Richard's Kid, sent off at odds of 24-1, charged from far back with jockey Mike Smith aboard to win the $1 million Pacific Classic (gr. I) at Del Mar Sept. 6, nipping Einstein in an exhilarating finish.
Sunday, September 06, 2009
Rafael Bejarano, who was excused from mounts on Sept. 4 and 5 because of an injured thumb on his right hand, has been cleared to ride his two stakes horses -- Meteore in the $350,000 Del Mar Derby (gr. IIT) and Parading in the $1 million Pacific Classic (gr. I) on the Sept. 6 program.
Sunday, September 06, 2009
Colonel John and Einstein, who were expected to clash in the Santa Anita Handicap (gr. I) this past spring, should finally have their first meeting as the favorites in the $1 million Pacific Classic (gr. I) at Del Mar on Sept. 6.
Thursday, September 03, 2009
A percentage of any purse monies earned by West Point Thoroughbreds' Macho Again in the $750,000 Woodward Stakes (gr. I) Sept. 5 at Saratoga; and Awesome Gem in the $1-million Pacific Classic (gr. I) Sept. 6 at Del Mar will be donated to the National Thoroughbred Racing Association Safety and Integrity Alliance.
Wednesday, September 02, 2009
Nineteen top-notch runners, including four millionaires and a pair of 3-year-olds, have been nominated to run in Del Mar's $1 million Pacific Classic (gr. I) on Sept. 6.
Friday, August 28, 2009
Einstein, the richest North American horse currently in training with more than $2.7-million in purses, will ship to Del Mar on Aug. 31 to compete in Del Mar's Pacific Classic (gr. I) on Labor Day Sunday, Sept. 6.
Sunday, August 23, 2009
The $1-million, grade I Pacific Classic will be repositioned to Labor Day weekend as the highlight of the 70th season of racing at Del Mar Thoroughbred Club, which will offer 31 stakes with purses totaling nearly $7 million. The meet begins Wednesday, July 22 and runs through Wednesday, Sept. 9.
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Peter Vegso's homebred Go Between, winner of the 2008 Pacific Classic (gr. I), died Jan. 12 following a workout at the Payson Park Training Center as the result of a heart problem.
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
A day after winning the $1-million Travers Stakes Presented by Shadwell Farm (gr. I) with Colonel John, jockey Garrett Gomez switched coasts to guide favored Go Between to a head victory over Well Armed in the $1-million Pacific Classic (gr. I) at Del Mar.
Monday, August 25, 2008
Go Between, the 3-1 morning line favorite, takes on defending champion Student Council in the $1 million Pacific Classic (gr. I) at Del Mar Aug. 24. The rich 1 1/4-mile Polytrack event attracted a closely matched group of 11 older horses.
Thursday, August 21, 2008
A lot is at stake Aug. 24 in the $1-million Pacific Classic (gr. I) at Del Mar, which marks not only one of the most prestigious races of the year on the West Coast, but also earns the winner an automatic spot in the Breeders' Cup World Championships Oct. 24-25 at Santa Anita Park.
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
A dozen older horses remain solidly committed to competing in Del Mar's signature race, the $1-million Pacific Classic (gr. I) on Aug. 24.
Friday, August 15, 2008
Student Council, a grade I winner on dirt and synthetic surfaces, will be retired at the conclusion of this year's racing season and will stand at Millennium Farms in 2009 as property of a syndicate that will include breeder Will Farish's Lane's End Farm.
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
McCann's Mojave, fourth in the Hollywood Gold Cup, took a step toward the Aug. 24 Pacific Classic (gr. I) at Del Mar the morning of Aug. 10 with a sizzling six-furlong move in 1:10.60 at Golden Gate Fields for trainer Steve Specht.
Sunday, August 10, 2008
Curlin will make his next start in the $500,000 Woodward (gr. I) Aug. 30 at Saratoga, Stonestreet Stables' Jess Jackson told media members Aug. 5, but the majority owner would not commit to sending the reigning Horse of the Year anywhere after that, including the Breeders' Cup later this year at Santa Anita. Jackson also left the possibility open that Curlin could race next year, saying the chances were "pretty slim, but not foreclosed."
Tuesday, August 05, 2008
Millennium Farms' Student Council, second in the July 26 Whitney Handicap (gr. I) at Saratoga, is preparing to defend his title in the $1-million Pacific Classic (gr. I) on Aug. 24 at Del Mar in California.
