Juan Leyva © Katie Jones

MEET THE MAN WHO RIDES FLIGHTLINE FOR A LIVING

You’re a true horseman when every time you see a quality horse you wonder ‘What would it be like to ride him.’ The man to answer that question about Flightline, this Saturday’s TVG Pacific Classic favorite, is Juan Leyva, assistant trainer to John Sadler and exercise rider for Flightline.

“He’s not like any other horse,” Leyva says. “He does everything a lot easier than most horses do.”

Like the five furlongs “soft” work he put in last Saturday in :59.60.

“That’s the great thing about him,” Leyva says. “He can go out there and run fast and not even exert himself.”

Flightline posted three consecutive bullet works in August as Sadler prepared him for the TVG Pacific Classic, each week progressing a little farther. From 5-furlongs in :59.00 on the sixth, to 6-furlongs in 1:12.40 on the 13^th and seven furlongs in 1:24 on the 20^th.

“This horse has a very special way of moving,” Leyva says. “Really effortlessly but yet, you feel all that power that’s in there. And he’s smooth.”

Leyva was a successful jockey before he landed as Sadler’s assistant. He amassed earnings of nearly $23 million during a career that spanned 17 years, from 2001 to 2017. He won the Breeders’ Cup Sprint with Musical Romance in 2011 and retired with 803 victories.

He got to work Accelerate, another standout from the Sadler barn, who won the Pacific Classic in 2018 and then the Breeders’ Cup Classic later in the year. Accelerate would have been a shoe-in for Horse of the Year but there was this Triple Crown winner named Justify that year. Leyva says there’s no comparison between Accelerate and Flightline.

“Accelerate was a really good horse but he didn’t move the way this horse (Flightline) moves.”

Flightline is the 1-5 morning line favorite for the TVG Pacific Classic that goes off as Race 10 on the special 11-race card Saturday at Del Mar.

Here’s the field from the rail with the jockeys and morning line odds: Extra Hope (Tyler Baze, 30-1); Country Grammer (John Velazquez, 4-1); Royal Ship (Mike Smith, 8-1); Express Train (Victor Espinoza, 12-1); Flightline (Flavien Prat) and Stilleto Boy (Juan Hernandez, 20-1)

PACIFIC CLASSIC: A LOOK BACK IN TIME

1992, 30 Years Ago – Missionary Ridge, with Kent Desormeaux aboard, wins the second running and gives trainer Bobby Frankel the first of his six Pacific Classic victories.

1997, 25 Years Ago – Gentlemen, with jockey Gary Stevens up, rewards his backers and gives trainer Richard Mandella back-to-back Pacific Classic winners following up the previous year’s shocker with Dare And Go.

2002, 20 Years Ago – Came Home, a 3-year-old son of Gone West, wins at 10-1 giving jockey Mike Smith the first of his four Pacific Classic winners.

2007, 15 Years Ago – Student Council, with Richard Migliore in the saddle, pulls off one of the biggest upsets in Pacific Classic history, scoring at 23-1. The favorite and defending champion, Lava Man, finished sixth.

2012, 10 Years Ago – Dullahan runs down Game On Dude to give both rider Joel Rosario and trainer Dale Romans their first Pacific Classic wins.

2017, 5 Years Ago – Collected holds off a surging Arrogate to score a Bob Baffert exacta and give the conditioner his fifth Pacific Classic win.

HONG KONG HARRY READY TO LIGHT THE BOARD IN G2 DEL MAR MILE

The first of the graded stakes on the TVG Pacific Classic undercard is the G2 Del Mar Mile, going off as Race 7 of the 11-race card. 10 horses are set to go in the contest run on the Jimmy Durante Turf Course.

Hong Kong Harry will be out to avenge his loss in the G2 Eddie Read in July at Del Mar. ‘Harry’ was sideswiped and bumped hard a few steps out of the gate, leaving him some six lengths off the pace. He’s used to being a lot closer and trainer Phil D’Amato says he never got into a position to win.

