Nysos | Benoit Photo
NYSOS SLIGHT FAVORITE OVER JOURNALISM IN G1 PACIFIC CLASSIC
Entries are in and the post positions are set for the 35th running of the $1-million, G1 Pacific Classic slated to be run Saturday as part of a stakes-filled day at Del Mar. In addition to the Classic there are four other graded stakes on the docket.
Eight horses are entered in the Classic, including a trio of marquee horses. The Preakness and Haskell winner, Journalism, has drawn post #6 and will be ridden by Umberto Rispoli. The connections for the son of Curlin were on the fence until last Sunday when they finally announced their intentions to compete in this year’s Pacific Classic.
“All signs for the last few weeks have pointed towards this race,” primary owner Aron Wellman says. “When you got a partnership you want to be respectful and make sure that we’re all on the same page. So there are a lot of moving parts that we have to make sure we attend to.
“Thankfully this partnership has been entirely on the same page with (trainer) Michael McCarthy,” Wellman continues. “Logistically, that’s part of the process as you go through the decision making assessment. Just wanted to be sure we huddled up all the players. And obviously keep a close eye on the horse, too.”
Journalism is 9/5 but he’s not the favorite. According to the morning line odds Nysos is top dog at 8/5. The son of Nyquist drew post #4 and will be ridden by Flavien Prat, who will fly in from New York to ride this weekend.
“It’s a strong race,” Nysos’ trainer Bob Baffert said after the draw. “Fierceness on his best day can beat us. Journalism has had a remarkable year. He’s danced every dance and he still looks fantastic. I have a lot of respect for those horses and the other horses. You don’t know how it’s going to play out.”
Fierceness is the lone invader in the race. He flew in from New York and arrived at Del Mar on Wednesday. He’s drawn the inside post but most trainers don’t concern themselves with the post positions in the Pacific Classic because it’s a mile and a quarter and because there’s a long run into the first turn. It gives jockeys plenty of time to get into position. Fierceness is 3-1 on the morning line and will be ridden by John Velazquez, who will also fly in from Saratoga to ride Saturday.
Of the longshots, Midnight Mammoth has the shortest odds at 12-1. The big son of Midnight Lute last raced in the G2 Gold Cup at Santa Anita in May and ran second to Skippylongstocking. He’s been training at Los Alamitos.
“We’re taking the California Chrome approach,” trainer Craig Dollase says of the idea to prepare Midnight Mammoth at Los Al. “Art Sherman was his (California Chrome’s) trainer and he was based at Los Alamitos and he prepared there.”
California Chrome went on to win the 2016 Pacific Classic, defeating Beholder on his way to Horse of the Year honors for the second time.
Midnight Mammoth came down to Del Mar following his final work on Saturday. He drew post #2 and will be ridden by Armando Ayuso.
Indispensable drew post #5 and will be ridden by another out-of-town rider, Paco Lopez, who has all but won the riding title at Monmouth Park this summer. He’s so far out in front in the jockey standings there that he can afford to getaway and ride Indispensable in the Classic.
A trio of horses are 20-1. Tarantino from the Peter Eurton barn drew the outside post #8 and will be ridden by Edwin Maldonado.
“It’s like a déjà vu moment for me,” Maldonado states. “Last year I had the opportunity to ride Mixto in the Classic. We went out of town and missed out on that win. He (Mixto) drew the nine hole that year and here I am drawing the eight out of eight this year.”
Ultimate Gamble and Lure Him In are both 20-1 and are both coming out of the same race, an allowance race at Del Mar last month. They were second and third in a three-horse blanket finish behind Arrowthegreat, who went up to Emerald Downs and won the Longacres Mile three weeks later.
“He’s a soldier,” trainer Sam Wilensky says of Lure Him In. “He’s been doing it really well for a long time now. His age hasn’t affected him too much. He hasn’t tailed off at all. Obviously the big three are upper echelon and it’s going to be tough to beat them. But maybe one of them will have a bad day. With a purse like this there’s nothing wrong with getting a piece of it.”
Lure Him In will be ridden by Hector I. Berrios. Kazushi Kimura will ride Ultimate Gamble for trainer Mark Glatt.
The G1 Pacific Classic is Race #10 on the 11-race card Saturday. Probable post time is 6 p.m.
