Hit Show set for Pacific Classic
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Hit Show, the winner of the $12 million Dubai World Cup in 2025 and eight stakes in the United States, is bound for Del Mar and the Grade 1 Pacific Classic on Aug. 22.
Hit Show runs from off the pace, a style that has led to two wins in Grade 3 races in the last year.
“If there is speed in the race, it will be helpful for him,” said Case Clay, racing manager for owner Wathnan Racing. “He’s been such a cool horse. He travels well.”
Hit Show was second by 10 lengths to Phileas Fogg in the Grade 2 Suburban Stakes at 1 1/4 miles at Saratoga on July 4 in his last start. The $1 million Pacific Classic is run at the same distance.
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Trained by Brad Cox, Hit Show has won 12 of 27 starts and earned $9,541,683. A win in the Pacific Classic would push Hit Show’s career earnings past the $10 million mark and give the 6-year-old horse a fees-paid berth to the Breeders’ Cup Classic at Keeneland on Oct. 31.
Hit Show, fifth behind Mage in the 2023 Kentucky Derby, has raced primarily in the Midwest and East Coast. The Pacific Classic will be his first start at Del Mar and first start in California since a third-place finish in the Grade 1 Santa Anita Handicap in March 2025. Hit Show won the Dubai World Cup five weeks later.
Hit Show, who has raced at 12 tracks, won the Grade 3 Mineshaft Stakes at Fair Grounds in February in his first start of the year. He was then fifth by seven lengths behind Magnitude in the Dubai World Cup on March 28.
In the Grade 3 Blame Stakes at 1 1/8 miles at Churchill Downs on May 30, Hit Show closed from fifth in a field of seven to finish third by 1 1/2 lengths despite a troubled trip in early stretch. In the Suburban, Hit Show closed from fifth in a field of 11.
“In the Blame, he had a really tough trip,” Clay said. “He was coming into that race really well. I thought he finished really well. In the Suburban, I thought he was beaten by a better horse on the day. I was proud of him for showing up.”
Clay expressed concern about whether the 919-foot stretch at Del Mar would affect Hit Show’s ability to close. The Del Mar stretch run is much shorter than Churchill Downs at 1,234 feet or Saratoga at 1,144 feet.
“It’s a bit of a short stretch for him, but we’ll take a shot,” Clay said.
Wathnan Racing has two candidates for the Pacific Classic. Subsanador, winner of the Grade 1 California Crown in 2024, is based at Del Mar with trainer Richard Mandella.
Knightsbridge, winner of the Grade 3 Monmouth Cup by 10 1/4 lengths at 1 1/8 miles at Monmouth Park on July 18, is the likely favorite for Godolphin and New York-based trainer Bill Mott.
Other probable starters are British Isles, Finger, Forged Steel, Full Serrano, Malarchuk, Navajo Warrior, Nevada Beach, Om N Joy, and The Goat.