2024 Pacific Classic Trophy © Benoit Photo
DEL MAR PACIFIC CLASSIC MEDIA SURVEY 2024
The experts have spoken. Here’s our annual random survey of media members and their choices and comments for this year’s G1 FanDuel Racing Pacific Classic.
Steve Andersen – Daily Racing Form – There Goes Harvard – “Proven at the distance.”
Brad Free – Daily Racing Form – Reincarnate – “Speed on a speed-favoring track.”
Ernie Belmonte – Past The Wire – Dr. Venkman – “His last race was awesome, his works have been good and he’s sitting on a good race.”
Jon Lindo – Thoroughbred LA Radio – Dr. Venkman – “Should get a nice pressing trip and lightly raced, still has room to improve.”
Toby Turrell – Clocker – Katonah – “Ran huge in prep race.”
Ryan Frear – Del Mar Thoroughbred Club – Full Serrano – “Berrios!”
Bob Ike – KLAA AM830 – Full Serrano –“Wire-to-wire, goodbye!”
Kurt Hoover – Fan Duel TV – Dr. Venkman – “Big move forward in the San Diego Handicap, relaxed nicely, should get a great stalking trip.”
A LOOK BACK AT PAST PACIFIC CLASSICS
Another chapter of the G1 FanDuel Racing Pacific Classic will be written later today. It will be the 34th chapter in a race that was first run in 1991. Here’s a sample of the storied timeline.
1994, 30 years ago – The fourth running of the Pacific Classic was won by Juddmonte Farm’s Tinners Way, a 4-year old colt by Secretariat. It was his first of back-to-back Pacific Classic victories for trainer Bobby Frankel, who scored his third straight Classic win. Best Pal, winner of the inaugural Pacific Classic, finished second. The previous year’s Pacific Classic winner, Bertrando, was also in the race.
1999, 25 years ago – General Challenge, a big chestnut colt by General Meeting, becomes the second 3-year old to win the Pacific Classic after Best Pal. It was trainer Bob Baffert’s first win in the Classic and the second for owner John Mabee and Golden Eagle Farm.
2004, 20 years ago – Pleasantly Perfect rolled past the pacesetters in midstretch, then held off a surging Perfect Drift to win. The 6-year-old son of Pleasant Colony was the race favorite and, at the time, was the oldest horse to ever win the Pacific Classic. He was ridden by Hall of Fame jockey Jerry Bailey for Hall of Fame trainer Richard Mandella.
2009, 15 years ago – Richard’s Kid went to the post a 24-1 longshot and won the Pacific Classic by a thrilling neck over Einstein, his first of back-to-back Classic victories. It was Baffert’s second Pacific Classic score and jockey Mike Smith’s second. The dark bay or brown colt by Lemon Drop Kid paid a handsome $50.80 to win.
2014, 10-years ago – One of the more popular Pacific Classic winners, Shared Belief, beat the likes of Toast of New York, Imperative, and the previous year’s winner Game On Dude. Owned by a conglomerate of owners, including radio personality Jim Rome, the son of another Pacific Classic winner, Candy Ride, would become the fourth gelding to win the race. He was also the fifth 3-year-old to win the Classic. He was trained by Jerry Hollendorfer and ridden by Mike Smith, who would move into a tie with Garrett Gomez for the most wins by a jockey in the race with four.
2019, 5-years ago – The bay colt by Medaglia d’Oro, Higher Power, coasted home a 5 ¼-length winner with jockey Flavien Prat in the irons. The John Sadler trainee went off at 9-1 odds and paid $21.20 to win. It would be Prat’s first Classic win, Sadler’s second and Hronis Racing’s second. The three would team up three years later with Flightline.
STAY HOT, FORMIDABLE MAN LOCK HORNS IN DEL MAR DERBY SUNDAY
Two of the top 3-year-olds on the grounds, outside of the Bob Baffert barn, will hook up in the 80th running of the G2 Del Mar Derby Sunday. Formidable Man and Stay Hot met once before in Kentucky at Churchill Downs on Derby weekend but Stay Hot was not having a very good day.
“He didn’t enjoy the trip to Kentucky much,” trainer Peter Eurton says. “He got hot and sweaty and I schooled him, too. Too much anxiety and I don’t know why. Maybe just too many races at a time. But he enjoyed his two months off.”
Eurton was rewarded with a victory off the layoff in the $100,000 La Jolla Handicap at Del Mar earlier this month.
“We were very pleased with his last race, how could you not be,” Eurton states. “He closed into an average pace and didn’t win by a nose like he normally does.”
In his three races prior to the trip to Kentucky, all wins, all in stakes, Stay Hot won by a neck, a head, and a head. Eurton and Stay Hot may be in for another close one in the Derby because to his outside are the Oceanside Stakes winner, Formidable Man, and the Real Good Deal Stakes winner, Curlin’s Kaos.
Formidable Man ran second in the Kentucky race he shared with Stay Hot, then ran sixth in the $275,000 Audubon Stakes, also at Churchill Downs, before returning to Southern California and running down a talented field in the Oceanside.
“We saw a new dimension in him in the Oceanside,” trainer Mike McCarthy noted. “He got kind of bunched up early at the start and found himself shuffled back a little farther than we would have liked. Obviously, he finished with a big run.”
Formidable Man has shown he can lay close as he did in all of his races prior to the Oceanside.
“I’ll leave it up to Umberto (Rispoli),” McCarthy says about where he wants Formidable Man placed in the race. “I would imagine he would be a little bit closer than he was the other day. He seems to have held his form for the summer and we’re expecting the same kind of performance all over again.”
Curlin’s Kaos was up on the pace and never stopped in the $150,000 Real Good Deal Stakes, sailing to a 5 ¾ length victory and giving trainer Antonio Garcia his first stakes win at Del Mar.
