Hall of Fame Trainer Bill Mott © Benoit Photo
KNIGHTSBRIDGE TO SHIP OUT TO DEL MAR SATURDAY
The cast of participants in this year’s Pacific Classic is coming into focus. Nominations closed Thursday and the draw is set for Sunday. One thing is for sure, Knightsbridge is making the trip out west and will run in Del Mar’s marquee race on August 22.
The strapping colt comes to Del Mar after an impressive 10 ¼ length victory in the G3 Monmouth Cup at Monmouth Park on the New Jersey shore. It was his first time around two turns and he posted the highest Beyer Speed Figure of the year at 122. It was the highest by a dirt horse globally and the highest since Flightline’s 2022 campaign.
That race was going a mile and an eighth so he’ll have to stretch out his speed another eighth in the Classic but trainer Bill Mott is not concerned.
“We knew he was pretty good,” Mott notes. “Obviously, he’s progressed as time has gone on. He’s done a little more each time. The last one was a good one so we’ll see.”
There were questions as to whether or not Knightsbridge could get the mile and an eighth in the Monmouth Cup but he promptly silenced any doubters.
“He’ll breeze and then fly out on Saturday,” Mott says of Knightsbridge’s itinerary this week.
John Sadler is still considering two nominees to the Pacific Classic, Full Serrano and The Goat.
“They both have their final works Saturday,” Sadler says. “I’ll have to talk to the owners of The Goat; they might decide to go for a different race but Full Serrano is in.”
Richard Baltas is still on the fence about British Isles, his G1 Santa Anita Handicap winner.
“He’ll work tomorrow,” Baltas states. “It looks like we have a lot of horses shipping in for the race so it’s not an easy race. Even though Nysos isn’t in there and neither is Journalism, there are some other horses coming out here who are pretty good. I don’t know if we’re going to go. We might wait.”
Shea Brennan, runner-up to Journalism in the G2 San Diego, was nominated for the Pacific Classic but trainer Philip D’Amato says the Cal-bred will go instead in the G2 Pat O’Brien at Del Mar on Saturday, August 29.
The Japanese horse Finger had his final workout at the Miho Training Center northeast of Tokyo on Thursday. The son of Gun Runner went six furlongs in 1:23.2 with a final furlong in 11.9.
“He is able to move ahead without needing much urging,” exercise rider Yamazaki said afterward. “I think he is in a good place mentally.”
The horse left Japan on Friday and was expected to arrive at LAX early this morning. Japan is 16 hours ahead of California. He’ll remain in quarantine for 48 hours and then van down to Del Mar on Sunday.
Subsanador followed up his ‘between race’ workout last week with a bullet work Thursday. The Argentine-bred went 5-furlongs in 58.80 on Del Mar’s main track, fastest of 42 works at the distance. Trainer Richard Mandella says Subsanador is a go for the 36th running of the Pacific Classic.
Eighteen horses were nominated for the 36th running of the Pacific Classic. In addition to the one’s mentioned the nominees include: Bartholdy; Bullard; Hit Show; Magnify; Malarchuk; Nevada Beach; the filly Om N Joy; Original Sin and Stronghold.
GRAND SLAM SMILE SEEKS MILLIONAIRE STATUS IN SOLANA BEACH
All Grand Slam Smile has to do is finish in the money in Saturday’s $150,000 Solana Beach Stakes at Del Mar and she’ll become racing’s newest millionaire. Easy enough for a horse who has done it her entire career.
The daughter of Smiling Tiger has only finished out of the money once in her 22-race career which includes 12 trips to the winner’s circle. She was named top Cal-bred Juvenile Filly in 2023 and Cal-bred 3-year-old filly champion in 2024.
“She’s doing super,” trainer Sean McCarthy notes. “She’s been doing very well since she came down here. She put in a good work on Saturday. A sharp half which she looked really well.”
Grand Slam Smile stopped the clock at :48.00, 12th best of 106 workers at that distance that day. In her last race she finished fifth in the G2 Great Lady M.
“The other day at Los Alamitos the horse next to her reared up at the break,” McCarthy contends, “so she missed the break. At that point you’re just chasing and with that level of stock that kind of takes you out of the ballpark.”
