Drefong, Ransom the Moon Eye Future After Hectic Crosby

The day after a rodeo of a race in the July 29 Bing Crosby Stakes (G1), the connections of the top horses involved are mostly looking forward.

Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert was a bit flummoxed in the Del Mar grandstand July 30, after consecutive Saturdays at the seaside racetrack provided disappointing results for two of his champion horses.

Arrogate's fourth-place finish in the TVG San Diego Handicap (G2) was followed by Drefong's Bing Crosby, in which he unseated jockey Mike Smith a few strides into the race, when he ducked in sharply into the gap as he came out of the chute in the six-furlong sprint.

"There are a lot of ways to get beat and that's one of them," Baffert said. "You just are glad everybody is fine and safe. He could have just as easily broken a shoulder, but all is good. (Arrogate) just didn't run, but this was—things happen. You just gotta shake it off. I was worried he was going to hit the rail and break his shoulder."

Baffert's mood quickly shifted to jocularity, though, regarding the champion sprinter's 2017 debut.

"I'd have liked to see him relax behind horses," Baffert joked of the chaos Drefong created without Smith, when he rushed up on the inside, and then floated out race favorite Roy H very wide late in the turn to set up an inside run and win for Ransom the Moon. "He didn't get any schooling out of that. Could he learn how to relax and sit? He said, 'no.' He wanted no part of that. He's a competitor. He was still trying to win at the end.

"You just gotta laugh it off, because you can't change it. It was out of our control."

BALAN: Ransom the Moon Wins Wild Bing Crosby

Baffert said he's considering a trip to Saratoga Race Course next for the 4-year-old Gio Ponti   colt for the Aug. 26 Forego Stakes (G1). Last season, Drefong shipped to Saratoga for the same weekend and won the Ketel One King's Bishop Stakes (G1).

Race winner Ransom the Moon, on the other hand, is planning to stay home for the Sept. 30 Santa Anita Sprint Championship (G1), which will serve as a prep for the Breeders' Cup Sprint (G1) back at Del Mar.

The 5-year-old son of Malibu Moon   was not specifically purchased from breeder Sam-Son Farm to run on dirt, after some limited success on turf and synthetic at Woodbine, but trainer Phil D'Amato quickly decided that was his best path after a few workouts at Santa Anita Park.

"His whole career he was training on the synthetic at Woodbine, so I had no idea when he last set foot on a dirt course," D'Amato said. "From day one, when I breezed him on the main track, he sold me on (running him) on the main track. So I talked to the owners and said, 'It might not work out, but he's training so well on the dirt, so let's give him a try. If it doesn't work out, we'll put him on the grass next time.'"

It worked out in an optional-claiming allowance at Santa Anita in April, and he came back a month later to win the Kona Gold Stakes (G2) in his graded debut a month later.

Trainer Peter Miller said two of his three Bing Crosby entrants—Roy H and Solid Wager—came out of the race in good order. St. Joe Bay, who Miller said "got clipped" by the loose Drefong, had some superficial cuts, the trainer reported. Miller said plans for Roy H going forward have not been finalized, but the Breeders' Cup Sprint is his ultimate target.

"We thought Roy H was much the best," Miller said of the forced-wide trip for the True North (G2) winner. "It was very difficult to watch. I couldn't even watch the replay for a lot of reasons."