Pacific Classic draws field of eight; Beach View takes a shot

DEL MAR, Calif. – In the buildup to this Saturday’s program at Del Mar, there were two options for Beach View, winner of the Grade 3 Cougar II Handicap on July 25.

Owners Paul and Mark Levy and trainer Leonard Powell considered the Grade 2 Del Mar Handicap, a $250,000 race at 1 3/8 miles on turf, and the Grade 1 Pacific Classic, a $1 million race at 1 1/4 miles. They chose the lucrative Pacific Classic, which is run on the same dirt surface as the Cougar II Handicap.

Powell knows Beach View will need a career-best performance to have any chance of threatening the two Grade 1 winners expected to dominate the Pacific Classic – Accelerate and Pavel. Still, Powell says it is a chance worth taking with an improving 5-year-old in Beach View.

“I think I have a better chance of third in the Pacific Classic than winning the Del Mar Handicap,” Powell said Tuesday afternoon. “We just won on the surface.”

The Pacific Classic drew a field of eight. The race has national implications. The winner receives a fees-paid berth to the Breeders’ Cup Classic on Nov. 3 at Churchill Downs.

Beach View is a 15-1 chance on the morning line and will break from post 6. Rafael Bejarano has the mount.

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Accelerate, who won the Grade 1 Santa Anita Handicap in March and the Grade 1 Gold Cup at Santa Anita in May, is the 8-5 morning-line favorite. Pavel, winner of the Grade 1 Stephen Foster Handicap at Churchill Downs in June, is the second choice, at 7-2.

From the rail, the field consists of The Lieutenant (6-1), Dr. Dorr (6-1), Prime Attraction (8-1), Roman Rosso (5-1), Accelerate, Beach View, Pavel, and Two Thirty Five (20-1). Dr. Dorr was added to the field on Tuesday morning by trainer Bob Baffert in lieu of Mubtaahij, who was second in the Grade 3 Lone Star Park Handicap in Texas on May 27.

The Cougar II Handicap at 1 1/2 miles was the first stakes win, and first win on dirt, for Beach View, who has won 3 of 10 starts and earned $168,200. Beach View has run seven times on turf.

Beach View tends to run as a stalker and should have a pace to follow from Dr. Dorr, who was second in the Grade 2 San Diego Handicap at 1 1/16 miles on July 21, and Prime Attraction, who was third in the Grade 2 Eddie Read Stakes at 1 1/8 miles on turf July 22.

Powell expects Beach View to be closing in the stretch, but wonders if the race distance is a good fit.

“It might be too short,” he said.

Powell, 41, won his first graded stakes at Del Mar in the Cougar II Handicap. It was the third graded stakes win of his career. He has two chances for a Grade 1 win Saturday. Fatale Bere is scheduled to run in the Grade 1 Del Mar Oaks for 3-year-old fillies at 1 1/8 miles on turf. On Aug. 22, Soi Phet, Powell’s popular 10-year-old stakes winner, runs in the minor Harry Brubaker Stakes.