Curlin Road may get Pacific Classic start after Cougar II win

DEL MAR, Calif. – Curlin Road, claimed for $40,000 in April, may have earned a start in the $1 million Pacific Classic on Aug. 19 with his first stakes victory in Wednesday’s Grade 3 Cougar II Handicap at 1 1/2 miles on dirt at Del Mar.

Ridden by Flavien Prat, Curlin Road ($21.40) closed from fifth in a field of seven to finish a nose in front of 6-5 favorite Hard Aces. The outcome was not confirmed until the stewards conducted a review of the race after Santiago Gonzalez, who rode Hard Aces, lodged a claim of foul against the winner, alleging interference in the stretch.

The two runners made contact, but the stewards disallowed the claim.

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Winning trainer Doug O’Neill on Thursday said the win has prompted discussions about race goals for a gelding who was added to the $100,690 Cougar II field as an afterthought.

“He was training great, and we did a Doug Flutie there, and it worked,” O’Neill said, referring to the Boston College quarterback who threw a famous Hail Mary pass in 1984 to beat Miami on the last play of the game.

Curlin Road has won 4 of 24 starts and earned $231,750 in his career. He has earned $100,440 for the partnership of R3 Racing, Calara Farms, and ERJ Racing since being claimed.

O’Neill described the win in the Cougar II as “a surprise.”

A long-range goal is the Grade 2 Marathon Stakes at 1 3/4 miles on dirt here Nov. 3. As for the Pacific Classic, O’Neill said the race “is a great option to have.”

“We have to decide if we think he’s good enough,” O’Neill said.

The race will include Arrogate, who finished a dull fourth in the Grade 2 San Diego Handicap on July 22.

“Arrogate is an unbelievably good horse, but he’s not a machine,” O’Neill said.

Trainer McLean notches milestone

The longshot 2-year-old Clean Living gave veteran Northern California trainer Bill McLean his first career Del Mar winner on Wednesday.

McLean, who has 20 horses at Golden Gate Fields and six at Del Mar this summer, has run sparingly at Del Mar in the past. He had two runners in the 1990s and did not have another starter until 2014. In 2015, McLean brought a small group of horses for the summer and was winless with seven starters.

“Two years ago, I brought some down here, and they kicked my butt,” McLean said.

Clean Living ($64.60) was the surprise winner Wednesday in her debut and was McLean’s 18th career runner at Del Mar. McLean and his family own the filly’s stallion, Second in Command, who stands in British Columbia.

Stellar Wind, Vale Dori lead Hirsch field

The 2017 Grade 1 winners Stellar Wind and Vale Dori lead the field for Sunday’s Clement L. Hirsch Stakes for fillies and mares at Del Mar, and each will have a stablemate as part of a projected field of six.

The Grade 1 Clement Hirsch, run at 1 1/16 miles, is the leading race of the summer meeting for older females. The winner of the $300,000 race receives a fees-paid berth in the Breeders’ Cup Distaff here Nov. 3.

Stellar Wind and Vale Dori were first and second, separated by a neck, in the Grade 1 Beholder Mile at Santa Anita on June 3. Earlier this year, Vale Dori won the Grade 1 Santa Margarita Stakes at Santa Anita.

John Sadler trains Stellar Wind and is expected to run Shenandoah Queen, who will have her stakes debut in the Hirsch. Bob Baffert trains Vale Dori and also will start Faithfully, who won the minor Santa Lucia Stakes at Santa Anita on June 4.

Autumn Flower, third to Vale Dori in the Santa Margarita, and the Kentucky shipper Motown Lady will be longshots.