Adare Manor © Benoit Photo
ADARE MANOR, MUTH AMONG 12 NOMINEES FOR THE PACIFIC CLASSIC
Nominations for the 34th running of the G1 FanDuel Racing Pacific Classic closed at midnight and 12 horses have been nominated to the $1 million race with two big surprises now in the mix.
Trainer Bob Baffert has nominated his mare, Adair Manor, to the Classic, one of three nominees from the Baffert barn. Adare Manor was a dominating winner of the G1 Clement Hirsch earlier this month.
Baffert also has nominated his star colt, Muth, winner of the G1 Arkansas Derby back on March 30. The son of Good Magic hasn’t raced since. He was being pointed to the second jewel in the Triple Crown, the Preakness Stakes, but got sick and had to be scratched. Muth is also nominated for the $125,000 Shared Belief at a mile on Sunday September 1.
Reincarnate is the third Baffert nominee to the Pacific Classic. He was runner-up in the G3 Cougar II at Del Mar last month and runner-up in the G2 Hollywood Gold Cup at Santa Anita before that. Also a son of Good Magic, he was a Derby horse last year, finishing 13th in the Run for the Roses.
The top three finishers in the local prep for the Classic, the G2 San Diego Handicap are on the nominees’ list. Dr. Venkman won the race, his first around two turns. The son of Ghostzapper hails from the Mark Glatt barn. Katonah was a late-charging second in the San Diego in his first race back in over a year, followed by Express Train, a hard-knocking veteran of the handicap division who has run twice in the Pacific Classic, in 2021 when he finished sixth and in 2022 when he finished fourth behind Flightline.
Trainer Doug O’Neill has nominated a pair of challengers for the Pacific Classic. In addition to Katonah, he’s added Mixto, last out runner-up in the Pleasanton Mile.
Also on the list of nominees is G3 Cougar II winner Midnight Mammoth; Full Serrano, an impressive winner of an entry-level allowance race at Del Mar earlier this month; None Above the Law, the top 3-year old of the 2021 summer meet at Del Mar, and Clooney, who was running for a $20,000 claiming tag in May.
The lone outsider is Il Miracolo, a 4-year-old son of Gun Runner from the Antonio Sano barn in Florida. He ran seventh in the Belmont Stakes last year and most recently finished second to Subsanador in the G3 Philip Iselin at Monmouth Park last week.
Entries for the G1 FanDuel Racing Pacific Classic will be drawn Tuesday afternoon at the Brigantine Restaurant in Del Mar. The race is part of a sensational card with five graded stakes on Saturday, August 31.
THE CHOSEN VRON READY TO ROLL IN SATURDAY’S G2 PAT O’BRIEN
The Chosen Vron put in a brisk gallop Thursday morning and today he schooled at the starting gate as preparations wind up for Saturday’s much-anticipated running of the G2 Pat O’Brien, a ‘Win and You’re In’ for the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile at Del Mar on November 2.
California’s Horse of the Year is searching for his seventh consecutive victory and, while trainer J. Eric Kruljac wants to win the seven-furlong test, he has other objectives in mind. The end goal is the Breeders’ Cup Sprint. He’s taking a different tack to the big race from last year when he trained ‘Vron’ up to the race. This year he’s looking to keep his star gelding in race shape, both mind and body.
“He relaxed more than he did yesterday (Wednesday),” Kruljac says of Thursday’s gallop. “He puts a lot into his gallops. That’s why you see a three-eighths work or a half-mile work. He doesn’t need to do more than that because he gets these extended gallops where he just stretches his legs on his own. I think he’s just training himself.”
The Chosen Vron returned to the barn and cooled right out. He got his bath and then stood in the shedrow for a while. Just another day at the office for the 19-time winner.
“It just tells me he’s fit and training within himself,” Kruljac states. “He cleans up every day and goes back out and doesn’t show any signs of fatigue at all.”
As for the race itself, the veteran trainer knows they’re in for a fight on Saturday.
“It looks like a tougher race than the Bing Crosby,” Kruljac notes, referring to the Grade I test he won for the second time on July 27. “He’ll have to do everything right and hit on all cylinders but I wouldn’t trade places with anybody. I wish a couple of them weren’t in there so we have an easier time of it but we’ll do our best.”
