The 81st running of the $400,000, Grade 1 Bing Crosby Stakes Saturday at Del Mar drew a field of nine older horses, seven of which are stakes winners. A Breeders’ Cup Challenge Series “Win and You’re In” qualifier for the Cygames Sprint, the Bing Crosby over the last 25 years has produced four Sprint winners: Kona Gold, Amazombie, Roy H and most recently Straight No Chaser. Contested at six furlongs on dirt and open to 3-year-olds and up, this year’s edition brings together an interesting group all over the age of 4 with only one horse in the field whose last race was in the state of California.
Here’s a look at the field from the inside (rail) post position out:
Maximum Bourbon, a 4-year-old Maximum Security gelding, is coming off a 5 ¾-length win in the St. Matthews Overnight Stakes at Churchill Downs on April 30 last time out. Prior to the St. Matthews, Maximum Bourbon was purchased for $400,000 at the Fasig Tipton March Digital Sale and joined the Phil D’Amato stable. Jockey Joel Rosario will be aboard for the first time. Listenupschance was competing in maiden claiming races just a year ago and in 2026 as a 4-year-old he’s finished runner-up in the San Carlos Stakes and third by just three quarters of a length last time out to Book’em Danno in the True North Stakes at Saratoga for trainer Doug O’Neill. Emisael Jaramillo will be back aboard for the first time since their runner-up finish together in the San Carlos in March. Dr. Venkman, who finished fourth in last year’s Bing Crosby, will be making his second start after a nearly eight-month layoff for trainer Mark Glatt. Umberto Rispoli will be reunited with Dr. Venkman for the first time since their third-place finish in the 2025 Breeders’ Cup Sprint. The 6-year-old Ghostzapper gelding is a career 4-for-7 at Del Mar and seeks his first win at this six-furlong distance. The veteran of the group at the age of 7, For All Mankind exits the Speightstown Sprint Stakes at Lone Star Park where he finished second by just a neck on May 25. Trained by John Sadler since shipping to the U.S. from France in 2023, For All Mankind will have Armando Ayuso aboard. Stronghold, D’Amato’s second entrant, is fresh off a 2 ½-length victory in the Triple Bend Stakes at Santa Anita Park on May 31. The 5-year-old son of Ghostzapper is the only Grade 1 winner in the field; however, he is winless at Del Mar and at this six-furlong distance. Despite his southern California connections, Cornucopian ships in from Churchill Downs where he won the Aristides Stakes on May 30 and posted a four-furlong workout on July 18. Cornucopian, a 4-year-old Into Mischief colt purchased for $1.1 million as a yearling, is undefeated at this six-furlong distance and will be making his first start at Del Mar for trainer Bob Baffert with Juan Hernandez aboard. Gold Sweep, a 5-year-old son of Speightstown, ships in from Illinois for trainer John Haran and will have Hall of Fame rider Mike Smith aboard for the first time. Last time out, Gold Sweep finished fourth in the Bango Stakes on a sloppy Churchill Downs track. He will be making his 15th career start at this six-furlong distance. Mad House exits the Aristides where he finished fifth behind Cornucopian (Gold Sweep was third). The 4-year-old Vekoma gelding trained by David VanWinkle has five wins and a second from eight starts going six furlongs on dirt. Sonny Leon will be reunited with Mad House for the first time since an allowance optional claiming race together at Tampa Bay Downs in March. Notably, this will be Leon’s first career mount at Del Mar. Moonlight drew the far outside for trainer Peter Miller with Victor Espinoza named to ride. The 5-year-old son of Audible ships in from Kentucky, where he ran in the Hanshin Stakes Presented by JRA last time out on June 28 at Churchill and recently posted a bullet five-furlong work at Keeneland.
Analysis and Main Contenders:
In a race filled with early speed, the pace scenario in this year’s Bing Crosby sets up perfectly for Dr. Venkman, who has a wonderful opportunity to close into this group at a track where he has four wins from seven starts. Dr. Venkman started his career at Del Mar in 2023, winning his first two starts at the track in dirt sprints by a combined winning margin of 10 ¾ lengths. He has gone on to become a regular presence in stakes races, shortening up in distance starting in 2025, and he ranks first in this race both by average class with a 113 and average speed with a 106 Equibase Speed Figure (ESF). Not only has Dr. Venkman been facing some of the best sprinters throughout his career, but he has also run consistently well each time. Prior to his last start finishing sixth in the Bango Stakes (which was his first start off a nearly eight-month layoff and his first time on the slop), Dr. Venkman has never finished worse than fourth in any of his graded stakes starts, with a pair of graded wins at Del Mar. In the seven-furlong Pat O’Brien Stakes last August, Dr. Venkman put on a brilliant performance with Umberto Rispoli aboard for the first time and earned a 113 Equibase Speed Figure after going up the rail and holding firmly to win by a half-length over fellow Bing Crosby contender Stronghold. In September, Dr. Venkman went on to finish runner-up in the Santa Anita Sprint Championship Stakes before a career-best performance in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint, where he was closing fast and finished third by 2 ¼ lengths, earning a 116 Equibase figure and outrunning his 39.7-1 odds.
