Field of Six, but Crosby Likely a Two-Horse Race

Del Mar is where Kona Gold first flashed the brilliance that’s made him a sprint champion. In the summer of 1998, trainer Bruce Headley’s horse reeled off three races here that were borderline perfection: He beat maidens by 15 lengths; he moved to allowance company and won by seven; then, little more than a month after the foray began, he was a 6 1/2-length winner.

Kona Gold didn’t run at Del Mar again until last year, when he won the Bing Crosby Breeders’ Cup Handicap by three-quarters of a length over Love That Red. The 7-year-old gelding takes another crack at the Crosby on Sunday, and another victory in the six-furlong race would make him the first back-to-back winner of the stake since Cherry River in 1976-77.

Only five opponents are lined up against Kona Gold in the $200,000 race, but one of them is formidable. Caller One, who finished fourth, three lengths back, against Kona Gold in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint at Churchill Downs in November, won a $2-million race in Dubai, then won the Los Angeles Handicap at Hollywood Park.

Rounding out the field are Ceeband, Swept Overboard, Hollycombe and Freespool. Caller One, to be ridden by Corey Nakatani, who’s won the Crosby four times, and Kona Gold, with Alex Solis, a three-time winner of the Crosby, in the saddle, are the bookends. Caller One drew the inside and Kona Gold will break from the outside stall.

Kona Gold, who’s had 11 victories, six seconds and one third in 19 starts, earning almost $1.9 million, prepared for Sunday’s race with a slow three furlongs on Thursday, 39 1/5-seconds.

“An open gallop,” Headley said. “Just enough to limber him up. Something to make up for the work before that.”

That was an astonishing 56 3/5 seconds for five furlongs at Santa Anita on July 5.

“That was as fast as I’ve ever seen,” Headley said. “He got a target that day. A filly of Bob Hess’ was in front of him, and he took off. He took off like a ballistic missile.”

Headley bought Kona Gold at a Keeneland auction for $35,000.

“I guess they considered him a little light on pedigree,” he said. “Java Gold [Kona Gold’s sire] hadn’t thrown any horses to speak of yet. The Kentucky guys are statistics-oriented, and they must have looked at a Java Gold and not been much interested. The horse was also offered late in the sale. The combination of those two things probably accounted for the price. But I bought a lot of nice horses at Keeneland that year, and I thought this was a perfectly made one.”

Still, Headley had difficulty getting Kona Gold to the races. As a 3-year-old, the horse needed surgery for a chipped knee. By the time Kona Gold raced, he was a 4-year-old. After his debut--a second-place finish at Hollywood Park in 1998--he came to Del Mar and blew everyone’s doors off.

He won last year’s Breeders’ Cup Sprint with a 1:07 3/5 six furlongs, laying close to a frantic :43 2/5 opening half-mile and still having enough left through Churchill’s long stretch. Since then, he has won twice at Santa Anita, extending his streak to six races. He hasn’t been beaten since a second-place finish behind Son Of A Pistol--a stablemate--over an off track in the San Carlos Handicap at Santa Anita in March of last year.

In the Crosby, Kona Gold will carry 126 pounds, the same impost as in his last race and two pounds more than Caller One. Kona Gold is spotting the rest of the field 11-14 pounds. A Crosby winner hasn’t toted more than 125 pounds since the Buster Millerick-trained Kissin’ George, under 127 pounds, matched the stakes record with a 1:07 4/5 clocking in 1969.

Headley has been concerned for some time about Kona Gold being loaded down.

“Horses this good are very precious,” he said. “Remember the days when we had 100 horses trying to run in 2-year-old races? You had to fight your way in. Well, those days are gone. There ought to be a limit of 126 pounds, or make the races weight for age.”

The plan that worked last year is again on Headley’s agenda: Sunday’s race, then one more--the Ancient Title Handicap at Santa Anita--before the Breeders’ Cup Sprint at Belmont Park on Oct. 27.

Asked about the challenge of Caller One, Headley said:

“I just want my horse to run his race, like he usually does. There’s nothing I can do about the other horses.”

Asian Adventure, who has emerged from the $40,000 claiming ranks to become a stakes contender, came from off the pace to beat 40-1 shot Martial’s Princess by 1 1/2 lengths Friday night in the $125,000 California Thoroughbred Breeders Assn. Stakes. Asian Adventure, ridden by Alex Solis for trainer Clifford Sise Jr., paid $9.40 to win. Fancy Prancer, the 7-10 favorite in the seven-horse field, finished last.