins from seven furlongs to 1 1/8 miles. The bay horse won his racing debut going seven furlongs at Los Alamitos Race Course at 2 in 2017, notched a grade 1 score at the same distance in the Malibu Stakes at Santa Anita Park at 3, and most recently made short work of distance again in the Triple Bend Stakes (G2) June 7 at the same track.

While the six-furlong Bing Crosby will test the 5-year-old's early speed, Baffert said he doesn't expect that cutting back in distance will negatively impact the horse. 

"He's got speed. All good horses have speed," Baffert said. "The only good horse of mine that couldn't run short was (Kentucky Derby, G1, winner) Real Quiet." 

Hall of Fame jockey and regular rider Mike Smith will have the call on McKinzie once again from post 4. 

The Bing Crosby is part of the Breeders' Cup Challenge Series and awards the winner with an automatic berth into the Nov. 7 Breeders' Cup Sprint (G1) at Keeneland.

Looking to bounce back off an uncharacteristic 13th-place finish in the July 11 Shakertown Stakes (G2T) at Keeneland is W.C. Racing homebred Wildman Jack.

Trained by Doug O'Neill, the son of Goldencents  will switch to dirt for the first time this season in the Bing Crosby. The 4-year-old already had two wins to his name on the grass in 2020 having scored in the March 7 Nad Al Sheba Turf Sprint Sponsored by Arabian Adventures (G3) at Meydan Racecourse and the May 23 Daytona Stakes (G3T) at Santa Anita.

Since his Shakertown defeat and subsequent return to California, Wildman Jack has put in an impressive four-furlong work on the Del Mar dirt for O'Neill. On July 26 he was clocked in :46 1/5 for his efforts from the gate, the fastest of 107 horses at the distance. 

Wildman Jack will break from post 8 under Umberto Rispoli.

Trainer Mark Glatt will send out two in the Bing Crosby. The eldest of the two runners is 6-year-old gelding Law Abidin Citizen, a multiple graded stakes-winning son of Twirling Candy .

Owned by Dan Agnew, Gerry Schneider, and John Xitco, Law Abidin Citizen will enter the Bing Crosby off his only win in 2020—a June 14 allowance optional claiming score at Santa Anita. The gelding opened the year with a fourth-place finish in the March 7 San Carlos Stakes (G2) at Santa Anita and followed that effort with a runner-up finish in a May 16 allowance optional claiming race at the same track. 

Law Abidin Citizen's last graded win came in August 2019 when he took the Longacres Mile Handicap (G3) at Emerald Downs. He will break from post 7 in the Bing Crosby with Abel Cedillo in the irons. 

Glatt stablemate Collusion Illusion—owned by the same partnership as Law Abidin Citizen with the addition of Rodney Orr—will be the youngest runner in the Bing Crosby field. The 3-year-old Twirling Candy colt has won four of his five career starts, his only misstep coming at 2 when he was pulled up in the American Pharoah Stakes (G1) and walked off. 

Collusion Illusion won his sophomore debut in an allowance optional claiming race May 17 at Santa Anita. He most recently took the June 20 Lazaro Barrera Stakes (G3) at the same track by a clear 3 1/4 lengths. 

Flavien Prat will have the call on the Florida-bred from post 9. 

Entries: Bing Crosby S. (G1)

Del Mar, Saturday, August 01, 2020, Race 10

• Grade I
• 6f
• Dirt
• $250,000
• 3 yo's & up
• 6:30 PM (local)

PP	Horse	Jockey	Wgt	Trainer	M/L
1	Lexitonian (KY)	Drayden Van Dyke	122	Jack Sisterson	-
2	Anyportinastorm (FL)	Juan J. Hernandez	122	Blaine D. Wright	-
3	Desert Law (CA)	Victor Espinoza	122	Carla Gaines	-
4	McKinzie (KY)	Mike E. Smith	124	Bob Baffert	-
5	P R Radio Star (KY)	Mario Gutierrez	122	Philip D'Amato	-
6	Fashionably Fast (CA)	Tiago Josue Pereira	122	Dean Pederson	-
7	Law Abidin Citizen (KY)	Abel Cedillo	122	Mark Glatt	-
8	Wildman Jack (KY)	UMBERTO RISPOLI	122	Doug F. O'Neill	-
9	Collusion Illusion (FL)	Flavien Prat	118	Mark Glatt	-
10	Heartwood (KY)	Edwin A. Maldonado	122	James K. Chapman	-