Dr. Venkman was sidelined all the way until June following his Breeders’ Cup effort, and started back on the work tab in late March at Santa Anita. In his return in the Bango Stakes at Churchill, Dr. Venkman was up against it from the get-go, shipping across the country for his first start off a long layoff and running in the slop for the first time in his career. The deep Churchill track, especially when sloppy, is extremely different than the fast California dirt Dr. Venkman has been most successful on. Dr. Venkman should massively improve second off the layoff when returning to his home course and track condition. Along with that, his class and speed alone put him in major contention in this spot along with a notable positive that red-hot Umberto Rispoli will be back aboard. Based on his subpar effort in the Bango Stakes, Dr. Venkman should provide solid value in this spot, especially considering that his running style can help him close into a presumably hot pace.
While the rail post position might not be exactly ideal for the speedy Maximum Bourbon, the last time he broke from post 1 he drew clear to win by 7 ½ lengths. Maximum Bourbon will be up against it vying for the lead as most of this group has a pacesetting or pressing running style. Earlier this year as a 4-year-old, he fired off two wins at the allowance level at Fair Grounds racing at a six-furlong distance. In March, he finished runner-up to Built at the same level back at Fair Grounds and was then purchased for $400,000 and joined the Phil D’Amato stable. Maximum Bourbon resurfaced with new owners’ silks in April at Churchill and was ridden out to a dominant 5 ¾-length victory in the St. Matthews Overnight Stakes, earning a career-best 112 Equibase figure. All three of his wins came gate-to-wire or pressing the pace early, which is most likely the plan for the Bing Crosby. Despite his frontrunning style, Maximum Bourbon is ranked second by late pace with a 117.5 rating and based off of his last performance, is in top form for the new barn. Following the St. Matthews, Maximum Bourbon shipped to Santa Anita, posting seven published works. On July 19, Maximum Bourbon worked four furlongs on Del Mar’s dirt track, which is a positive that he has at least been accustomed to the surface. Maximum Bourbon has never run at any other distance besides six furlongs and has five wins and a second at the distance on regular dirt. With his improving speed figures and ability to consistently find the winner’s circle at this distance, Maximum Bourbon is a major contender in this spot to improve yet again to win his first graded stakes race.
Cornucopian could very well run away with this race in his first career start at Del Mar. The Into Mischief colt started his career at Oaklawn Park in February 2025, romping by 5 ¾ lengths in a six-furlong maiden special weight before making a bid in the Arkansas Derby, finishing fourth. Cornucopian then shipped to Aqueduct last April and finished second at the allowance optional claiming level before he was away from racing for over nine months. Cornucopian resurfaced this past January at Santa Anita with an impressive three-length win off the long layoff. In March, he was much the best in the San Carlos Stakes back at Santa Anita, earning his first graded stakes victory by 2 ¾ lengths. He then shipped to Churchill Downs in May and made a disappointing bid when fifth the Churchill Downs Stakes Presented by Ford, breaking farther back than his usual running style requires and flattening out in the stretch. Cornucopian bounced back in a big way, remaining at Churchill to win the Aristides Stakes back at his preferred six-furlong distance. Cornucopian earned a tremendous 118 Equibase Speed Figure for his performance in the Aristides, which is the highest figure achieved of any horse in this field. Historically, horses in graded stakes races on dirt with the highest last-out Equibase figure win at 31% from 297 starts over the past year and finish 60% in the money. Oddly enough, Cornucopian has stayed at Churchill since his last race, and recorded his most recent work in Louisville on July 18 when he went four furlongs in 47 seconds flat. Jockey Juan Hernandez has two wins from three mounts aboard Cornucopian, including is only graded stakes win in the San Carlos. Baffert and Hernandez win at 37% in all races together at Del Mar over the last three years and 33% in graded stakes races at all tracks in the same time frame. Apart from his winning connections, Cornucopian is ranked first in both early pace with a 104.9 and late pace with a 122.5, which is a rare combination for any horse to be able to carry their speed that well. While he won’t provide a lot of value, Cornucopian could easily find the winner’s circle in this spot and should be on every ticket.
The rest of the field with their best Equibase Speed Figures in similar races, is Listenupshance (110), For All Mankind (109), Stronghold (112), Gold Sweep (113), Mad House (111), and Moonlight (108).
Win Contenders in Preference Order:
Dr. Venkman
Maximum Bourbon
Cornucopian