“Hopefully we get a clean break this time,” D’Amato says. “Last time he got wiped out at the start and it definitely cost us any chance of winning. If we can tactically get into a good spot out of the gate, I think he can run a winning race.”

Hong Kong Harry has run four times since arriving in the States from England in March. He’s won three of those races, including the G3 American at Santa Anita in June.

D’Amato also will run Cathkin Peak, who ran third in the Eddie Read.

The D’Amato pair will have to deal with Irideo, an impressive winner of the $100,000 Wickerr Stakes on opening weekend at Del Mar, one of two stakes winners this summer from the Marcelo Polanco barn.

“I feel good,” Polanco says, “because he’s coming to the race the same way he came to the other race. He’s working good and eating like nothing happens.”

There are two horses in the Del Mar Mile who won on Pacific Classic Day last year. Tripoli won the TVG Pacific Classic, rallying past Tizamagician. He has not won since.

Astronaut has also gone winless since capturing the 2021 Del Mar Handicap. In fact, he has yet to race this year.

“He’s coming off of a layoff,” trainer John Shirreffs points out. “Seems like a good spot to start him and get him going again. This race might not be quite long enough because a mile and 3/8’s is more his style.”

Here’s the field for the G2 Del Mar Mile from the rail with jockeys: Air Force Red (John Velazquez); Tarantino (Mike Smith); Irideo (Hector Berrios); None Above the Law (Joe Bravo); Hong Kong Harry (Flavien Prat); Goliad (Juan Hernandez); Cathkin Peak (Umberto Rispoli); Figureti (Abel Cedillo); Tripoli (Tiago Pereira), and Astronaut (Victor Espinoza).

TOP 3-YEAR-OLD GRASS RUNNERS HOOK UP IN G2 DEL MAR DERBY

Trainer Doug O’Neill will bring two of his top 3-year-olds to the 78^th running of the G2 Caesars Sportsbook Del Mar Derby on the TVG Pacific Classic undercard Saturday at Del Mar. The Derby will be the first time on the grass for Slow Down Andy, who finished second to Big City Lights in the $175,000 Real Good Deal Stakes at Del Mar last month.

“He’s doing well,” O’Neill says. “It’s in our own backyard, big purse so we thought we’d take a chance. He fits with them.”

Mackinnon ran a disappointing fourth in the $100,000 Oceanside Stakes on opening day. The son of American Pharoah went off favored that day.

“I think the race under his belt will do him good,” O’Neill says, “and I think going a mile and an eighth will do him a world of good. That’s the hope.”

The horse that won the Oceanside and defeated Mackinnon, Balnikhov, is also in the Derby.

“Balnikhov is training very well,” trainer Phil D’Amato says. “I think he’ll be the favorite or second choice in there. He’ll come running late.”

A horse that defeated Balnikhov earlier this year is running in the Derby. War At Sea has not run since he beat Balnikhov in the $100,000 Cinema at Santa Anita in June. The son of War Front is riding a three race win streak for trainer Ron Ellis.

“He stumbled pulling up after a workout before the La Jolla, which he was supposed to run in,” Ellis says. “It kind of scared us so we checked him out, sent him to a nuclear scan at Santa Anita. Everything checked out great. He’s working great, training great so I think he’s fit now.”

Cabo Spirit is coming into the Derby off his breakout win in the G3 La Jolla at Del Mar last month for trainer George Papaprodromou.

“He was an expensive 2-year old that we paid for so obviously he’s a nice horse,” Papaprodromou says. “I always had high hopes for him and we still do.”

Here’s the field from the rail with jockeys: Cabo Spirit (Joe Bravo); Slow Down Andy (Mario Gutierrez); War At Sea (Mike Smith); Spycatcher (Ryan Curatolo); Dandy Warhol (Flavien Prat); St Anthony (Hector Berrios); Mackinnon (Juan Hernandez); Barsabas (Diego Herrera), and Balnikhov (Umberto Rispoli).