GOLD PHOENIX GUNS FOR A FOURTH WIN IN G2 DEL MAR HANDICAP
There are so many factors that go into having a horse win a particular race three years in a row. There’s keeping the horse in top form over a long period of time. There’s having that horse primed and ready for the particular race every year and then there’s actually going out and winning the race.
That’s why Gold Phoenix winning the G2 Del Mar Handicap three years in a row last year was such a remarkable feat, not only for the horse but for the trainer who conditions him and the team of people who handle him every day.
“The good thing about Little Red Feather is they always do right by their horses,” D’Amato contends, “and they let me manage them the proper way. That’s why we have a chance at winning four Del Mar Handicaps.”
Gold Phoenix, a now 7-year-old son of Irish stallion Belardo, will be back again this year, trying to make it an unprecedented four-in-a-row in the ‘Handicap’, run as part of the undercard on Pacific Classic Day this Saturday at Del Mar. It’s at a marathon distance of a mile and three-eighths on the Jimmy Durante Turf Course.
“It would be tremendous,” D’Amato says about winning the ‘Handicap’ for a fourth time. “Just for the horse alone, the prestige behind it all, that would be awesome. It takes a total team. His exercise rider has been with him since day one. Same with his groom and everyone else.”
Gold Phoenix comes into the race off of a third-place finish to Final Boss in a salty allowance race three weeks ago. It was designed as a prep and D’Amato could not have been more pleased, short of winning the race.
“Going a mile I think it was a good prep,” trainer Phil D’Amato says. “Now we’re going to get the distance I think he prefers.”
Flavien Prat, who will be in for the big weekend at Del Mar, will ride Gold Phoenix in the ‘Handicap’.
Final Boss is back to see if he can upset the three-time winner again. The son of American Pharoah won the allowance race Gold Phoenix used as a prep.
“He showed more versatility,” trainer John Sadler notes. “That was the first time he laid off of the pace. Juan (Hernandez) said he didn’t need the pace. But he’s a horse who’s doing very well here. I think he’s a contender.”
Final Boss has run four times in 2025 and won two of them.
Trainer Leonard Powell will start Nitti in the Del Mar Handicap. The Irish-bred won the G3 San Juan Capistrano last out at Santa Anita, a race that is run at a mile and three quarters.
Stay Hot is out of the Peter Eurton barn. He won last year’s La Jolla Handicap at Del Mar and ran second to Formidable Man in the G2 Mathis Mile at Santa Anita at the end of last year. He’s only run twice this year, winning the $250,000 Texas Turf Classic at Lone Star Park and then ran third in the G2 Eddie Read at Del Mar.
Atitlan could be a serious threat to spoil Gold Phoenix’ party. The son of The Factor won back-to-back graded stakes earlier this year. He captured the mile and a half G3 San Luis Rey at Santa Anita in March and then the G2 Charles Whittingham in May.
Finally, Truly Quality, last year’s G2 Hollywood Turf Cup winner, will try to get his conditioner Jonathan Thomas back in the winner’s circle. He’s only run once this year, a sixth-place finish in the G3 San Marcos in February at Santa Anita.
The G2 Del Mar Handicap is a ‘Win and You’re In’ for the Breeders’ Cup Turf. It goes off as the 11th and final race on the Pacific Classic Day card.
Here’s the field from the rail out with the jockeys: Balnikhov (Antonio Fresu); Adios Cole (Ricardo Gonzalez); Nitti (Armando Ayuso); Stay Hot (Mike Smith); Atitlan (Hector I. Berrios); Mondego (Kazushi Kimura); Truly Quality (Umberto Rispoli); Final Boss (Juan Hernandez); Endlessly (John Velazquez); City Exile (Paco Lopez), and Gold Phoenix.
FORMIDABLE MAN PUTS PERFECT TURF RECORD ON THE LINE IN ‘MILE’
They must have known what they had when they named him because the horse called Formidable Man has become, well, formidable. Especially at Del Mar where he is five-for-five on the Jimmy Durante Turf Course.
Formidable Man will try to add the G2 Del Mar Mile to his impressive resume when he takes on seven rivals in the grass contest, part of the sparkling Pacific Classic undercard on Saturday.
His trainer, Michael McCarthy, had a feeling the son of City of Light would be a good one.
“I had an idea when he broke his maiden first time out,” McCarthy says.
