The Grade 1, $400,000 Bing Crosby Stakes, which provides the winner with an all-expenses -aid, automatic entry into the Cygames Breeders’ Cup Sprint on Nov. 1, drew a strong field of nine Saturday at Del Mar.

In terms of recent best efforts at this level, Crazy Mason fits the bill, having won the Grade 2 Carter Stakes Presented by NYRA Bets in April. Roll On Big Joe won the Grade 3 Kelly’s Landing Stakes last month and also the Grade 3 Palos Verdes Stakes earlier this year. Lovesick Blues won the Siren Lure Stakes on grass two months back and attempts to run as well in the Bing Crosby while making the switch back to dirt. World Record won the Grade 2 Amsterdam Stakes in 2024 and was recently second in the Grade 3 Aristides Stakes. Dr. Venkman was a close second behind Roll On Big Joe in the Kelly’s Landing and finished second in the Grade 3 Triple Bend Stakes prior to that. Hejazi returned from 16 ½ months on the sidelines last month when second in a highly rated allowance race, won by Mbagnick. Hejazi finished second in the 2023 Malibu Stakes, a Grade 1 sprint, two races before the layoff. Smooth Cruisein finished 4 ¼ lengths behind Dr. Venkman when third in the Triple Bend in May for his best stakes result to date. Spirit of Makena won the Triple Bend Stakes in 2023 when it was a Grade 2 race but is winless in five races since then.

Analysis and main contenders:

World Record hasn’t yet set a world record but he’s run exceptionally fast, such as when winning in May of this year and running six furlongs in a sizzling 1:07.84, earning a 111 Equibase Speed Figure, which is the third-highest figure earned by any horse in this field for the distance of the Bing Crosby, just behind the 114 figure Roll On Big Joe earned winning the Palos Verdes Stakes in February and the 112 figure Mbagnick earned for winning an allowance-optional claiming race last month. Since adding blinkers in July of last year, World Record has won three of six races, including the Amsterdam Stakes one year ago. Following the win in May, World Record may have returned a bit too soon in his second start back after a long layoff in the Aristides Stakes, where he led by a length in the stretch and was caught and passed but still battled gamely to the finish line to end up in a dead heat for second. Coming into the Bing Crosby, World Record has been rested nearly two months and can fire fresh as he did in May. Not only does jockey Flavien Prat get the most out of World Record when aboard, but (per a Race Lens query) Prat and trainer Rodolphe Brisset have a very strong record going back four years where they have combined to win 13 of 43 races (25%), with 28 of those 43 starters having finished in the money. Prat leads all North American jockeys by purse earnings ($19.1 million) in 2025 to date, winning 156 of 631 races (25%). Prat choosing to ride this horse and forego an entire day at Saratoga Race Course, where he has been riding daily, says a lot about the chances of World Record winning this race.

Roll On Big Joe winning Kelly's Landing Stakes. (Eclipse Sportswire)

Roll On Big Joe has finished first or second in six straight races and, more importantly, earned wins in both stakes races he has competed in during that span. He won the Palos Verdes Stakes in February at the distance of the Bing Crosby and earned a then career-best 114 speed figure in doing so. Two races later, he won a race at Churchill Downs with a new career-best 121 Equibase Speed Figure, before winning the Kelly’s Landing Stakes four weeks ago with a 104. Jockey Julien Leparoux has ridden Roll On Big Joe just twice, in both recent wins, and travels west to ride him in the Bing Crosby. If there is a concern, it’s that the 5-year-old gelding has nearly as many second-place finishes, six to be precise, as wins (seven) in his career. However, if he repeats either of his three most recent winning efforts, he could be very tough to beat.

Crazy Mason, like World Record and Roll On Big Joe, ships into California from parts elsewhere to try to earn a spot in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint this fall. In sprint races on dirt, the colt has won four of eight, including the Carter Stakes in April with a 107 speed figure. He improved to a career-best 111 Equibase Speed Figure when third in the True North Stakes in June, a race in which he was not disgraced as it was won by sprint division leader Book’em Danno, who returned to win the Alfred G. Vanderbilt Stakes July 19. Crazy Mason usually races at the back of the field, having won three races in a row from January through April with visually impressive late rallies. In this year’s Bing Crosby, many of the other eight entrants have shown a tendency to lead or press the pace in the early stages, setting up Crazy Mason for a big late run once again. Having put in a scintillating :47.40 half-mile workout before leaving New York, which was the best of 98 timed workouts on the day at the distance, Crazy Mason is showing us he remains in top form and must be respected as a contender in this year’s Bing Crosby Stakes.

The rest of the field (with best Equibase Speed Figure in a similar race): Dr. Venkman (113), Hejazi (110), Lovesick Blues (113), Mbagnick (112), Smooth Cruisein (104) and Spirit of Makena (109).

Win Contenders:

World Record

Roll On Big Joe

Crazy Mason