Bourbon Bay will make his first start since
winning the San Juan Capistrano Handicap on April 18 at Santa Anita against
seven opponents in the Clement L. Hirsch Turf Championship Presented by TVG.
Owned
by David and Jill Heerensperger and trained by Neil Drysdale, Bourbon Bay
wrapped a stellar Santa Anita winter-spring meet with his San Juan victory.
A
4-year-old son of Sligo Bay out of the Conquistador Cielo mare Coral
Necklace, Bourbon
Bay won three other races
during the season. Two of them – like the Capistrano –were Grade II’s.
Bourbon Bay
also took the San Luis Obispo
and San Luis Rey Handicaps, enabling him to become only the third horse –
joining Astray (1974) and Kotashaan (1993) to win all three races.
Third
and fourth in two previous starts on the Hollywood Park turf course, Bourbon
Bay will also be seeking his first win at the Hirsch distance of 1 ¼ miles.
Overall, he has five wins in 13 tries and has banked $389,424.
Rafael
Bejarano will ride Bourbon
Bay. Like all other
starters, the gelding will carry 124 pounds.
Champ
Pegasus, who earned his first graded win when taking the Del Mar Handicap, a
Grade II, on Aug. 29, will be seeking his fourth win in eight starts for
owner-breeders Diamond A Racing Corporation and Arturo Vargas.
Trained
by Richard Mandella, who has won the Hirsch on four occasions, the 4-year-old
Fusaichi Pegasus colt and the Salt
Lake mare Salt Champ has
earned $208,520. In his last start at Hollywood Park,
Champ Pegasus was second behind the Drysdale-trained Marlang, who was also
entered in the Hirsch, in the Sunset Handicap on July 18.
Mandella
will also be represented by Worth Repeating. Third in the Del Mar Handicap in
his graded debut, the 4-year-old son of Giant’s Causeway
and the A.P. Indy mare Lady Nichola has won two of 13 and banked $115,240 for
Spendthrift Farm LLC. He won an allowance race locally on May 7.
After
his wire-to-wire victory in the Sunset, Marlang, a 5-year-old Langfuhr horse
and the Conquistador Cielo mare Marienburg owned by Gustav Schickendanz,
finished last in the Sword Dancer, a Grade I, on Aug. 14 at Saratoga. The
Canadian bred has won five of 16 while banking $560,712.
The
field also includes Buenos Dias and Falcon Rock, who finished second and
fourth, respectively, in the Del Mar Handicap, Unusual Suspect, who is winless
in 11 starts in 2010 and the California
bred Where’s the Remote.
Owned
by Greg Unruh, the 4-year-old Unbridled Native gelding and the Corwyn Bay
mare Sit Back’n Relax has won two in a row on grass for trainer Mike Mitchell.
He’s 3-for-5 lifetime while earning $115,060.
The
field, from inside out, for the 42nd Clement L. Hirsch Turf
Championship: Champ Pegasus, Joel Rosario rides, 124 pounds; Worth Repeating,
Joe Talamo, 124; Where’s the Remote, Mike Smith, 124; Unusual Suspect, Patrick
Valenzuela, 124; Marlang, Martin Garcia, 124; Bourbon Bay, Rafael Bejarano,
124; Falcon Rock, Corey Nakatani, 124 and Buenos Dias, Brice Blanc, 124.