Defending TVG Pacific Classic champion Beholder breezed five furlongs in 59 seconds Wednesday morning under Gary Stevens, 10 days away from the signature race of the Del Mar summer meeting. It was the fastest of 41 works at the distance.

 

“She went off nicely and finished very well,” Hall of Fame trainer Richard Mandella said. ”She looks very good. She’s obviously come on very well or I wouldn’t have worked her like I did today.”

 

It was the first serious exercise for the three-time Eclipse Award winner since the half-length loss to Stellar Wind in the Clement L. Hirsch Stakes on July 30 that ended an eight-race winning streak for Beholder and cast some doubt regarding a much anticipated California Chrome-Beholder showdown in the TVG Pacific Classic on August 20.

 

While pleased with the work, Mandella still intends to bide his time before committing.

 

“What we’ll look for in the next few days is any sign of regression of any kind,” Mandella said. “I haven’t made my mind up to do anything, but it (Pacific Classic) is possible. We’ll just have to feel our way along the next couple days and we’ll see.”

 

Beholder worked in company with stablemate Paiasolo, breaking off eight lengths behind but making up ground quickly and moving past Paiasolo by the quarter pole. Del Mar clockers had interim splits of :11.60, :23.20,  :46.20 with a gallop-out to six furlongs in 1:13.40 and gave the work a “breezing” designation.

 

Stevens had nothing but positive comments about the work, but emphasized that he  has no part in the decision-making process.

 

“(Mandella) gets my feedback and he decides,” Stevens said.  “She kind of spoke for herself just now. Eleven days after her last race and 10 days to the race. I’m sure he’ll wait for a few more days. I know he won’t go unless he’s 100 percent confident, but he’s got a smile on his face right now.

 

“I liked the energy she showed this morning. I liked everything about it.”

 

Beholder had been put through daily gallops of upwards of a mile under exercise rider Janine Painter for several days before Mandella decided to put her to a more rigorous test Wednesday morning.

 

“She had a really strong gallop yesterday, stronger than I’ve seen in a long time,” said Stevens.  “Going to and coming back from the track it was like she’d look for other horses and other people to kick at – she’d look for targets for target practice. She was doing that yesterday and she hadn’t done that for a while.”

 

 

Ron Paolucci is no stranger to Del Mar, having employed trainers like Bob Hess, Jr., Bob Baffert and Dean Greenman and, as he puts it “won a few races.”

 

The colorful horse owner has had some success at other Southern California tracks too, most notably when his Ria Antonia was the winner via disqualification of the $1 million Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies in 2014 at Santa Anita at the expense of that year’s Del Mar Debutante winner She’s a Tiger.

 

Now Paolucci, a native of Akron, Ohio, who now resides in Texas, comes this way seeking the biggest prize of the Del Mar season a week from Saturday when he sends out War Story in the $1 million TVG Pacific Classic.

 

War Story, a 4-year-old Northern Afleet gelding, earned more than $300,000 without winning a race in 2015 via on-the-board finishes behind International Star in all three Kentucky Derby preps at the Fair Grounds in New Orleans and a third in the rich West Virginia Derby.

 

War Story was 16^th to American Pharoah in the Kentucky Derby, fourth in the Ohio Derby – a race that Paolucci dearly desired since it was at the track, Thistledown, where he was raised on the game from a young age by his father and grandfather.

 

The rigors of the January-May campaign showed in the form of War Story during the fall of 2015.

 

 “So we decided to just give him the winter off and bring him back in proper time for a race like the Pacific Classic,” Paolucci said by phone last weekend while on an 18-hour drive from Texas to San Diego with his family. “He trained very well and his comeback race was unbelievable.”

 

War Story put in some fast works at Gulfstream Park in Florida before shipping north to Paolucci’s beloved Thistledown and was headed only briefly while romping to a 9 ¼ length victory on a sloppy track against allowance competition on July 30.

 

“It (slop) was not his preferred kind of track and I thought he might struggle but he just skipped over it,” Paolucci said.

 

War Story, trained by Anthony Rini, shipped in to Del Mar on Tuesday and will be cared for by Rini’s son and assistant, Walter, leading up to the Pacific Classic. Ricardo Mejias, aboard for the Thistledown comeback, will be brought in from the Midwest to ride.

 

The prospect of facing horses like California Chrome, Dortmund and possibly defending champion mare Beholder, is a challenge that Paolucci is willing to accept.

 

“You run in a $1 million race, you know you’re going against some great horses,” Paolucci said. “I liked the way it set up, especially if Melatonin (out due to illness) was going to be in there because none of them like to sit behind horses.