Senor Buscado is making his first start in nearly five months and the first of the year in the U.S. Last year’s G2 San Diego Handicap winner won the Saudi Cup in Riyadh in February and then ran a credible third in the Dubai World Cup a month later. Often times the trip to the Middle East can take a lot out of horse.
“Lately, he’s been real sharp but not when he first got back,” trainer Todd Fincher says. “I think it’s different for every horse. Hopefully it didn’t take anything out of him. We’ll see. We gave him some time off and we’re looking for him to run a nice race for us this Saturday.”
It will be the first time Senor Buscador has sprinted since he ran in the Pat O’Brien in 2022. He finished third that day behind Laurel River, who won this year’s Dubai World Cup, and American Theorem.
“It’s a good comeback race for him,” Fincher notes. “Get his legs under him a bit. Get him back into top form. We’re hoping to win but you never know.”
There’s also been a rider change from the last time we saw Senor Buscador. Joe Talamo gets the call.
“Junior (Alvarado) rides at Saratoga and he couldn’t make it,” Fincher explains. “Joe’s been helping us out quite a bit and he’s been working him so he gets to ride him.”
Big City Lights was undefeated after three career starts before he started running into The Chosen Vron. Four straight races against ‘Vron’, four straight runner-up finishes to the big chestnut.
“We were just practicing,” Mandella says of his past confrontations with The Chosen Vron. “I just admire the job Kruljac does with him. Good horse, good trainer. He’s done a good job with him.”
Big City Lights rebounded with two straight wins early this year and then a third-place finish behind Happy Jack in the G2 Triple Bend. It’s not unusual for the Hall of Fame trainer to work a horse the week of a race. Wednesday, he gave Big City Lights a three-furlong work and the son of Mr. Big went :37.60 on the main track.
“I just like to see them stretch out a little,” Mandella says. “In the old days a lot of trainers, like Buster Millerick, used to blow them out three eighths the day before the race. They called them ‘blowouts.’ I just want to see that they’re okay. I usually have a bigger work further out so they need to do a little something.”
Doug O’Neill brings a pair of his horses to the Pat O’Brien. Happy Jack won the G2 Triple Bend at Santa Anita two races back. He came back and finished a distant sixth in the Bing Crosby, 6 ¾ lengths behind The Chosen Vron.
Raging Torrent appears to have found himself with a trip to Kentucky and two giant wins at Churchill Downs. He won an entry-level allowance by 8 ¼ lengths in May and then captured the $175,000 Maxfield Stakes nearly two months later.
The 39th edition of the G2 Pat O’Brien will be run as the ninth race on the 10-race Saturday program. Probable post time is 6 p.m.
Here’s the field from the rail with the jockeys and the morning line odds: Moose Mitchell (Jeremy Laprida, 20-1); See Through It (Tiago Pereira, 30-1); Happy Jack (Edwin Maldonado, 8-1); Raging Torrent (Antonio Fresu, 6-1); Big City Lights (Kazushi Kimura, 10-1); The Chosen Vron (Hector I. Berrios, 3/5); Senor Buscador (5-1) and Arrowthegreat (Victor Espinoza, 30-1).
NEW STARTER GOES UNNOTICED, MAKES SEAMLESS TRANSITION
In all of sports, the sign that an umpire or an official is doing a good job is that no one notices them. There are no bad calls, no controversies. The same could be said for the starter at a racetrack.
This year at Del Mar there is a new starter manning the gate. Keil Travis is the person who pops the gates at the start of every race. Probably didn’t notice the change because he’s been doing an excellent job filling in for the regular starter, Jay Slender.
“So far so good,” Travis notes. “A couple guys got hurt. I’m trying to fill those gaps and that’s not easy.”
Travis has plenty of experience around the starting gate. 38 years to be exact. Most of that as an assistant starter, the guy who loads the horses in the gate and stands with them until they’re released.
“Don Matlock asked if I was interested in working on the starting gate,” Travis recalls. “He’s passed now but he was a (Quarter horse) starter for a longtime. I told him I would and the rest is history. It’s fun and exciting.”
While being outside of the gate at the start of a race may be a bit foreign to Travis, holding the remote that opens the gates is nothing new to him.
“I’ve started weeks at Santa Anita for Jay when he’s taken time off,” Travis says. “When Gary Brinson was a starter here I would always start the last race of the meet. And some days he would take off and I would start those days.”