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Millennium Farms' Student Council, back-to-back winner of the Pacific Classic (gr. I) and the Hawthorne Gold Cup (gr. II) in 2007, looks to rebound from an eighth-place finish in the Japan Cup Dirt (Jpn-I) when he heads a field of nine in the $250,000 San Antonio Handicap (gr. II) at Santa Anita Feb. 9.
Wednesday, February 06, 2008
Jockeys Roberto Gonzalez, Aaron Gryder, Randall Meier, Richard Migliore, and Mario Pino have been nominated to receive the 2008 Santa Anita George Woolf Memorial Jockey Award, the winner of which will be announced in February of 2008.
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
Millennium Farms' Student Council, preparing for a start in the Nov. 24 Japan Cup Dirt at Tokyo Racecourse, worked a half-mile in :49 on the training track at the Quarantine Center at Shiroi, Japan, Nov. 17.
Saturday, November 17, 2007
Fred Bradley's homebred Brass Hat tuned up for a Nov. 23 engagement in the $500,000 Clark Handicap Presented by Norton Healthcare (gr. II) by working five furlongs in 1:00.60 under jockey Willie Martinez Nov. 16.
Friday, November 16, 2007
Millennium Farms' Ro Parra has decided to run his star pupil Student Council in the $2.3 million Japan Cup Dirt (Jap-I), rather than the $5 million Breeders' Cup Classic - Powered by Dodge (gr. I). The 1 1/4-mile Japan Cup Dirt will be contested Nov. 24 at Tokyo Racecourse.
Sunday, October 14, 2007
Bongo Racing Stable's Sun Boat, a former claiming horse and 6-1 winner of the July 21 San Diego Handicap (gr. II), was euthanized Sept. 18 due to a severe case of laminitis.
Tuesday, September 18, 2007
In a sign of the times, a Midwest also-ran with a liking for Polytrack came west to win the $1-million Pacific Classic (gr. I) at Del Mar Aug. 19. Student Council, purchased recently by Ro Parra's Millennium Farms to run in the 1 1/4-mile test, vanquished Lava Man and upset a large field at odds of 23-1 at Del Mar.
Monday, August 20, 2007
John Shirreffs, not comfortable running Tiago on the Del Mar Polytrack, has decided to scratch the Santa Anita Derby (gr. I) and Swaps (gr. II) winner from the 1 1/4-mile Pacific Classic (gr. I).
Sunday, August 19, 2007
Among the 12 rivals entered against Lava Man in the $1-million Pacific Classic (gr. I) Aug. 19, several could undoubtedly be considered from barns that are taking a shot, perhaps because their horse has shown an affinity for Del Mar's Polytrack or because they believe the California champion is vulnerable. That's not the case for trainer John Shirreffs, who heads into the 1 1/4-mile event with a one-two punch.
Friday, August 17, 2007
Defending champion Lava Man drew the rail as the 5-2 morning line favorite for the $1-million Pacific Classic Sunday.
Thursday, August 16, 2007
Lava Man and A.P. Xcellent, who staged a dramatic Hollywood Gold Cup (gr. I) stretch duel won by the California star by a nose on June 30, are among 13 horses entered in the $1 million Pacific Classic (gr. I) at Del Mar Aug. 19.
Wednesday, August 15, 2007
Emotions are sure to run high when Lava Man attempts to defend his title in the $1-million Pacific Classic (gr. I) at Del Mar Aug. 19.
Tuesday, August 14, 2007
Defending Pacific Classic (gr. I) champion Lava Man had his final major prep for the $1 million test on Aug. 19 when he breezed six furlongs before the first race Saturday in 1:14 4/5 over Del Mar's Polytrack surface.
Saturday, August 11, 2007
Twenty-three horses were nominated -- with 13 considered likely -- for the $1 million Pacific Classic (gr. I) at 1 1/4 miles on the Del Mar Polytrack Aug. 19, including defending champion Lava Man.
Friday, August 10, 2007
Lava Man moved a step closer to defending his 2006 Pacific Classic (gr. I) title with a five-furlong workout in 1:01 2/5 the morning of Aug. 3 on Del Mar's Polytrack.
Friday, August 03, 2007
Trainer Bruce Headley has been a model of consistency while racing on synthetic surfaces, but it's not the model he's accustomed to.
