Bourbon Bay stormed down Del Mar’s poly track to win the Cougar II Handicap
The veteran king of 2010 distance turf, Bourbon Bay, convinced everybody that he likes to run on the grass and more often than not likes to win on it as well.
The 5-year-old gelding got back to winning ways in the $125,000 Grade 3 Cougar II Handicap at Del Mar's synthetic surface on 29 July, 2011.
The son of Sligo Bay has had a dismal 2011 compare to last year when he destroyed his opponents in the Santa Anita turf series.
He bagged four races in a row, three grade 2 level races and one allowance claiming.
Trained by Neil Drysdale for owner David Heerensperger, Bourbon Bay is the son of Silgo Bay and he is out of Coral Necklace by Conquistador Cielo.
The win at Del Mar in the Cougar II Handicap earned Bourbon Bay a spot in the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Marathon, because the Del Mar feature is the part of Breeders’ Cup “Win and You’re In” series.
The five-year-old gelding was in true racing form on 29 July under jockey Joe Talamo, as he stormed down the track with pure intensity and intent and, while doing it the gelding broke the track record to set a new one of 2 minutes and 29.39 seconds, covering
12 furlongs.
He hasn’t won a race since going back to his season opener when he won the Grade 2 San Marcos at Santa Anita turf course under jockey R Bejarano at a distance of 1 ¼ miles on 17 January, 2011.
Since then he has finished on the card twice, once in the Grade 2 San Luis Obispo also at Santa Anita turf on 19 February. He finished second in the 1 ½ miles event, finishing just before Champ Pegasus.
His second finish on the card was the all important Grade 1 Whittingham Memorial Stakes at Hollywood Park also under jockey R Bejarano.
Bourbon Bay challenged whole heartedly the likes of Celtic New Year and Acclamation, but the late surge earned his a 3rd spot finish in the grade 1 race.
It can’t be said about Bourbon Bay that he has been progressing in the season prior to the Cougar II Handicap; he has been up and down on the cards recently, not winning like he did in 2010.
That fact was reflected in the Grade 1 United Nations Stakes at Monmouth Park turf on 2 July, 2011.
Under A Garcia, Bourbon Bay had a taste of international exposure as he ran among foreign raiders.
He finished fourth, but in Bourbon Bay’s defense the gelding was on unknown territory and amongst strange competition.
The next battle for the Neil Drysdale trained gelding is the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Marathon, which will certainly be a tough one for Bourbon Bay.
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