Hollywood Turf Cup Top Contenders

by Patricia Woo | Nov 8 2010

The fall meet at Hollywood Park continues on Saturday, Nov. 13 with the 28th running of the $250,000 Gr. 1 Hollywood Turf Cup. Among the top contenders for the 1 ½ mile race are Where's The Remote, Bourbon Bay and Temple City.

Where's The Remote has just one graded stakes try under his belt – the Gr. 1 Clement Hirsch Turf Championship at Hollywood Park on Oct. 3 – coming in second behind Champ Pegasus. Prior to that, he had won three straight: a pair of allowance optional claimers and his maiden-breaking win in May. Most recently, he came in third in an allowance race at Hollywood Park, a race that was moved from the turf to the synthetic track – indicating that this 4-year-old gelded son of Unbridled Native is best-suited to the grass. Trained by Mike Mitchell for Gregory Unruh, Where's The Remote has $171,924 in career earnings thus far; he will have regular rider Mike Smith in the irons on Saturday.

Another top contender who had a win-streak snapped in the Clement Hirsch Turf Championship was Bourbon Bay, a 4-year-old son of Sligo Bay. This Neil Drysdale trainee had strung together four straight victories, three of them grade 2's at 1 ½ miles at Santa Anita Park: the San Luis Obispo in February, the San Luis Rey in March and the San Juan Capistrano in April. Bourbon Bay has a versatile running style: he can stalk the pace as well as rally. Regular jockey Rafael Bejarano will be aboard for the Hollywood Turf Cup, and the duo will be looking to build on Bourbon Bay's career record of 14-5-2-3 and earnings of $420,086.

Looking to bounce back from an uncharacteristic poor performance last out is Temple City, trained by Carla Gaines for B. Wayne Hughes. The 5-year-old son of Dynaformer did not take well to the dirt track at Hawthorne Race Course and finished dead last. He had his best finish in July at Del Mar in the Gr. 3 Cougar II Handicap, going wire-to-wire over the 1 ½ mile all-weather course; jockey Joe Talamo, who was aboard for that victory, will get the call on Saturday. Temple City has earned $276,400 from 14 career starts and is 4-1-4.

Others expected include Treat Gently, the lone mare in the field; Marlang, also trained by Neil Drysdale; and Buenos Dias, who is seeking his first graded stakes score.

Who will win the 2010 edition of the Hollywood Turf Cup?

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