Bal Harbour makes it 11 probables for Pacific Classic

DEL MAR, Calif. – The Grade 1 Pacific Classic at Del Mar on Aug. 17 may have its largest field in six years.

Racing officials said on Friday that Bal Harbour, second in the Grade 3 Monmouth Cup at Monmouth Park on July 20, is a likely runner, bringing the list of candidates to 11. The 2013 running had 12 starters.

Bal Harbour is trained by Todd Pletcher and would be his first starter at a Del Mar summer meeting. Pletcher had six runners at Del Mar on Breeders’ Cup weekend in November 2017.

Bal Harbour is one of five shippers among the probable starters, along with Quip, Seeking the Soul, Tenfold, and War Story. The locally based candidates are Campaign, Draft Pick, For the Top, Higher Power, Mongolian Groom, and Pavel.

There were seven runners last year, including Pavel, who finished a well-beaten second to Accelerate.

The $1 million Pacific Classic is run at 1 1/4 miles. The winner will receive a fees-paid berth to the Breeders’ Cup Classic at Santa Anita on Nov. 2.

The prospective field lacks a standout. Campaign, Quip, Seeking the Soul, Tenfold, and War Story have won graded stakes this year, but none has won a Grade 1 race this year.

The Pacific Classic is part of a rich day of five graded stakes.

The Grade 1 Del Mar Oaks for 3-year-old fillies at 1 1/8 miles on turf will include Mucho Unusual, the winner of the Grade 2 San Clemente Stakes at a mile on turf on July 20, and Cambier Parc and Dogtag, stakes winners trained in New York by Chad Brown.

Other candidates are Apache Princess, Hidden Message, Lady Prancealot, and Maxim Rate in what is expected to be a large field.

Marckie’s Water and United, the first two finishers of the Grade 2 Charles Whittingham Stakes at Santa Anita on May 25, will meet in the Grade 2 Del Mar Handicap at 1 3/8 miles on turf. The winner of the $250,000 race will receive a fees-paid berth to the BC Turf at Santa Anita on Nov. 2.

Itsinthepost, second in the 2017 Del Mar Handicap and seventh in the race last year, is another contender in the Del Mar Handicap. Itsinthepost was second in the Grade 3 Cougar II Handicap at 1 1/2 miles on turf behind Campaign on July 24 in his second start of the year.

The Grade 3 Torrey Pines Stakes for 3-year-old fillies at a mile on dirt is the goal for the sprint stakes winner Sneaking Out, who was scheduled to be withdrawn from Friday’s $150,000 Solana Beach Stakes for California-bred fillies and mares, trainer Keith Desormeaux said.

The Grade 3 Green Flash Handicap at five furlongs on turf is likely to include Stormy Liberal, the champion turf male of 2018, and Eddie Haskell, who has won two turf sprint stakes this year.