Pacific Classic: Dr. Venkman likely favorite after Adare Manor is withdrawn
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The field for the Grade 1 Pacific Classic at Del Mar on Saturday is down to a bunch of guys.
The race lost its morning-line favorite, and much of its luster, when the 5-year-old mare Adare Manor was withdrawn on Friday morning after tying up after training Thursday, trainer Bob Baffert said.
Adare Manor is California’s leading older female on the strength of three consecutive wins in graded stakes at Oaklawn Park and Santa Anita in the spring and at Del Mar earlier this month.
“Adare Manor tied up a little bit after her gallop,” Baffert said on Friday. “I don’t feel she’s 100 percent. She can’t be off of her game.
“We’re going to sit this one out.”
Owned by Michael Lund Petersen, Adare Manor has won 10 of 18 starts and earned more than $2 million. Adare Manor won the Grade 1 Clement Hirsch Stakes for fillies and mares at Del Mar on Aug. 3 in an eye-catching manner, earning a fees-paid berth to the BC Distaff at Del Mar on Nov. 2.
Adare Manor was the 9-5 morning-line favorite for the $1 million Pacific Classic. With the 5-year-old mare no longer in the field, Dr. Venkman will inherit the role of favorite.
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Dr. Venkman is part of a remaining field of eight. With a win on Saturday, one of them will receive a fees-paid berth to the Breeders’ Cup Classic at 1 1/4 miles at Del Mar on Nov. 2.
Dr. Venkman, trained by Mark Glatt, will start at 1 1/4 miles for the first time in the Pacific Classic. He won the longest race of his career in the Grade 2 San Diego Handicap at 1 1/16 miles at Del Mar on July 27, his third win in his fifth start.
For Dr. Venkman, the waters are deeper and the distance farther on Saturday.
“Even though he passed the two-turn test with flying colors, [now] in just his second two-turn race we’re asking him to go a mile and a quarter,” Glatt said. “I don’t think it’ll be a problem. But until you see it, you don’t necessarily believe it. I think we’ll be all right.”
Il Miracolo, the only shipper, wheels back two weeks after finishing second in the Grade 3 Philip H. Iselin Stakes at 1 1/16 miles at Monmouth Park. Antonio Sano trains the 4-for-21 gelding, a two-time Grade 3 winner.
“It’s a very short time from his last race,” Sano admitted, adding a qualifier. “He’s a big horse. Every time, only one-paced. It’s no problem for the distance. A mile and a quarter is good for my horse.” Mike Smith rides Il Miracolo, who is making his first start at the distance.
Katonah, winner of a $150,000 stakes last summer at Pleasanton, finished a solid second last out behind Dr. Venkman in the San Diego. It was the first start for Katonah in more than a year.
“I thought it was phenomenal,” trainer Doug O’Neill said. “He was fit as a fiddle, you can tell from his effort, and we just kept him in a nice, strong maintenance mode [since]. Very optimistic we’re going to see a winning effort.”
Tiago Pereira rides Katonah. O’Neill also entered Mixto, a 1-for-13 longshot who has placed in three graded races. His rider is Kyle Frey.
Full Serrano is trained by John Sadler and owned by Hronis Racing, connections who have won four of the last six Pacific Classics. Grade 3-placed in Argentina, Full Serrano had an inside-speed bias in his favor winning an entry-level allowance in his U.S. debut with an 85 Beyer. Sadler was initially reluctant to commit to the Pacific Classic. Full Serrano changed his mind.
“He trained his way into it,” Sadler said, noting the series of sharp works since raced. Although Full Serrano set the pace in his comeback, Sadler does not see him as a front-runner. “I think he’s a nice enough horse he’ll have versatility depending on the race situation.”
He has won 5 of 15 and will be ridden by Reylu Gutierrez.
There Goes Harvard, the winner of the 2022 Hollywood Gold Cup at 1 1/4 miles on dirt at Santa Anita, was supplemented for $10,000 to the Pacific Classic. He was cross-entered in Saturday’s Del Mar Handicap on turf, but will start in the Pacific Classic.
Baffert, who has won the Pacific Classic a record seven times, is still represented in Saturday’s field by Reincarnate, who was second in the Grade 3 Cougar II Stakes at 1 1/2 miles at Del Mar on July 25.
The outsider in the field is None Above the Law, who won the Bertrando Stakes for California-bred milers at Los Alamitos in June and was third against statebreds in the California Dreamin’ Stakes at 1 1/16 miles on turf at Del Mar on Aug. 3.
- Coverage by Steve Andersen and Brad Free
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