Tenfold shipping in for Pacific Classic

DEL MAR, Calif. – Tenfold, the winner of the Grade 3 Pimlico Special in May, is one of four shippers expected to start in the Grade 1 Pacific Classic at Del Mar on Aug. 17.

Trainer Steve Asmussen said on Wednesday that Mike Smith will ride Tenfold, who finished ninth in the Grade 2 Stephen Foster Stakes at 1 1/8 miles at Churchill Downs on June 15.

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The $1 million Pacific Classic is run at 1 1/4 miles, the same distance as the Pimlico Special.

“We like him at a mile and a quarter,” Asmussen said.

Owned by Winchell Thoroughbreds, Tenfold was third in the Preakness Stakes at Pimlico in May 2018 and won the Grade 2 Jim Dandy Stakes at Saratoga in July 2018.

The Pacific Classic has a projected field of 10, including Quip, Seeking the Soul and War Story, who are from out-of-state stables. The list of expected runners from Del Mar-based stables are Campaign, Draft Pick, For the Top, Higher Power, Mongolian Groom, and Pavel.

The winner receives a fees-paid berth to the Breeders’ Cup Classic at Santa Anita on Nov. 2.

The Pacific Classic is one of five graded stakes on the richest day of the track’s summer meeting. Del Mar announced on Wednesday that the jackpot portion of the $2 pick six will have a mandatory payout on Pacific Classic Day. The bet had not been hit through Sunday, the 15th day of the 36-day meeting.

The Aug. 17 program includes the Grade 1 Del Mar Oaks for 3-year-old fillies at 1 1/8 miles on turf. Trainer Chad Brown confirmed on Wednesday that he is sending Cambien Parc and Dogtag for the $300,000 race.

Cambien Parc won Grade 3 races at Gulfstream Park and Belmont Park earlier this year and was third in the Grade 1 Belmont Oaks on July 6. Dogtag won the Hilltop Stakes at Pimlico in her first start of the year in May and was last of three in the Grade 3 Lake George Stakes at Saratoga on July 19, a race in which Brown started all of the runners.