Small field expected for Pacific Classic
The Grade 1 Pacific Classic at Del Mar on Aug. 22 will have a small field with a touch of international intrigue.
As of Friday, track officials expected five or six runners in the $500,000 race at 1 1/4 miles, the richest of the meet. The list of candidates is led by Maximum Security, the champion 3-year-old male of 2019 who won the Grade 2 San Diego Stakes at 1 1/16 miles on July 25, finishing a nose in front of Midcourt, another Pacific Classic candidate.
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Other probable starters are Higher Power, who won the 2019 Pacific Classic and was third in the San Diego; Dark Vader, who won a second-level allowance at a mile on July 25; Sharp Samurai, a multiple stakes winner on turf; and Mirinaque, a Group 1 stakes winner in Argentina last November.
Trainer Mark Glatt said on Friday that Sharp Samurai remains under consideration for the Grade 2 Del Mar Handicap at 1 3/8 miles on turf on Aug. 22 and the Grade 2 Del Mar Mile on turf on Aug. 23. Glatt can enter Sharp Samurai in one of the Saturday races and the Del Mar Mile and then make a final decision next weekend.
Mirinaque, a 4-year-old colt by the Storm Cat stallion Hurricane Cat, has yet to start in the United States, and has been based at Del Mar in recent weeks with owner and trainer Maria Munoz. Mirinaque was second in the Group 1 Grand Prix Latinoamericano at about 1 1/4 miles on turf in Argentina in March.
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Midcourt, trained by John Shirreffs, won the Grade 2 San Pasqual Stakes at 1 1/8 miles at Santa Anita in February but is winless in his last three starts. Midcourt was third in the Grade 1 Santa Anita Handicap at 1 1/4 miles on March 7.
Shirreffs said on Friday he is looking forward to starting Midcourt against Maximum Security.
“We’re going to try again,” Shirreffs said. “If I remember, Midcourt was in front one jump before the wire and one jump after the wire” in the San Diego.
The Pacific Classic purse was $1 million in the past, but had its purse reduced earlier this year when Del Mar’s business was affected by the coronavirus pandemic. The winner receives a fees-paid berth to the Breeders’ Cup Classic at Keeneland on Nov. 7. Last year, Higher Power was third in the BC Classic at Santa Anita.
The Aug. 22 program has four other graded stakes – the Grade 1 Del Mar Oaks for 3-year-old fillies at 1 1/8 miles, which is worth $250,000; the $200,000 Del Mar Handicap; the Grade 3 Torrey Pines Stakes for 3-year-old fillies at a mile; and the Grade 3 Green Flash Handicap at five furlongs on turf. The Grade 3 races are worth $100,000.
The Del Mar Handicap field is expected to be led by United, who was a close second to eventual Horse of the Year Bricks and Mortar in the 2019 Breeders’ Cup Turf at Santa Anita. United won the Grade 2 Eddie Read Stakes at Del Mar on July 26 and is unbeaten in three turf stakes this year.
The winner of the Del Mar Handicap receives a fees-paid berth to the BC Turf at Keeneland on Nov. 7.