Prime Attraction © Benoit Photo

DAY 22

PRIME ATTRACTION COULD PLAY MAJOR ROLE IN TVG PACIFIC CLASSIC

A glance at all the “1”s and “2”s in the past performance lines for Prime Attraction leads to the logical conclusion that Prime Attraction will be in the vanguard, if not leading it, early in the 28^th running of the $1 million TVG Pacific Classic.

“It will be interesting to see who goes (to the front) besides me,” trainer Jim Cassidy said at the post position draw party on Tuesday. “I know somebody is going to go besides me.

“If (Prime Attraction) gets a guy next to him, he’s going to fight him. He’s done that several times. And if somebody wants to press, it could be bad for both them and us.”

A 5-year-old son of Unbridled’s Song owned by Deron Pearson (D P Racing), Prime Attraction is something of a late-bloomer and an obvious “horse for the course” at Del Mar. Especially in the fall.

Prime Attraction broke his maiden in his second career start, as a three-year-old here in November of 2016, and returned to record some highlights of a breakout 2017 campaign of three wins in 10 starts and earnings of $198,800. Last summer he was fourth in both the Wickerr Stakes and the Grade II Del Mar Handicap on turf. In November, in the Grade III Native Diver Handicap, Prime Attractiion was never worse than second and pulled away to a 2 ½ length victory

“He is a difficult horse to ride,” Cassidy conceded.  “If you push him a little bit he’ll take off. And if you put too much of a hold on him he’ll take off. You have to sit chilly and let him do his thing.

“So we’ll see how he breaks Saturday and see what happens.”

Kent Desormeaux was aboard for the first time in a front-running effort in the Grade II $250,000 Eddie Read Stakes at 1 1/8 miles on turf. The race comments say Prime Attraction “fought back” in a stretch duel and finished third, beaten only a neck by Catapult.

“I ran him on the turf (in the Eddie Read) because I didn’t think I had him tight enough to run him on the dirt at that time. So we thought we’d give him a race on the turf, which would tighten him up for the next race. We always wanted to run him back on the dirt.

“He ran an unbelievable race and Kent rode him perfectly.”

In his 2018 debut in February in the Grade II San Pasqual at Santa Anita,  Prime Attraction was second, beaten only 1 ¾ lengths, by Pacific Classic morning line favorite Accelerate. They met again in March, things went awry and Accelerate was a clear winner while Prime Attraction was a distant sixth of seven.

In terms of earnings, it’s not easy to tell whether Prime Attraction prefers dirt ($175,835) or turf ($124,510). But Cassidy has a preference.

“The thing is that on the turf you’ve got to have a big late kick,” Cassidy said. “He doesn’t have that, he’s a steady goer. So he’s actually a better dirt than turf horse.”

The field from the rail: The Lieutenant (Drayden Van Dyke, 6-1), Dr. Dorr (Joe Talamo, 6-1), Prime Attraction (Kent Desormeaux, 8-1), Roman Rosso (Flavien Prat, 5-1), Accelerate (Joel Rosario, 8-5), Beach View (Rafael Bejarano,  15-1). Pavel (Mario Gutierrez, 7-2) and Two Thirty Five (Franklin Ceballos, 20-1).

The TVG Pacific Classic is a “Win and You’re In” qualifier for the $6 million Breeders’ Cup Classic in November at Churchill Downs. The Classic is scheduled as the 10^th on an 11-race program with an approximate post of 6:40 p.m.

ITSINTHEPOST HAS NO. 6 AS 7-2 FAVORITE IN DEL MAR HANDICAP

Itsinthepost, a fast-closing second to Hunt in the 2017 edition of the Grade II  $250,000 Del Mar Handicap, will break from post position No. 6 and was established as the 7-2 favorite in a field of 12 on oddsmaker Russ Hudak’s morning line for Saturday’s 79^th running of the 1 3/8 mile turf marathon.

Trained by Jeff Mullins for Red Baron Barn LLC, Itsinthepost already has two Grade II victories this year. They were achieved in the San Luis Rey and Charlie Whittingham Stakes in February and May at Santa Anita. Given two months off after the Whittingham, Itsinthepost was well beaten in the Grade II Eddie Read on July 25, a comeback event that Mullins conceded was not at the best distance for the six-year-old French-bred gelding.

Breaking immediately outside Itsinthepost will be Peter Miller-trained Multiplier, who was fifth in the Read and has one graded stakes victory in 12 career starts.

“He’s doing well but he’s been a little unlucky,” Miller said. “He’s a little hard horse to ride. He’s like a bicycle, you don’t pedal, he won’t go.”

