Bob Baffert chalked up his fifth win in the last eight runnings of the $100,000 Bob Hope S. (G3) Saturday at Del Mar when Mucho Gusto fended off a serious challenge at the top of the stretch to win the seven-furlong contest by 1 1/2-lengths.

The 2-year-old colt, who broke his maiden by four lengths in his Sept. 20 debut, is now 2-for-2 and has earned $84,000 for his owner Michael Petersen.

Mucho Gusto made his way to the front soon after the start and had as much as a two-length lead early on, but Savagery and Sparky Ville cut into that lead on the turn and into the stretch. Mucho Gusto responded to the challenge and opened up late to finish the distance in 1:23.51. 

The Bob Hope, previously run as the Hollywood Prevue at Hollywood Park, has been run at Del Mar since 2015, when Baffert won with Toews on Ice, then the following year with Mastery.