Adare Manor entered to take on boys in Pacific Classic

Adare Manor, the leading older female in California, will race against males for the first time in her career in Saturday’s Grade 1 Pacific Classic at Del Mar.

Trainer Bob Baffert, who has won the $1 million Pacific Classic a record seven times, said Tuesday morning that he plans to run Adare Manor and Reincarnate.

Adare Manor will be ridden by Juan Hernandez, while Kazushi Kimura has the mount on Reincarnate, Baffert said.

The Pacific Classic, the premier race of the Del Mar summer meeting, has a projected field of nine, including Dr. Venkman, Full Serrano, Il Miracolo, Katonah, Mixto, None Above the Law, and There Goes Harvard.

Post positions will be drawn on Tuesday afternoon.

There Goes Harvard was supplemented for $10,000 on Tuesday, according to Del Mar racing officials. Trained by Michael McCarthy for Michael and Jennifer Cannon, There Goes Harvard has not won in five starts since the Grade 1 Hollywood Gold Cup at 1 1/4 miles at Santa Anita in May 2022.

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At Santa Anita in late May, There Goes Harvard finished fourth in the Grade 1 Shoemaker Mile on turf while making his first start in more than 14 months. Earlier this summer at Del Mar, There Goes Harvard finished last of nine after a troubled stretch run in the Grade 2 Eddie Read Stakes at 1 1/8 miles on turf on July 28.

The field will not include Midnight Mammoth, winner of the Grade 3 Cougar II Stakes at 1 1/2 miles on July 25. Trainer Craig Dollase said Tuesday morning that Midnight Mammoth was found to have a “little minor issue” after a half-mile breeze in 47.40 seconds on Aug. 25 at Del Mar.

“We think it may be a foot,” Dollase said. “We’re not 100 percent. We’re taking diagnostics.”

Reincarnate, a two-time stakes winner, was second in the Cougar II Stakes.

Adare Manor, a 5-year-old owned by Michael Lund Petersen, is already a Grade 1 winner at Del Mar this summer, having won the $401,500 Clement Hirsch Stakes for fillies and mares at 1 1/16 miles on Aug. 3 for her third consecutive graded stakes win.

An eight-time graded stakes winner, Adare Manor may go favored in what is expected to be a competitive running of the Pacific Classic. Dr. Venkman will be well supported on the basis of his win in the Grade 2 San Diego Handicap at 1 1/16 miles on July 27 at Del Mar.

Adare Manor and Dr. Venkman will both start at 1 1/4 miles for the first time in the Pacific Classic.

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Adare Manor will be the first filly or mare to start in the Pacific Classic since Beholder finished second to the mighty California Chrome in 2016. Beholder, a four-time champion, won the 2015 Pacific Classic. She was inducted into racing’s Hall of Fame in 2022.

Adare Manor, who has won 10 of 18 starts and earned $2,096,600, is capable of setting the pace or racing from a stalking position. She closed from fourth of eighth to win the Clement Hirsch by 2 3/4 lengths in an eye-catching manner.

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