Like a good comedian, to be a good starter it’s all about timing.
“We got a good crew,” Travis contends. “You have to be a group and work together and when you do that, things turn out well. You can’t wait for a horse to make a mistake, you’ve got to get him out of there before he does. Sometimes you’re waiting on another horse and you have a bad one in there. You have to have a good crew to take care of what you need to take care of.”
Slender has been Del Mar’s starter since 2015. A bad hip and his daughters’ college graduations required the summer off from racing. But when he gets back, Travis figures he’ll probably go back to tending the gate.
“I only have three or four years left and then I’m retiring,” Travis says. “I just turned 60 and that gate does take a toll on you. Two years ago I had my neck fused. I was packing a horse (that’s when two assistant starters link their arms behind a horse to push it into the gate). I had a horse kick and throw my arm back. Vertebrae seven just fell down on the nerve. I couldn’t move my arm or open my hand.”
He says he’s a lot better now.
“I go to some therapy,” Travis remarks. “I have a bad back, too, but I do a lot of stretching.”
Travis is not even the oldest guy on the gate.
“Eddie Figueroa is 63 years-old,” Travis says. “He works the outer gate most of the time. He’s out now dealing with sciatica.”
As you can see, working the gate may well by the toughest job on the racetrack.
Travis will piece together a crew with the ‘next man up’ approach. He’ll be the starter on all of the big races still to come and all of the other races until the end of the meet. Though, chances are pretty good, you won’t even notice.
ARTIST HEATHER RODDY SETS UP SHOP ON 2ND FLOOR OF CLUBHOUSE
If you like your equine art big, bold, brassy and colorful – oh boy – have we got a deal for you.
Del Mar’s favorite artist, Heather Roddy, has brought her colors, her splashy art and her happy ways to the second floor of the track’s Clubhouse, which she’s sprinkled with more than a dozen of her bubbly and bright pieces, all available to those willing to take the plunge.
Roddy has assembled her art elsewhere on the grounds previously, including last year near the entrance to the Clubhouse alongside the small fountain. But she has more room in her current location and an easy chance to chat with those stopping by.
Del Mar conducts a contest each year that usually draws six to eight artists with the aim of coming up with a piece of original art that is distinctive and can be displayed on the cover of its programs throughout the summer. In the past 10 years, Roddy has used her whimsical style and colorful delights to come away a winner of the contest on four different occasions.
You can sample her pizazz online at -- Heather-Roddy.Pixels.com -- or you can simply come sample it in person at Del Mar on any racing day.
HANDICAPPING SEMINARS THIS WEEKEND AT DEL MAR
Del Mar offers a series of handicapping seminars this weekend. Every Saturday and Sunday during the summer meet, top handicappers will offer their expertise prior to the races. The sessions are free on the patio of the Hacienda Room alongside the Plaza de Mexico behind the grandstand, west of the paddock.
On Saturday, host Frank Scatoni will have horse player Paul Cush as his guest. On Sunday, Dan Smith and clocker Toby Turrell will lend their insights into the races. The seminars start at 1 p.m. and last 30-to-35 minutes.
TASTE OF NEW ORLEANS
Always wanted to go to New Orleans?
Del Mar brings New Orleans to you on Saturday with the Taste of New Orleans Food and Music Festival. Everything from hurricanes to daiquiris, from Swamp Water to craft beers will be on hand to drink while you munch on po’boys, gumbo, jambalaya and other Cajun cuisine that is available for purchase. The party starts at one o’clock at the Seaside Cabana on the west end of the blacktop. Tickets are available online. You must be 21 or older.
COOLING OUT: Jockey Flavien Prat will make his annual trip out west to Del Mar a bit early this year. After riding Saratoga’s big Travers card on Saturday, Prat will board the cross-country flight in time to ride Sweet Azteca in Sunday’s G3 Rancho Bernardo…It was one year ago this weekend that Tropical Storm Hilary paid a visit to San Diego County, prompting some evacuations of horses from Del Mar and the cancelation of racing that Sunday. While Hilary did not make the predicted direct hit on San Diego, she did leave lots of standing water throughout the Del Mar backside…Notable works for Friday: Dirt – None Above the Law (5f, :59.20); Speed Boat Beach (5f, 1:00.20) and Du Jour (6f, 1:12.60).