 

“Now, I don’t know. Maybe we’ll have to consider changing our tactics.”

 

 

 

Six two-year-old colts were entered Wednesday for Saturday’s $200,000 Best Pal  Stakes, a 6 ½-furlong event that often serves as a stepping stone to the Grade I $300,000 Del Mar Futurity on the closing day of the meeting, Labor Day, September 5.

 

With the post position draw scheduled later Wednesday, the field in alphabetical order with jockeys and trainers is:  Big League (Norberto Arroyo, Jr./Peter Miller),  Drafted (Gary Stevens/Eoin Harty), Klimt (Rafael Bejarano/Bob Baffert), Rinse and Repeat (Mario Gutierrez/Doug O’Neill), Secret House (Santiago Gonzalez/Doug O’Neill) and Thirstforlife (Joe Talamo/Mark Casse).

 

 

CLOSERS – Thursday night at midnight is the deadline for nominations for the Pacific Classic. Among those expected to be nominated are: Beholder, California Chrome, Cyrus Alexander, Dalmore,  Dortmund, Hard Aces, Hoppertunity, Imperative, Win the Space and War Story … Hall of Fame jockey Mike Smith marks birthday No. 50 today with a riding assignment aboard Van Cortlandt (6^th, 5-1) for trainer Simon Callaghan and owners Jerry and Ann Moss … Today is also the 20^th anniversary of Dare And Go’s stunning upset  of Cigar in the  1996 Pacific Classic … Selected works from 281 officially timed over the last three days: Monday – Papacoolpapacool (4f, :52.60), Cyrus Alexander (5f, 1:04.80), Midnight Storm (5f, :59.80), Hoppertunity  (6f, 1:13.20); Tuesday – Crittenden (5f, 1:00.20), Vyjack (5f, :59.80); Wednesday – Majestic Heat (4f, :47.80), Beholder (5f, :59.00), Enola Gray (5f, 1:01.40) … Honored turf writer Bill Christine, who covered the sport for 25 years for the Los Angeles Times before leaving in 2006, has a book which will be released later this year “Bill Hartack: The Bittersweet Life of a Hall of Fame Jockey” and is contracted for another which is not racing related through McFarland Publishing.

 

 

 

(Current Through Sunday, August 7, 2016 Inclusive)

Jockey	Mts	1st	2nd	3rd	Win%	In-money%	Money Won
Flavien Prat	99	18	15	9	18%	42%	$1,123,455
Santiago Gonzalez	98	13	19	14	13%	47%	$699,084
Rafael Bejarano	70	12	13	14	17%	56%	$854,011
Kent Desormeaux	75	11	14	11	15%	48%	$751,220
Tyler Baze	96	10	14	19	10%	45%	$715,703
Victor Espinoza	34	9	5	5	26%	56%	$733,538
Mario Gutierrez	49	9	5	4	18%	37%	$551,432
Stewart Elliott	50	7	2	2	14%	22%	$254,830
Norberto Arroyo, Jr.	39	6	6	5	15%	44%	$264,505
Joseph Talamo	64	6	5	9	9%	31%	$463,939

 

(Current Through Sunday, August 7, 2016 Inclusive)

Trainer	Sts	1st	2nd	3rd	Win%	In-money%	Money Won
Philip D'Amato	47	9	6	8	19%	49%	$678,141
Bob Baffert	33	8	6	3	24%	52%	$629,480
John W. Sadler	34	8	5	6	24%	56%	$581,755
Mark Glatt	25	8	4	6	32%	72%	$267,605
Peter Miller	46	7	6	7	15%	43%	$381,165
Richard Baltas	30	7	5	5	23%	57%	$459,061
Doug F. O'Neill	63	5	7	9	8%	33%	$334,120
Michael Machowsky	13	5	0	1	38%	46%	$156,100
Jerry Hollendorfer	32	4	6	2	13%	38%	$294,628
Peter Eurton	24	3	6	0	13%	38%	$290,441

 

(Current Through Sunday, August 7, 2016 Inclusive)

Winning favorites -- 54 out of 160 -- 33.75%

Winning favorites on dirt -- 40 out of 105 -- 38.10%

Winning favorites on turf -- 14 out of 55 -- 25.45%

Winning odds-on favorites -- 11 out of 21 -- 52.38%

In-the-Money favorites -- 116 out of 160 -- 72.50%

In-the-Money odds-on favorites -- 17 out of 21 -- 80.95%

 

 

Contact: Dan Smith 858-792-4226/Hank Wesch 858-755-1141 ext. 3793