He’s gone on to win six of his next 13 races with a couple of seconds. Last year he came to Del Mar as a 3-year-old and ran three times, winning all three races. He won the Oceanside on opening day, the G2 Del Mar Derby later that summer and then the G1 Hollywood Derby during the Fall Turf Festival in November. He’s come back this summer and won the G2 Eddie Read.
“Obviously the horse has got an affinity for Del Mar,” McCarthy notes. “The Breeders’ Cup is here and you have to be thinking that way.”
But first he’s got to take care of a talented group of runners in the Del Mar Mile, including last year’s Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile winner, Full Serrano, who will be making his 2025 debut.
In December, while training for the G2 Laffit Pincay, Jr at Santa Anita, Full Serrano suffered an injury that trainer John Sadler at the time termed “minor” and required at least 60-days off.
“He had some things we needed to take care of,” Sadler adds. “He needed the time this winter so we gave him the time and he’s coming back and training well. We’re anxious to get him started again.”
Full Serrano returned to the work tab at the beginning of July and has put in eight works, six at Del Mar. The Argentine-bred, who ran second in last year’s Pacific Classic, worked five furlongs on Sunday in :59.60 (9/91).
Prior to arriving in the States last year, Full Serrano was running on grass in Argentina.
“The surface is not an issue for him,” Sadler contends.
King of Gosford will make his first start since his breakout win in the G1 Shoemaker Mile at Santa Anita on Memorial Day. He ran second to Formidable Man in the Hollywood Derby last year, but rebounded nicely by winning the G2 Mathis Mile a month later.
“He’s doing very well,” D’Amato says. “It was a big effort (in the Shoemaker) and this has been our plan all along, to wait for this race and hopefully he comes back as good as he did in his last race.”
D’Amato believes the mile may be King of Gosford’s best distance.
“I think he’s a versatile horse,” D’Amato states. “He’ll probably stretch out a little bit farther but I like him at a mile.”
D’Amato will also run Almendares in the Del Mar Mile. The English-bred is coming off a victory in the $100,000 Wickerr Stakes at Del Mar last month.
“I think his confidence is through the roof right now,” D’Amato says. “That’s where he has to be to win the Del Mar Mile and I really like how he’s trained.”
D’Amato doesn’t think they’ve reached Almendares’ ceiling yet.
“He’s a horse that’s maturing,” D’Amato notes, “and he’s always been a horse that needed confidence to go to the next level. He’s a horse that’s not easy to ride, you really have to time his move and I think Antonio (Fresu) did a masterful job last time.”
Another horse worth watching is the veteran 6-year-old gelding Cabo Spirit, runner-up to Formidable Man in the G2 Eddie Read last time out. He was also involved in a three-horse blanket finish with King of Gosford in the G1 Shoemaker Mile. The son of Pioneerof the Nile won the G2 John Henry Turf Classic at Santa Anita last year.
The G2 Del Mar Mile is first of the five graded stakes on the Saturday card. It goes off at Race 5. Probable post is 3:30 p.m.
Here’s the field from the rail out with the jockeys: Nesso’s Lastharrah (Hector I. Berrios); Cabo Spirit (Mike Smith); Almendares (Antonio Fresu); Formidable Man (Umberto Rispoli); Suchet (Paco Lopez); Zio Jo (Kyle Frey); King of Gosford (Flavien Prat), and Full Serrano (Juan Hernandez).
COOLING OUT: Rider David Cohen has switched agents, moving from Ryan Glatt to Jack Carava. Cohen has spent time riding in New York, Kentucky and the Midwest but Carava says the jockey is on the West Coast to stay for the foreseeable future…Average field sizes continue to grow at Del Mar as the meet progresses. There’s been an increase for the second straight week. Average field size after 23 days of racing is up to 8.51, a slight increase over last year. AFS for the turf racing is at 8.86…Notable works this week at Del Mar: Monday – Jasmina (3f, :35.60); Kopion (3f, :36.40); Desert Gate (5f, 1:00.60); Liberation (5f, 1:01.00); Nothing Like You (5f, 1:01.40), and One Magic Philly (5f, :59.20). Tuesday – Tamara (6f, 1:12.60). Wednesday – Big City Lights (2f, :24.80). Thursday – Seismic Beauty (3f, :36.20) and Casalu (4f, :48.80). Turf – Lovesick Blues (3f, :38.20).