Trainer Bob Baffert, long a major player in the CashCall Futurity (gr. I), formerly the Hollywood Futurity, expects to have four entrants in the Dec. 15 renewal at Betfair Hollywood Park.
The $750,000 race at 1 1/6 miles on Cushion Track is expected to draw close to a capacity field for its 32nd running. Entries will be taken Dec. 12.
Baffert, the Hall of Fame trainer, has won the Futurity a record six times, including three of the last four. He won last year's race with Arnold Zetcher's Liaison .
The foursome from his original 26 nominations are Jill Baffert and Bode Miller's Carving, winner of the Real Quiet Stakes Nov. 10; Westrock Stable's Den's Legacy , who captured the Generous Stakes (gr. IIIT) on turf Nov. 24; Karl Watson, Mike Pegram, and Paul Weitman's Really Mr Greely, upset winner of the Hollywood Prevue (gr. III) Nov. 22; and Gary and Mary West's Title Contender, who set the pace in the Grey Goose Breeders' Cup Juvenile (gr. I) Nov. 3 before finishing eighth.
Baffert's final plans and rider assignments will be cemented in the next couple of days.
Shipping in from New York will be Black Rock Stable's unbeaten Violence , trained by Todd Pletcher. The Medaglia d'Oro colt was a debut winner at Saratoga Race Course Aug. 18 before a dominating victory in the Nashua Stakes (gr. II) Nov. 4 at Aqueduct Racetrack.
He's Had Enough , beaten a head at 19-1 by Shanghai Bobby in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile, has J. Paul Reddam, Doug O'Neill and Mario Gutierrez thinking about another Triple Crown run. The connections won the 2012 Kentucky Derby and Preakness (both gr. I) with I'll Have Another , who was retired with an injury prior to the Belmont Stakes (gr. I).
Ken McPeek, who shipped Pure Fun to Hollywood Park for an emphatic victory in the Hollywood Starlet (gr. I) Dec. 8, has two possibilities for the CashCall: Bold Challenger, an impressive maiden winner Nov. 2 at Churchill Downs, and Boundless Heart, a developing son of Elusive Quality .
Other probable starters are Bluegrass Hall's Oxbow , from the stable of Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas, a recent 4 3/4-length maiden winner at Churchill Downs; and Jaam Racing's Little Jerry, who posted a stunning $53.80 debut victory for trainer Richard Baltas.
Also expected are Fury Kapcori for Hall of Fame conditioner Jerry Hollendorfer, and Myung Kwon Cho's Dirty Swagg, the second and third, respectively, in the Real Quiet Stakes.