Thursday, August 02, 2007
Del Mar Thoroughbred Club will serve up its richest and most prestigious stakes schedule ever during a 43-day stand between July 18 and Sept. 5. Just as it did last summer, the seaside gem will feature 30 major stakes events but they will be worth a record total of $7.25 million.
Thursday, March 29, 2007
Lava Man, the 5-year-old son of Slew City Slew on Saturday added the trophy from the Pacific Classic -- which began in 1991 -- to his victories in the $750,000 Hollywood Gold Cup on July 8 and the $1 million Santa Anita Handicap on March 4.
Tuesday, September 05, 2006
In an unusual move, the chairman of the California Horse Racing Board has issued a statement defending the credibility of the state's drug-testing mechanism and praising the efforts of Lava Man in Sunday's Pacific Classic (gr. I).
Thursday, August 24, 2006
Trainer Murray Johnson reported Sunday that his father, Geoffrey, is recovering well at Scripps Hospital in Encinitas following a heart attack on Friday afternoon at the Del Mar racetrack.
Sunday, August 20, 2006
For Lava Man, it's time to go with the flow. A victory in the $1 million Pacific Classic (gr. I) Sunday at 1 1/4 miles will make Lava Man the first horse to sweep Southern California's "Big Three" grade I handicaps in the same year.
Friday, August 18, 2006
Lava Man, unbeaten in five races this year, including victories in the Santa Anita Handicap and Hollywood Gold Cup (both gr. I), has been installed as the 8-5 morning line favorite in Sunday's 16th running of the $1 million Pacific Classic (gr. I) at Del Mar.
Wednesday, August 16, 2006
Lava Man has already become the first horse to win back-to-back Hollywood Gold Cups (gr. I) since Native Diver won three straight from 1965-67. He's already become the first horse since Affirmed in 1979 to win the Santa Anita Handicap (gr. I) and Hollywood Gold Cup in the same year.
Tuesday, August 15, 2006
Giacomo and Preachinatthebar, the 1-2 finishers in Del Mar's grade II San Diego Handicap, and allowance winner Top This and That put in their final workouts Monday in preparation for Sunday's grade I, $1-million Pacific Classic.
Tuesday, August 15, 2006
Lava Man and Super Frolic, first and third in July 8's Hollywood Gold Cup (gr. I) finished their work for Sunday's $1 million Pacific Classic (gr. I) with solid six-furlong drills Sunday morning over Del Mar's main track.
Sunday, August 13, 2006
Eleven horses have been nominated to Del Mar's $1 million Pacific Classic (gr. I) at 1 1/4 miles on Aug. 20. Lava Man, winner of the Santa Anita Handicap (gr. I) and Hollywood Gold Cup (gr. I) for trainer Doug O'Neill, is the probable favorite.
Friday, August 11, 2006
Del Mar's richest and deepest stakes program will feature 30 races worth $7,150,000 during its 67th summer racing season from July 19-Sept. 6.
Friday, April 07, 2006
Lava Man, who was vanned off the track following a third-place finish in Sunday's Pacific Classic (gr. I) at Del Mar, was reported in good shape Monday morning.
Monday, August 22, 2005
The infinite patience of trainer Beau Greely and jockey Garrett Gomez paid off Sunday when Borrego thundered down the center of the lane to capture the $1 million Pacific Classic (gr. I) before 30,741 at Del Mar.
Sunday, August 21, 2005
At an age when older stakes horses usually head downhill, 6-year-old gelding Perfect Drift stands out because he just might be better than ever.
Friday, August 19, 2005
Perfect Drift, who shipped in from Kentucky on Monday, met the Del Mar track for the first time since last year by jogging and galloping with a pony over the strip Wednesday morning in preparation for Sunday's Pacific Classic (gr. I).
Wednesday, August 17, 2005
The $1 million Pacific Classic (gr. I) Sunday expanded to 12 prospects when outsiders Oceanus and Polish Times joined 10 others as entries closed at mid-morning Wednesday.
Wednesday, August 17, 2005
Borrego, multiple graded-stakes performer and runner-up to Lava Man in the Hollywood Gold Cup (gr. I), wound up his preparations for Sunday's $1-million, grade I Pacific Classic with a solid five furlong work in 1:01.40 at Santa Anita.
Monday, August 15, 2005
Hollywood Gold Cup winner Lava Man heads a list of 14 nominations to Del Mar's $1 million Pacific Classic (gr. I) on Aug. 21. Of those, a field of 10 seems likely for the 1 1/4-mile test.
Friday, August 12, 2005
