Trainer Bob Baffert's 7-year-old Euroears led from the gate and held off favorite Smiling Tiger to win the $250,000 Bing Crosby Stakes at Del Mar in a track-record time Sunday.
Ridden by Rafael Bejarano, Euroears went straight to the front of the field of six older horses in the Grade I race and built up a two-length lead at the halfway point.
Smiling Tiger rallied, as expected, but couldn't overcome the speed of Euroears, who won by 1-1/4 lengths and covered six furlongs in 1 minute, 8.17 seconds, easily besting the previous track record of 1:08.29 set by Cost of Freedom in 2008.
''He's an amazing horse,'' Bejarano said. ''He has lots of heart on the lead. He wants to be in front, and he's a different horse when he is.''
Baffert was not at Del Mar to see the record-setting victory. He instead was at Monmouth Park in New Jersey, where he saddled a much younger horse, 3-year-old Coil, in a victory in the $1 million Haskell Invitational.
Joel Rosario, who was aboard Smiling Tiger, said the favorite had no problems - there just was not enough early pace for him to catch Euroears.
''He ran well, but that winner had an easy lead and he was too much at the finish,'' Rosario said.
Euroears paid $6.80 for a win bet. It was the 10th victory in 19 lifetime starts for Euroears, a Kentucky-bred son of Langfuhr owned by James and Marilyn Helzer.