NEWGRANGE RETURNS IN THE $125,000 SHARED BELIEF SATURDAY

The first of the five stakes races on Saturday’s TVG Pacific Classic card, the $125,000 Shared Belief, promises to get things started with a bang. Five contentious 3-year-olds will line up for the race run at one mile on the main track.

The Shared Belief marks the return to the races for Newgrange, a son of Violence who was a top prospect for the Kentucky Derby after three straight wins to open his career, including back-to-back Grade 3 races, the Sham at Santa Anita in January and then three weeks later the Southwest at Oaklawn Park. But Newgrange ran sixth in the G2 Rebel in February, effectively knocking him off the Derby trail and he hasn’t raced since. He was purchased in July by a partnership that includes Rockingham Ranch and moved to the Phil D’Amato barn.

“He’s training like a horse that likes the dirt,” D’Amato says. “I put some grass breezes in him and he didn’t care for it. As soon as I put him back on the dirt he trained like a stake horse so he’s fit and ready.”

Trainer Bob Baffert brings two colts to the party. High Connection comes into the race off of his victory in the $125,000 Los Alamitos Derby. The son of the Curlin sire Connect has run four times in his career and has never finished worse than second.

The other Baffert horse is Armagnac. He set the pace in the G3 La Jolla last out only to fade to fourth in his first run ever on the grass. That came after his trip back east to Baltimore where he ran seventh in the Preakness Stakes at Pimlico.

Shared Belief was a Pacific Classic winner in 2014 who succumbed to complications due to colic in December of 2015. In 2016, the El Cajon Stakes was renamed in his honor. It will be run as the fourth race on Saturday’s 11-race TVG Pacific Classic card.

Here’s the field from the rail with jockeys: Go Joe Won (Jose Valdivia); High Connection (Juan Hernandez); Newgrange (Edwin Maldonado); Il Bellator (Abel Cedillo), and Armagnac (John Velazquez).

TAKE A BOOK, LEAVE A BOOK – IN DEL MAR’S PADDOCK CLUB LIBRARY

Racing fans are reminded of the Helen Watts’ Memorial Library that has found a home in the southeast corner of the Paddock Club just off the track’s paddock.

A gift to the track from Watts’ daughter, Carol Paulick, the wife of Paulick Report founder/publisher Ray Paulick, the library operates under the trusting premise of “take a book, leave a book,” and has dozens of racing volumes that a fan might find of interest.

Watts was a longtime resident of Del Mar and a first-rate racing fan who collected racing books extensively over the years. She was a lifetime lover of horses and horse racing and wanted to share her collection with others who felt the same way.

The library is open and accessible when the gates are open on any racing day.

COOLING OUT:  Del Mar continues to maintain large field sizes as the summer meet heads into its final two weekends. Numbers released this week by the Racing Office places the average field size per race at 9.15 through Week Six…Hall of Fame trainer Jerry Hollendorfer notched his first win of the meet Thursday with Warrior’s Moon in the second race…Notable works for Friday: Forbidden Kingdom (4f, :47.40); Bran (5f, :59.40); Neptune’s Storm (5f, 1:01.20) and Park Avenue (5f, 1:02.40). A total of 105 horses put in official works on Friday.

Del Mar Statistics

Jockey Standings
(Current Through Thursday, September 1, 2022 Inclusive)

Trainer Standings
(Current Through Thursday, September 1, 2022 Inclusive)

Winning Favorites Report
(Current Through Thursday, September 1, 2022 Inclusive)

Winning favorites -- 78 out of 223 -- 34.98%
Winning favorites on dirt -- 48 out of 124 -- 38.71%
Winning favorites on turf -- 30 out of 99 -- 30.30%
Winning odds-on favorites -- 15 out of 32   -- 46.88%
In-the-Money favorites -- 162 out of 223 -- 72.65%
In-the-Money odds-on favorites -- 28 out of 32 -- 87.50%