Eastern shippers head west in search of Pacific Classic gold

DEL MAR, Calif. – While the summer season provided relief for California racing after a chaotic first half of the year, Del Mar also offered refuge for top handicap runners from Kentucky and New York.

Seeking the Soul and Quip arrived at Del Mar early this week to prepare for leading roles in the richest race of summer – the Grade 1, $1 million Pacific Classic on Saturday. The connections of both shippers had valid reasons to target Del Mar instead of Saratoga.

Seeking the Soul, based in Kentucky and the only U.S. Grade 1 winner in the Pacific Classic field, ran at Saratoga last summer. It did not go well.

“He ran terrible, maybe he doesn’t like it there,” trainer Dallas Stewart said this week at Del Mar. “Fast forward to this year, I’m going somewhere different. So, here we are.”

With a résumé that includes seven wins, $3.3 million in earnings, and a last-out victory against Quip in a highly rated Grade 2 Stephen Foster at Churchill Downs, Seeking the Soul is the 3-1 favorite for the 1 1/4-mile Pacific Classic.

Quip, likely to be positioned first or second Saturday in a Pacific Classic field that is short on speed, skipped Saratoga because his ownership is similar to Yoshida. Rather than face Yoshida and McKinzie in the Grade 1 Whitney, the owners looked to the west for Quip.

“The Whitney looked like it was coming up extremely tough,” Quip’s trainer Rodolphe Brisset said. “I’m not saying the Pacific Classic did not come up tough, we just thought it would be a good time to try and a mile and a quarter.”

In fact, the timing is perfect. The California handicap ranks, already thin at the start of summer, got thinner when John Sadler-trained Gift Box and Catalina Cruiser dropped out of the picture. Gift Box returns in fall; Catalina Cruiser runs next in a sprint.

Rather than start his top horses in the Pacific Classic, Sadler runs Campaign and Higher Power. Campaign won a pair of Grade 3 dirt marathons, including one at Del Mar. Higher Power finished second in a turf stakes and worked exceptionally well over the Del Mar dirt. Campaign makes sense. In the case of Higher Power, Sadler is rolling the dice.

“He’s in there because I don’t see a monster,” he said. Sadler, who recognizes Seeking the Soul and Quip are legitimate, also added “that’s why they’re shipping – because they don’t see a monster.”

The truth is that the Pacific Classic field is light. The millionaire War Story will try to become the first 7-year-old to win the race, Pavel has won just three races but earned $2 million, For the Top finished 13 lengths behind Campaign last out, Tenfold won a Grade 3 two back, Mongolian Groom and Draft Pick finished two-three, respectively, last out in a modest Grade 2.

The Pacific Classic, race 10 on an 11-race card with five graded stakes, offers the winner a fees-paid berth in the Breeders’ Cup Classic.

Shippers are prominent all day. New York-based Cambier Parc is favored in the Grade 1 Del Mar Oaks (race 9); Maryland-based The Great Day runs in the Grade 2 Del Mar Handicap (race 7). Shippers from Maryland and Kentucky face local speedster Fighting Mad in the Grade 3 Torrey Pines (race 8); Kentucky-based turf sprinter Undrafted meets Eddie Haskell and sharp Mr Vargas in the Grade 3 Green Flash Handicap (race 6).

KEY CONTENDERS

Seeking the Soul, by Perfect Soul

Last 3 Beyers: 104-95-103

◗ Last-out winner of the Grade 2 Stephen Foster, the Pacific Classic is his first start at 1 1/4 miles. His trainer does not believe it is an issue.

“He hasn’t done it yet, but with his pedigree and everything, it shouldn’t be a problem,” Stewart said.

◗ Seeking the Soul’s three graded wins were at Churchill Downs. The challenge is to reproduce Churchill form over the slow, tiring Del Mar track. John Velazquez rides.

Quip, by Distorted Humor

Last 3 Beyers: 104-99-94

◗ Brisset, a former assistant to Bill Mott who has been on his own since 2017, seeks the first Grade 1 of his career with lightly raced Quip, a 4-year-old with four wins from nine starts. The improving colt enters late summer fresh, having started just three times this year.

“I think we learned he doesn’t want to run too often, every seven to eight weeks is better than every three weeks,” Brisset said.

◗ Quip and jockey Florent Geroux are candidates to set the pace in a race likely to unfold at a slow tempo.

Campaign, by Curlin

Last 3 Beyers: 94-95-94

◗ Even though Campaign is Grade 3 caliber, Sadler believes his proven form over the tiring Del Mar surface is a potential equalizer.

“The track has been slow and it’s been hard to get through,” Sadler said. “Maybe he has a conditioning edge, the ability to get through a heavy track.”

Higher Power, by Medaglia d’Oro

Last 3 Beyers: 94-94-96

◗ He finished second with a slightly compromising trip last out on turf and has trained well on the main track since. Sadler could have kept him on grass for the Grade 2 Del Mar Mile on Sunday, but after a big dirt work under leading rider Flavien Prat, he committed to the Pacific Classic.

Prat said Higher Power “worked good, galloped out good, and I think he’ll like the distance.”