Hong Kong Harry Leads High-Quality Seabiscuit

Hong Kong Harry  looks to continue his hot streak in the $250,000 Seabiscuit Handicap (G2T) Nov. 26 at Del Mar. The 1 1/16-mile turf battle features nine older turf horses, including graded stakes winners Santin , Smooth Like Strait , Beyond Brilliant , and Set Piece . 

The Phil D'Amato-trained gelding has yet to finish outside of the top two all year and only once failed to win. His last time out, Hong Kong Harry won the Del Mar Mile Stakes (G2T) Sept. 3 by 2 1/4 lengths to get back in the Winner's Circle. Before that, the son of Es Que Love  was a distant second in the Eddie Read Stakes (G2T) at Del Mar.

Out of Vital Body  by Gold Away , Hong Kong Harry is 4-1-0 in five starts this year, marking his debut in the United States. Even before his domestic arrival, he had success, going 4-1-1 in seven starts.

Owned by Scott Anastasi, Jimmy Ukegawa, and Tony Valazza, Hong Kong Harry was bought for the equivalent of $122,768 at the 2021 Tattersalls Autumn Horses In Training Sale out of the Musley Bank Stables consignment. He was bred by Amarath Business Management.

A top contender is Cannon Thoroughbreds' homebred Smooth Like Strait. Approaching $2 million in earnings, the 5-year-old son of Midnight Lute   is coming off a ninth-place running in the FanDuel Breeders' Cup Mile Presented by PDJF (G1T). But before that was a long run of top-three finishes in grade 1 and grade 2 stakes, including when runner-up to Santin in the Arlington Million Stakes (G1T) at Churchill Downs.

Out of Flower Alley  mare Smooth as Usual , Smooth Like Strait is trained by Michael McCarthy.

"He had a little bit of an extended break between the Arlington Million and the Breeders' Cup Mile," McCarthy said. "So he's a horse with some fresh legs. He's run well at Del Mar and we thought we'd go ahead give this a shot."

The other millionaire in the field is Godolphin homebred Santin. Trained by Brendan Walsh and by Distorted Humor , Santin finished ninth in the Coolmore Turf Mile Stakes (G1T) after taking the Arlington Million over Smooth Like Strait by three-quarters of a length. Santin's year has been one to remember, with a 2-1-0 record in six starts and $1,297,600 in earnings.

Another contestant in the Breeders' Cup Mile, Beyond Brilliant, returns west, where he has run all of his races except for the Breeders' Cup. Before finishing eighth Nov. 5 at Keeneland, the bay colt by Twirling Candy   earlier this year captured the City of Hope Mile Stakes (G2T) and the Charles Whittingham Stakes (G2T), both at Santa Anita Park. Trained by John Shirreffs and bred and owned by C R K Stables, Beyond Brilliant has a mark of 5-3-2 in 15 starts with earnings of $726,780.

Also in the field are Irideo , who finished behind Hong Kong Harry in the Del Mar Mile; Kentucky Ghost , who has more starts at the 1 1/16 mile distance (eight) than anyone else in the field; Lincoln Hawk ; Masteroffoxhounds ; and Set Piece.

Entries: Seabiscuit H. (G2T)

Del Mar, Saturday, November 26, 2022, Race 7

• Grade IIT
• 1 1/16m
• Turf
• $250,000
• 3 yo's & up
• 3:30 PM (local)

PP	Horse	Jockey	Wgt	Trainer	M/L
1	1Santin (KY)	Umberto Rispoli	125	Brendan P. Walsh	3/1
2	2Masteroffoxhounds (KY)	Mike E. Smith	122	Philip D'Amato	12/1
3	3Hong Kong Harry (IRE)	Flavien Prat	124	Philip D'Amato	7/2
4	4Smooth Like Strait (KY)	John R. Velazquez	122	Michael W. McCarthy	4/1
5	5Beyond Brilliant (KY)	Victor Espinoza	124	John A. Shirreffs	4/1
6	6Lincoln Hawk (IRE)	Joe Bravo	117	Philip D'Amato	20/1
7	7Irideo (ARG)	Hector Isaac Berrios	120	Marcelo Polanco	10/1
8	8Set Piece (GB)	Juan J. Hernandez	121	Brad H. Cox	5/1
9	9Kentucky Ghost (KY)	Ramon A. Vazquez	119	Victoria H. Oliver	20/1