2025 Bing Crosby Stakes Preview at Del Mar

Key Takeaways:

• World Record (3-1) ships in off a sharp second in the Aristides and draws top jockey Flavien Prat.
• Hejazi (7-2) returned strong off a long layoff and gets the Baffert bump as a major player second off.
• Roll On Big Joe (6-1) brings strong recent form and versatile speed but faces a tight pace scenario.
• With no Grade 1 winners in the field, this race offers wide-open betting value for Breeders’ Cup hopefuls.

A bid to the Breeders’ Cup Sprint is at stake Saturday, July 26, at Del Mar in the Grade 1, $400,000 Bing Crosby Stakes. The six-furlong race drew a field of nine, and with the Breeders’ Cup happening at Del Mar again this year, it’s a great way for connections to test how their horses will handle the course and distance of the Breeders’ Cup Sprint.

The Bing Crosby drew a closely matched group of nine this year. Though the field features some graded-stakes winners like Dr. Venkman, Spirit of Makena, Roll On Big Joe, World Record, and Crazy Mason, every horse in the field is seeking their first Grade 1 win. This should lead to not only an exciting horse race, but also an excellent betting opportunity.

Bing Crosby Stakes Information

• Race Date: Saturday, July 26
• Track: Del Mar Thoroughbred Club
• Post Time: 6:30 p.m. Pacific Daylight Time
• Distance: Six furlongs on the dirt
• Age/Sex: Three-year-olds and upward
• Where to Watch: FanDuel TV
• Where to Bet: FanDuel Racing

2025 Bing Crosby Stakes Draw and Odds

This is the field for the Bing Crosby at Del Mar, including post positions, trainers, jockeys, and morning-line odds.

Bing Crosby Stakes Prep Race Results

The nine runners in the Bing Crosby come out of six different races, all but one of them being graded-stakes races.

Two runners come out of the Kelly’s Landing (G3) on June 28 at Churchill Downs: Roll On Big Joe shipped east to win the race, holding off Dr. Venkman, and the pair clashes again in the Bing Crosby. Before going in the Kelly’s Landing, Roll On Big Joe was second in the Triple Bend (G2) on May 31 at Santa Anita—third-place Smooth Cruisein and fourth-place Spirit of Makena took a break after that race, and both return in the Bing Crosby. (Winner Nysos stretches out for the San Diego (G2), also on Saturday at Del Mar.)

Two other horses come out of dirt sprint stakes out east; both try the West Coast for the first time. World Record was most recently second to Durante in the Aristides on May 31 and has freshened up since that race. Crazy Mason ran on late for third in the True North (G3) on June 7 at Saratoga; the winner, Book’em Danno, has already franked the form in the Vanderbilt (G2) at Saratoga last weekend.

Only one horse comes out of a turf race. Lovesick Blues has bounced between dirt and turf through his career, but his last four starts have all come on the lawn, and he was most recently fourth in the Daytona (G3) down the Santa Anita hill on June 14.

Two horses, Mbagnick and Hejazi, come out of a six-furlong allowance-optional claiming sprint at Santa Anita on June 13. Mbagnick set the pace and held on by half a length over the stalking Hejazi, who was making his first start in about a year and a half.

Bing Crosby Stakes Contenders

These are the 9 contenders in the 2025 Bing Crosby Stakes, in order of post position.