“He really impressed us,” Garcia claims. “The horse has always had talent. Putting the blinkers back on definitely gave him a boost of confidence and focus and he showed it that day.”
The Real Good Deal was seven furlongs on the dirt. The Del Mar Derby is a mile and an eighth on the grass.
“He’s been very versatile on both surfaces,” Garcia contends. “He’s done really good on the turf. I think the way the track is playing he can get the same type of race where he can just break and get going. I think he’s going to be tough to catch.”
Guy Named Joe ran second in the Oceanside, coming from the back of the pack with Formidable Man.
“You know, he tries hard every time,” trainer Doug O’Neill notes. “In these top turf races so much of it you rely on a good, ground saving trip. They’re so evenly matched. We have J.J. (Hernandez) on him and we’re optimistic we can spring a little upset here.”
O’Neill says distance is not a concern, insisting the son of American Pharoah will “run all day.”
The G2 Del Mar Derby is the eighth race on Sunday’s 10-race card. Probable post is 5 p.m.
Here’s the field from the rail with the jockeys and morning like odds: Guy Named Joe (7-2); Gold Foot (Kyle Frey, 12-1); Sketchy (Jose Valdivia, 15-1); Stay Hot (Antonio Fresu, 5/2); Atitlan (Hector I. Berrios, 8-1); Formidable Man (8/5), and Curlin’s Kaos (Diego Herrera, 8-1).
MUTH MAKES RETURN TO THE RACES SUNDAY IN SHARED BELIEF
It will be hard match last year’s thrilling finish to the Shared Belief Stakes when Mr. Fisk and Tahoe Sunrise hit the wire together, a ‘too close to call’ photo finish. Turns out the judges couldn’t separate the two Bob Baffert trainees and declared the finish a dead heat.
It was Baffert’s fourth victory in the past five runnings of the Shared Belief, for a long time known as the El Cajon Stakes. Baffert is back again this year and is leaving little to chance bringing three runners to the race.
It will mark the return of Muth, a dazzling 3-year old colt by Good Magic who was purchased by Zedan Racing Stables for $2 million in March of last year. He broke his maiden at Santa Anita by 8 ½ lengths in June of 2023 followed by a runner-up finish to stablemate Prince of Monaco in the G3 Best Pal at Del Mar. Muth would win the G1 American Pharoah at Santa Anita, which led to his runner-up finish to Fierceness in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile.
In 2024, the colt has been perfect, winning the G2 San Vicente in January and then scoring in the G1 Arkansas Derby in April. He shipped back to Maryland but before he could make it to the Preakness, he got sick.
“He had a 104 temperature,” Baffert recalls. “He was really sick. If they’re getting sick and you ship, it makes it worse. In all my years I always worry about that. I have been so lucky that my good horses never got sick. It was a shame because he was going to be the heavy favorite.”
Once all his bloodwork was back to normal and he was feeling better, they got Muth back home to Southern California. Baffert took his time bringing the colt back. But 3 ½ months later Muth is set to go in the Shared Belief.
“He’s doing well,” Baffert says. “I was debating running him a mile and a quarter in the Classic. Some horses you can train into it but he’s not one of them. This race will set him up for either the Penn Derby or the California Crown.”
The ‘other’ Baffert horses in the Shared Belief bring impressive credentials. Imagination has been running with the best 3-year-olds in the country in such races as the G1 Woody Stephens, the Preakness Stakes and the Santa Anita Derby where he missed by a neck to Stronghold. Baffert also brings Wynstock, winner of the Los Alamitos Derby in June.
John Sadler also has a pair of colts running in the Shared Belief. Pony Express is by Gun Runner. He broke his maiden at Santa Anita by nine lengths in June and then shipped back to New York for the G2 Jim Dandy and ran last.
“The travel was less than ideal,” Sadler says, “so he was a little flat. We think it was just having to go that far. But he’s come back and trained really well for the Shared Belief. I think you’re going to see more of the true Pony Express in there.”
Sadler’s other horse is Indispensable, a son of Constitution who is taking the leap from maiden winner to stakes race.
“We like this horse a lot and he got a big rating when he broke his maiden here the other day,” Sadler notes. “He’s a horse that is really coming on strong now so we’re not afraid to get him in there.”
The 50th running of the $125,000 Shared Belief Stakes is part of a twin-bill of stakes races for 3-year-olds on Sunday at Del Mar. It’s named after the 2014 Pacific Classic winner and is the seventh race on the 10-race card. Probable post is 4:30 p.m.
Here’s the field from the rail with the jockeys and the morning line odds: Mc Vay (Umberto Rispoli, 9/2); Indispensable (Hector I. Berrios, 20-1); Muth (Juan Hernandez, 3/5); Pony Express (Antonio Fresu, 5-1); De’ Medici (Reylu Gutierrez, 12-1); Imagination (Kazushi Kimura, 10-1), and Wynstock (Kyle Frey, 12-1).
COOLING OUT: Del Mar’s leading jockey, Juan Hernandez, was in the Pacific Classic with Adare Manor, then out of it when they scratched the mare. Now he’s back in as trainer Bob Baffert got the okay from the stewards Friday to place Hernandez on Reincarnate. The odd man out in horse racing’s version of musical chairs is Kazushi Kimura…On a more positive note, Kimura scored his 900th career victory Friday, guiding Soul of a Warrior to the win in Race 4…Notable works for Saturday: Dirt – Anisette (4f, :49.20); Casalu (4f, :48.40); Mirahmadi (4f :47.60); Subsanador (4f, :49.60); Johannes (5f, :59.80), and Nooni (6f, 1:11.80).