The field from the rail: Kenjisstorm (Gary Stevens, 9-2), Flamboyant (Rafael Bejarano, 8-1), Whoop Whoop (Joe Talamo, 20-1), Ya Gotta Wanna (Tiago Pereira, 20-1), Unapologetic (Kent Desormeaux, 15-1), Itsinthepost (Tyler Baze, 7-2), Multiplier (Tyler Gaffalione 8-1), Ashleyluvssugar (Joel Rosario, 6-1), Colonist (Drayden Van Dyke, 8-1), Ritzy A.P. (Tyler Conner, 20-1), Cashman (Geovanni Franco, 8-1) and Fashion Business (Flavien Prat, 6-1).

The Del Mar Handicap goes as the sixth race on an 11-race program. The race is a “Win and You’re In” qualifier for the $4 million Longines Breeders’ Cup Turf in November at Churchill Downs.

FATALE BERE, PAVED RESUME RIVALRY IN GRADE I DEL MAR OAKS

Fatale Bere and Paved, spotlight-grabbers in the three-year-old filly turf division at Santa Anita, extend their rivalry to a fourth straight race in Saturday’s Grade I $300,000 Del Mar Oaks.

They traded wins when Fatale Bere won the Grade III Providencia in April and Paved took the Grade II Honeymoon in June – benefitting when the saddle slipped on Fatale Bere. Journeying east for the Belmont Oaks Invitational in July proved unsuccessful for both when Fatale Bere was sixth and Paved eighth in the Grade I, 1 ¼-mile race on July 7.

“Things certainly didn’t pan out like we had hoped,” Mike McCarthy, who trains Paved, said of the Belmont Oaks. “We got a little farther back than we would have liked, not much we could do about it. Obviously we are hoping that things shape up a little bit differently on Saturday and we can lay up a little closer to the pace and come with a nice closing kick.”

The rivalry, started in April, resumes with the fillies, both given morning line odds of 6-1, breaking next to each other from gates Nos. 5 and 6 for the 1 1/8-mile test.

“Obviously, two very good fillies,” McCarthy said. “It seems like they’re both improving and both show up and bring their ‘A’ game every time. They’re both very talented fillies and we hope we wind up on the right end of the deal on Saturday.”

The field from the rail: Ms Peintour (Tiago Pereira, 20-1), Streetwithnoname (Joe Talamo, 20-1), Fool’s Paradise (Mario Gutierrez, 20-1), Ollie’s Candy (Tyler Baze, 9-2), Fatale Bere (Kent Desormeaux, 6-1), Paved (Drayden Van Dyke, 6-1), Colonia (Joel Rosario, 7-2), Californiagoldrush (Flavien Prat, 8-1), Ms Bad Behavior (Rafael Bejarano, 6-1), So Hi Society (Evin Roman, 12-1), Movie Moment (Gary Stevens, 20-1), Animosity (Tyler Gaffalione, 8-1).

The Oaks is scheduled as the eighth race on an 11-race program.

JIM MURRAY’S LAST COLUMN, LIKE MOST, WAS A THING TO TREASURE

Twenty years ago today, the last column by Jim Murray appeared in the Los Angeles Times sports section and everywhere else that editors and publishers had recognized his genius and signed up to be part of his syndication.

It was about Free House winning the 1998 Pacific Classic. Murray died the day the column appeared. He was 78 years old.

Space considerations, (and probably copyright laws, the thought of which causes us to shudder) prevent a full reprinting of the column. But in the interest of bringing fond nostalgia to those of a certain age. And possibly enlightening those not of a certain age who are unaware of what they missed…

Here’s the lead:

You Can Teach an Old Horse New Tricks

Del Mar – Well, it was a slam dunk for Free House, a “Where is everybody?” win.

The Bridesmaid finally caught the bouquet. The best friend got the girl in the Warner Bros. movie for a change. The sidekick saves the fort.

Free House just won’t fold the hand. Three times last year, in the most publicized races in the sport, he chased his competition across the finish line in the Kentucky Derby, Preakness and Belmont. In the money in all of them, in the photo in one of them, he was the hard-luck champion of horse racing.

He was expected to go quietly into the sunset. A game effort but no cigar.

He got a measure of revenge Saturday in the Pacific Classic here. He ran away from Touch Gold, who beat him in the Belmont. The horse who beat him in all three Triple Crown races, Silver Charm, didn’t make the dance or he might have gotten a different view of Free House, too.

