It would have been easy to enter Run Away in the Sentient Jet Breeders' Cup Juvenile (G1).
The allure of the World Championships is very real, and plenty of connections pull the trigger to run in the event, even if it puts their horse over its head.
But, as tempting as it may have been for owner Kaleem Shah and trainer Simon Callaghan, they showed restraint with the Run Away and Hide colt. The 1 1/16 miles of the Juvenile was just too much to ask at this point in his career.
"We were seriously considering it, but we feel at this stage that we'd like to keep him at one turn," Callaghan said. "Most likely he's going to be a three-quarters or a seven-eighths kind of horse, so that's where we're going to keep him."
Run Away went off as the favorite in the in the seven-furlong Del Mar Futurity (G1) Sept. 4, where he finished third, after he sped to a 3 1/2-length victory in the Aug. 12 Best Pal Stakes (G2) at 6 1/2 furlongs. Now he'll try seven-eighths of a mile again in the $100,000 Bob Hope Stakes (G3) for 2-year-olds at Del Mar Nov. 11.
BALAN: Run Away Dominant in Best Pal Stakes
"(The Breeders' Cup) is fun, and I'd like to run in the Breeders' Cup and any other grade 1 race if (the) horse has a chance to win, but if you don't have a realistic shot, you don't want to be in that spot," Shah said. "We tried to be realistic. Winning is tough enough, but if you don't spot your horses right ..."
Callaghan and Shah were also encouraged by the grit Run Away showed in his last start, the Barretts Juvenile Stakes Sept. 23 at Los Alamitos Race Course. On or near the lead in his first four starts, Run Away found himself last in the seven-horse field with three-eighths to run in the 6 1/2-furlong sprint. He showed another dimension, however, and closed to win by a head.
BALAN: Run Away Wins Unconventionally in Barretts Juvenile
"It shows that he's a very courageous horse, I think." Shah said after the race. "It's encouraging that he's got a big heart."
The main challenger in the six-horse Bob Hope is Calumet Farm's undefeated Beautiful Shot, a Trappe Shot ridgling who defeated fellow Bob Hope entrants Mourinho (second) and Here Is Happy (third) last time out in the Speakeasy Stakes at Santa Anita Park Oct. 15. Beautiful Shot has shown an affinity for closing in sprints, as his 1 1/4-length Speakeasy victory followed a nose debut score, in which he rallied from ninth—and 10 lengths back—to win an Aug. 27 maiden special weight event at Del Mar going 5 1/2 furlongs.
BALAN: Beautiful Shot Closes Late to Take Speakeasy Stakes
Last-out maiden winner Italiano and maiden Greyvitos (who finished third in the same race at Santa Anita Oct. 21) complete the field.
Del Mar, Saturday, November 11, 2017, Race 5Entries: Bob Hope S. (G3)
PP Horse Jockey Wgt Trainer M/L 1 1Greyvitos (VA) Victor Espinoza 118 Adam Kitchingman 20/1 2 2Mourinho (KY) Drayden Van Dyke 118 Bob Baffert 9/5 3 3Run Away (KY) Flavien Prat 124 Simon Callaghan 8/5 4 4Here Is Happy (OH) Joseph Talamo 118 Craig Anthony Lewis 8/1 5 5Beautiful Shot (FL) Kent J. Desormeaux 120 J. Keith Desormeaux 5/2 6 6Italiano (KY) Mike E. Smith 118 Jerry Hollendorfer 10/1