1. Crazy Mason: The fair tracks in New York have been kind to this late-running son of Coal Front, but shipping west is an odd move. It makes a certain sense, after all—if he stayed in New York, he’d have to keep clashing with Book’em Danno, and he’s no Book’em Danno. But, now he has to face Del Mar, which tends to be friendly to speed in races like this. To be fair … he could very well get the setup he needs, with quite a few horses in this race liable to show speed. And, he has been able to rally and win even when the pace was modest. But, demand enough of a price to answer the question of whether he’ll get all the way there at Del Mar.
2. Dr. Venkman: A consistent sort, he does his best work at Del Mar, and the only time he has run off the board was a fourth-place try in the 1 ¼-mile Pacific Classic. On one hand, this is a new challenge for him—he has a ton of experience going 6 ½ furlongs or seven furlongs, but has never cut back to the flat six. That means the real six-furlong types will probably outjump him to the lead. But, he can win from a stalking spot, and regular rider Antonio Fresu knows Del Mar well enough to think he can judge the ride from this shorter trip.
3. Hejazi: A Grade 1-placed juvenile of 2022, he didn’t really make it down the Kentucky Derby trail, and his career has been more layoff than on-track. To his credit, he ran a huge effort when he returned June 13 in a six-furlong allowance, going fast enough to fit right in with this field, and only missing to the frontrunning Mbagnick—a far more seasoned six-year-old, who will probably get more contention on the front end this time than he got last out. The bad news is he’ll probably get overbet on the Baffert factor, but the stalking style and six-furlong form fit well.
4. Smooth Cruisein: Perhaps best known for being the horse who upset Journalism in his debut win, Smooth Cruisein hasn’t won at the stakes level yet, but both of his wins have come over six furlongs. So, the cutback from the Triple Bend—where he finished a well-beaten third of four behind Nysos—is a welcome move. But, he does his better work when he can get up close to the pace, and he may not be good enough to both get where he needs to be early and have enough in the tank to remain a factor late.
5. World Record: His graded win came going 6 ½ furlongs in the Amsterdam last year, but he has a pair of wins in quality allowance races going six furlongs, and ran a close second in the Aristides over that distance last out while being right on a very sharp pace all the way around, only getting caught by long shot Durante, who came from a couple lengths back. The question is whether that happens again, as Roll On Big Joe and Mbagnick outside of him also have the kind of speed he does. But, Flavien Prat has taken advantage of his tactical speed before as well, meaning there’s some chance he can let the horses outside him do the dirty work if they really push the issue.
6. Roll On Big Joe: He has won two straight and four of his last five, including a pair of graded-stakes races in that time—the Palos Verdes (G3) at Santa Anita and the Kelly’s Landing at Churchill Downs. He has a lot of early speed, which could get thorny drawn between a pair of speed types, but he has shown that he can battle and stay on, or even stalk just a little, like he did when he won the Kelly’s Landing last out. Six furlongs is sweet for him, as he has been in the exacta in six of seven tries at the trip. Del Mar is the bigger question – he has only run there twice, with his best finish being a second, but there’s an argument that he’s a better horse now than he ever was those two previous times he tried the Del Mar dirt.
7. Mbagnick: The post is solid, as he is drawn to the outside of the clump of speed horses. The drawback is, he is probably the least tactical of the bunch, meaning to get a winning run, he is going to really have to gun it past a pair of fast ones, World Record and Roll On Big Joe, early. He has some upside – this six-year-old son of Practical Joke was claimed for $80,000 last out to the John Sadler barn, and Sadler and owner Hronis Racing made their names claiming older horses and giving them a new lease on life. If he can run back to his last race, he fits—but demand a price, as he faces both tougher company and a tougher pace setup.
8. Spirit of Makena: This George Papaprodromou trainee looked like the up-and-coming sprinter in 2023, rising from the allowance ranks to win both the San Carlos (G3) and the Triple Bend. However, he was a no-show in the Bing Crosby that year and hasn’t won in over two years. His best start so far since that race was his third in the San Carlos in March, his first race off a year and a half layoff, but that—just like his two graded wins—came at seven furlongs, not six. It’s hard to think this will be where he wakes back up.
9. Lovesick Blues: His campaign this year has been all-turf so far, but it has been consistently good: he didn’t miss by much down the hill in three stakes tries there, and he won a listed race going six furlongs on the lawn back in May. He is also a five-time winner on dirt—not a stakes winner like he is on the turf, though he has held his own against nice allowance horses. The question is if he’s fast enough, as his speed figures tend on the slow side compared to the best in this field, but his best race is good enough to steal a piece for a price.

Bing Crosby Stakes FAQ

Q: When is the Bing Crosby Stakes?

A: The Bing Crosby happens on Saturday, July 26, 2025, at 6:30 p.m. Pacific Daylight Time. The race is carded as the tenth of 11 on the Saturday card.

Q: Where is the Bing Crosby Stakes?

A: It takes place at Del Mar Thoroughbred Club in Del Mar, California.

Q: Which trainer has the most wins in the Bing Crosby Stakes?

A: Bob Baffert and Bruce Headley are tied for the most wins in the Bing Crosby with four wins each. Bob Baffert can own the record alone if Hejazi wins.

Q: Who is the favorite for the Bing Crosby Stakes?

A: The slight 3-1 morning-line favorite is World Record, who ships in for Rodolphe Brisset. He may hold the day on his Kentucky form, and because Flavien Prat is riding, though Hejazi (7-2) could also be favored come post time, just because Bob Baffert trains him and he has upside second off the layoff.

Q: Who is the best Bing Crosby Stakes jockey?

A: The jockey with the most wins in this race is Flavien Prat, who won it six times between 2015 and 2021. He can win for the seventh time if World Record gets the job done; though Prat is no longer based in California, the fact that he sees fit to fly west to ride World Record in this spot reads as a vote of confidence.

Q: Who won the Bing Crosby Stakes in 2024?

A: The Chosen Vron won for trainer Eric Kruljac and rider Hector Berrios in both 2023 and 2024. Neither Kruljac nor Berrios has an entrant in 2025.

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