Richard's Kid heads six-horse field in Cougar II Handicap at Del Mar
The three-time Grade One victor, Richard's Kid, tops the field of six in Friday’s Grade 3 Cougar II Handicap, despite conceding three to 10 pounds to his opponents at Del Mar.
Owned by Zabeel Racing International, the Bob Baffert-trained has a tremendous track record in this race. He was second to Unusual Suspect in 2009, and secured the third place the following year.
The 7-year-old is coming to this track after doing plenty of good work at Betfair Hollywood Park. In the hands of R. Bejarano, the dashing horse won the Prove It Stakes, before narrowly missing the gold medal in the Grade 1 Hollywood Gold Cup earlier this
month.
He ran pretty well all the way through, but failed to take the glory away from Game On Dude. Bred in Maryland by Fitzhugh – LLC, the rampant runner did not win a single race last year, but was super impressive in 2010.
After sharing the podium in third edition of the Cougar II Handicap, he bagged two back-to-back Grade 1 victories. The audience at Del Mar saw him winning the Grade 1 Pacific Classic in a great fashion. He continued his good form to ensure a brilliant win
in the Goodwood at Hollywood Park in October 2010.
Lemon Drop Kid’s son, the winner of 10 of 34 career starts, has earned $1,926,360 so far. He has not yet shown anything special this season. He started off his 2012 journey with a terrible performance in the Grade 2 Al Maktoum Challenge - Round 2 at Meydan,
where he finished 6th behind Mendip.
The third round of the Grade 1 Al Maktoum Challenge saw him making no special progress, as he finished fifth in the list. The veteran runner returned to USA after ending up fourth in the Grade 2 Godolphin Mile at the end of March. He carries the top weight
of 123 pounds, and will make his third trip under Bejarano in the Cougar II.
Dynamic Host is being considered as the biggest threat to Richard's Kid. Another fascinating candidate is Fly Lexis Fly, who won two consecutive Grade One events last year.
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