The Pacific Classic is not your Run for the Roses. No bands play Stephen Foster as the horses come on the track. But it’s not your basic overnight allowance, either. It’s a $1-million race, major on the schedule. It’s a very big win for Free House. He’s not What’s-His-Name anymore. He’s Who’s Who.

Some Murray thoughts about a Pacific Classic compared to a Kentucky Derby.

That’s where a Pacific Classic comes in. It’s a trainer’s race. A real test of his skill in bringing a horse up to a race. The real business of racing.

A Kentucky Derby can be a crapshoot. Not a Pacific Classic. You win a Pacific Classic because you’re at the top of your game, not because eight other horses were still wet behind the ears. Many a Derby has been blown by an immature runner jumping shadows, spitting bits, lugging out, horsing around.

Not a Pacific Classic. Here, the horses are all grown up, professional. These are the true class of the sport, older horses. Dependable, crafty. Consistent. They don’t beat themselves.

And a finish to leave the reader thinking.

McCarron rode such a confident race, he remembers thinking, “If I were a cocky individual, I would have turned to the other riders and said “Shame on you!”

Added McCarron, “This horse is so generous with his speed, I knew if he ran the way he trained, these guys were beat.”

He has one holdover from his misspent youth: He tends to kick out sideways and decelerate in the stretch, almost start to tap-dance. “He gets to wondering where everybody went and to want to slow down and wait for them,” McCarron explained. McCarron hustled him across the finish line four lengths ahead of second-place Gentlemen on Saturday and about 16 lengths ahead of Touch Gold.

Ironically, McCarron rode Touch Gold to victory in the Belmont. 

So, is he glad the order was reversed Saturday? Is yesterday’s jinx horse today’s king of the handicap division? “Arguably,” said McCarron, “a case could be made.”

Anyway, it’s nice to know getting older has its flip side.

Following today’s fourth race, Jim Murray’s widow, Linda McCoy Murray, media members and Del Mar officials will gather in the winner’s circle to salute the writer of those words, and millions of others, that touched the hearts of sports fans for decades.

The last ones were about, and written at, Del Mar.

In consideration of Murray’s fading eyesight, Media Director Dan Smith turned his office over to Murray to work. That was 20 years ago.

ON SITE ANNOUNCEMENT HERE FRIDAY

Del Mar has scheduled a news conference for Friday from 2:30-3 p.m. for an announcement regarding Breeders’ Cup future dates at the seaside track.

The gathering will take place at the Patio of the 17 Hands Restaurant adjacent to the paddock.

Del Mar Thoroughbred Club CEO Joe Harper and other executives will be present.

WILLIAMS, HENIE GUESTS ON WEEKEND HANDICAPPING SEMINARS

Veteran turf writer Gene Williams and nationally recognized handicapper Rob Henie will provide the opinions and selections in the upcoming weekend handicapping seminars.

Williams produced the “stable notes” for Churchill Downs for nine years and for 15 years after that at Del Mar. He has personally attended and covered Kentucky Derby and Breeders’Cup events for over two decades and in addition does free lance writing.

Henie is the owner and writer for westcoastracing.com and eastcoastracing.com and is a frequent contributor to the Los Angeles Times’ racing website.

Williams will be featured on the Saturday seminar. Henie will be the guest of Frank Scatoni on Sunday.

The seminars are held from 12:15-1:30 each day at the Seaside Terrace near the top of the stretch.

CLOSERS – Meet-leading rider Flavien Prat begins serving a three-day suspension on Friday but will, according to racing rules, be able to ride “designated races,” which encompass the stakes – two Grade Is and two Grade IIs – combined Saturday and Sunday … Selected works from 154 officially timed Thursday morning, 141 on dirt and 13 on turf: Dirt -- Spiced Perfection (4f, :47.00) and Roy H (:59.00); Turf – Beau Recall (4f, :50.80) and Barleysugar (5f, 1:00.40).

DEL MAR STATISTICS

Jockey Standings

(Current Through Wednesday, August 15, 2018 Inclusive)

Trainer Standings

(Current Through Wednesday, August 15, 2018 Inclusive)

Winning Favorites Report

(Current Through Wednesday, August 15, 2018 Inclusive)

Winning favorites -- 63 out of 182 -- 34.62%

Winning favorites on dirt -- 47 out of 113 -- 41.59%

Winning favorites on turf -- 16 out of 69 -- 23.19%

Winning odds-on favorites -- 18 out of 28 -- 64.29%

In-the-Money favorites -- 129 out of 182 -- 70.88%

In-the-Money odds-on favorites -- 27 out of 28 -- 96.43%