Express Train scheduled for another try at the Pacific Classic
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Express Train, winner of the Grade 1 Santa Anita Handicap in 2022, is scheduled to start in the Grade 1 Pacific Classic at Del Mar on Aug. 31 for the third time in his career after a third-place finish in the Grade 2 San Diego Handicap at Del Mar last Saturday.
Express Train closed from last of five in the San Diego Handicap at 1 1/16 miles to finish 4 3/4 lengths behind Dr. Venkman, another candidate for the $1 million Pacific Classic.
The San Diego was Express Train’s second start since the fall of 2022. On April 27, Express Train was third to top California sprinter The Chosen Vron in the Kona Gold Stakes at 6 1/2 furlongs at Santa Anita.
“We’re going to train him for the Pacific Classic,” trainer John Shirreffs said on Thursday. “He hasn’t done a lot of racing in the last 22 months. I think one short race was great. The two-turn race should help him even more.
“It should move him forward. We know he’s okay at a mile and a quarter.”
Owned by Lee and Susan Searing, Express Train is a five-time stakes winner. Overall, the 7-year-old horse has won 7 of 22 starts and earned $1,491,800. He won the Big Cap in 2022 at 1 1/4 miles, his third consecutive stakes win.
Express Train was sixth behind Tripoli in the 2021 Pacific Classic, and fourth, beaten 26 3/4 lengths, by Flightline in the 2022 Pacific Classic. The brilliant Flightline, the 2022 Horse of the Year, won the Pacific Classic by 19 1/4 lengths.
Katonah, second in the San Diego Handicap, and Midnight Mammoth, winner of the Grade 3 Cougar II Stakes at Del Mar on July 25, are other early candidates for the Pacific Classic.
Trainer Bob Baffert is expected to have a presence. His contenders include Arabian Knight, who won the 2023 Pacific Classic and was fourth in the San Diego Handicap in his 2024 debut, and Parenting, the undefeated winner of the Affirmed Stakes at Santa Anita in June and an allowance race at Del Mar last Sunday.
On Sunday, Shirreffs plans to run Atitlan in the $100,000 La Jolla Handicap at 1 1/16 miles on turf for 3-year-olds. The La Jolla is a prep race for the Grade 2 Del Mar Derby, a $300,000 race at 1 1/8 miles on turf on Sept. 1.
Atitlan won a maiden race in a 35-1 upset at Del Mar on July 20 in his second start. Other expected runners in the La Jolla are Cathal, Final Boss, King of Gosford, Prince of Power, and Stay Hot.
Final Boss, King of Gosford, and Stay Hot were stakes winners at Santa Anita on turf earlier this year. Stay Hot, trained by Peter Eurton, won the Grade 3 Cecil B. DeMille Stakes at a mile on turf for 2-year-olds at Del Mar last December.
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