{"id":297370,"date":"2025-07-28T02:10:16","date_gmt":"2025-07-28T02:10:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/297370\/"},"modified":"2025-07-28T02:10:16","modified_gmt":"2025-07-28T02:10:16","slug":"lovesick-blues-shocks-in-bing-crosby-punches-ticket-to-breeders-cup","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/297370\/","title":{"rendered":"Lovesick Blues Shocks in Bing Crosby, Punches Ticket to Breeders\u2019 Cup"},"content":{"rendered":"

The veteran campaigner for Mia Familia Racing Stable stunned the field at Del Mar, earning an automatic berth into the GI Breeders\u2019 Cup Sprint this November<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Lovesick<\/p>\n

Lovesick Blues Hands Giovanni Franco an Unforgettable Victory<\/strong> <\/strong>\/ BENOIT PHOTO<\/p>\n

DEL MAR, California (Special for Turf Diario).- Sometimes, even the impossible finds a way. Saturday was one of those unforgettable afternoons at Del Mar for trainer\/owner\u00a0Librado Barocio<\/strong>\u00a0and jockey\u00a0Giovanni Franco<\/strong>, as the duo captured the biggest victory of their careers with the 7-year-old veteran\u00a0Lovesick Blues<\/strong>\u00a0in the\u00a0GI Bing Crosby S.<\/strong>, earning a coveted spot in the\u00a0GI Breeders\u2019 Cup Sprint<\/strong>\u00a0to be run Nov. 1 over the same course.<\/p>\n

In a stunning performance, the gray son of\u00a0Grazen<\/strong>\u2014who had been competing on turf\u2014stormed down the center of the track with a relentless late rally to mow down pacesetter\u00a0Hejazi<\/strong>\u00a0(Bernardini) by 1 3\/4 lengths. Favored\u00a0World Record<\/strong>(Gun Runner) checked in third, another 1 1\/4 lengths back, unable to meet expectations.<\/p>\n

It was around the final turn that\u00a0Lovesick Blues<\/strong>\u00a0began to unleash his powerful stride, making steady progress while Franco sat chilly. Once tipped into the clear in the lane, the Cal-bred took command and pulled away decisively, stopping the clock in a solid 1:08.74 for six furlongs after fractions of :21.78 and :44.48.<\/p>\n

“I knew when he broke well that we had a shot,” said Barocio, who also owns\u00a0Mia Familia Racing Stable<\/strong>. “We\u2019ve been working on getting him to close, and when Giovanni started to ask him around the turn, I could see he was loaded. I started screaming\u2014I picked up my wife\u2014it was a miracle!” he laughed, overwhelmed with emotion.<\/p>\n

For\u00a0Franco<\/strong>, the win marked a career-defining milestone: “I\u2019ve always believed in this horse. Around the turn, it felt like a morning breeze. In the stretch, once I asked him, he just took off. I had only ridden him on turf before, but every time I worked him on the main track, he loved it. I told Librado, \u2018Why not give it a shot?\u2019 He gave me my first stakes win when I came back, and now my first Grade I. I\u2019m grateful.”<\/p>\n

Now a winner of 9 of 41 starts,\u00a0Lovesick Blues<\/strong>\u00a0has amassed earnings of $770,000, with $240,000 coming from this unlikely triumph in the 80th running of the\u00a0Bing Crosby<\/strong>. The race was part of the Breeders\u2019 Cup\u00a0Win and You\u2019re In<\/strong>series, guaranteeing the gelding a spot in the Sprint on the sport\u2019s biggest stage.<\/p>\n

Earlier on the card,\u00a0Pushiness<\/strong>\u00a0(Kantharos) took the\u00a0Daisycutter H.<\/strong>\u00a0at five furlongs on turf for\u00a0Repole Stable<\/strong>, setting the pace and narrowly holding off\u00a0Uncorked<\/strong>\u00a0(Pierro) by a nose. Ridden by\u00a0Juan Hern\u00e1ndez<\/strong>\u00a0and trained by\u00a0Mike McCarthy<\/strong>, the 4-year-old filly earned her fifth win from 11 starts.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The veteran campaigner for Mia Familia Racing Stable stunned the field at Del Mar, earning an automatic berth…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":297371,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4107],"tags":[1071,79,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-297370","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-racing","8":"tag-racing","9":"tag-sports","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114928433681743187","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/297370","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=297370"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/297370\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/297371"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=297370"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=297370"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=297370"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}