Kivo arrives at Del Mar's Grade 3 Bob Hope Stakes with the profile of a live closer, while Bob Baffert and Doug O'Neill divide a seven-horse field that should produce a revealing early-season test for Southern California's 2-year-olds. The $100,000 race is scheduled for seven furlongs on Sunday, Nov. 15, with post time listed as 7 p.m. Eastern in Race 8. America's Best Racing's race preview identifies Kivo as the top selection, with Fractious and Domus the principal alternatives.
Kivo's case rests on a sharp surface-and-distance switch. After finishing fifth in a troubled one-mile turf debut at Del Mar, the Baffert trainee moved to dirt for a three-quarter-mile Santa Anita sprint and responded with a 2 1/4-length rallying victory. The outside post gives jockey Emisael Jaramillo room to settle and make one run, although the colt will need to negotiate the turn without losing too much ground.
Fractious may offer the most reliable recent form among the O'Neill runners. He rallied for second in his Del Mar debut, then returned at Santa Anita in October to win a 6 1/2-furlong sprint by 3 1/4 lengths. Joel Rosario takes over for Sunday's assignment, and the colt's ability to recover from a slow start should be useful if High Pronto and the other speed horses force an honest pace. The published field guide reports that Fractious has continued to work well since that victory. The Del Mar entry listing confirms Rosario's assignment and the final seven-horse field.
Domus is the class horse with the larger question to answer. He demolished his Del Mar debut by 5 1/2 lengths but subsequently faced Hughes in both the seven-furlong Del Mar Futurity and the 1 1/16-mile American Pharoah Stakes. He was beaten by more than 16 lengths in each, yet the cutback to seven furlongs and the return to a less demanding spot give Juan Hernandez and Baffert a chance to reset his campaign. Baffert's historical record in this race also matters: the trainer has won the Bob Hope 13 times, according to the race preview.
O'Neill has four chances, but they are not interchangeable. Sip It owns a recent three-quarter-mile turf win after a troubled Kentucky debut in which he hit the gate and his rider lost the irons; the surface change makes him an appealing longshot rather than a dependable favorite. Dats Improbable enters from Maryland after a 10 1/4-length Timonium maiden romp, though he was only fourth in his subsequent juvenile stakes appearance at Laurel. Dang Son has already been tested against Hughes, finishing third in the Del Mar Futurity before being eased in the American Pharoah, while High Pronto brings early speed but has failed to reproduce his August dirt-sprint win in three later starts.
The race is the 45th running of an event formerly known as the Hollywood Prevue Stakes. Its roll of honor includes recent standout Nysos as well as Mucho Gusto, Shared Belief and Lion Heart, underscoring the race's role as an early gauge of West Coast juvenile talent. Del Mar's stable notes initially reported 11 nominations, including O'Neill's Phone Booth and Baffert's Emancipate, but neither made the final field; Phone Booth had finished second to Hughes in both the Best Pal and Del Mar Futurity.
With High Pronto and perhaps Domus supplying the forward pressure, the setup favors a horse capable of finishing rather than simply flashing speed. Kivo has already shown that acceleration on dirt, while Fractious owns the cleaner recent record and Domus remains the most intriguing rebound candidate. The most defensible handicapping approach is to make Kivo the win key, use Fractious underneath, and include Domus prominently in exactas and trifectas.