It was her lone out-of-the money finish in four years of racing. The 5-year-old mare has been nothing short of remarkable over the years, despite a stable change in 2025 when her trainer Steve Specht retired and turned her over to McCarthy.
“She loves to train,” McCarthy states. “She loves to run and in that respect she keeps her form steady. No real trick to it, just listening to her. Just give her the same routine. She’ll let you know when she’s sharp enough, which she has been. She’s been managed very well by Steve and the Williams (owners Mr. and Mrs. Larry Williams) along the way and I just follow that pattern with her.”
Grand Slam Smile has raced in five Cal-bred stakes since her win in last year’s Solana Beach and she won four of them. She’s tried graded stakes company three times and has yet to score a win.
There’s one major change for the likely race favorite. Grand Slam Smile’s regular rider, William Antongeorgi III, has been riding at Ellis Park this summer and will not be in the saddle Saturday. Instead, McCarthy picks up the services of Del Mar’s leading rider Juan Hernandez.
“It’s a matter of logistics,” McCarthy says of the rider change.”I didn’t want to hold up William while I was deciding whether or not to run. Juan has worked her in the mornings. He knows her.”
Take Another Card just missed catching Grand Slam Smile in the $100,000 Fran’s Valentine at Santa Anita in May, running out of room and missing by half a length. She followed with another near miss in an entry level allowance race at Del Mar last month. She came up a nose short that day but was moved up through a disqualification of the winner Lady in Paris.
“She’s running back a little quick from her allowance win,” trainer Simon Callaghan points out. “If we can pull off a similar effort to that it will put us in contention I would think.”
The daughter of I’ll Have Another has finished second in five of her last six races.
“We’ve been looking forward to running against Grand Slam Smile going a mile,” Callaghan says. “We’ve always run very respectably against her sprinting down the hill. It just feels like a mile is our best distance.”
Can’t Sleep is back from her heartbreak loss in the $100,000 Daisycutter at Del Mar on July 25. She led every step of the way but the last, getting nailed on the wire by Amorita and losing by a nose in the five furlong turf sprint.
“She’s never on the lead,” trainer Carla Gaines notes. “That was a new experience for her. A couple of the speed horses didn’t break for whatever reason so I guess (jockey Emisael) Jaramillo thought ‘here’s my chance.’”
This will be Can’t Sleep’s first time around two turns.
“I’ve always wanted to stretch her out,” Gaines contends. “The timing has just not been perfect but this is good timing so we’re going to try it. She’ll be on or close to the lead. I feel she’s the fastest horse in those terms.”
The 33rd running of the Solana Beach will have a full field of 12 going a mile on the grass. It’s Race 6 on the 10-race Saturday card. Probable post time is 4:30 p.m.
Here’s the field from the rail with the jockeys and the morning line: Stop Digging (Tyler Baze, 20-1); Fibonaccis Ride (Victor Espinoza, 30-1); Quick Kate (Kazushi Kimura, 20-1); Liberation (SCRATCH); Take Another Card (Umberto Rispoli, 5-1); Grand Slam Smile (Juan Hernandez, 8/5); Can’t Sleep (Emisael Jaramillo, 4-1); Clubhouse Cutie (Hector I. Berrios, 15-1); Wink and a Grin (Julien Leparoux, 20-1); Orange Thunder (Kyle Frey, 30-1); Miso Phansy (Armando Ayuso, 15-1), and Kikuride (Antonio Fresu, 15-1).
LONG DISTANCE RUNNERS CLASH IN CTT & TOC STAKES SATURDAY
There are only two races on the Del Mar summer meet stakes schedule where horses are required to go three turns. One is the G2 Del Mar Handicap on August 29. The other is the $100,000 CTT and TOC Stakes on Saturday.
With the scratch of Catalina Cocktail, 10 horses will line up to go the mile and three eighths on the Jimmy Durante turf course. Trainer Phil D’Amato, who knows a thing or two about training horses for grass marathons (his Gold Phoenix has won the 1 3/8’s mile Del Mar Handicap four straight years) will bring three horses to the dance.
Kentucky Gal won the $100,000 Possibly Perfect at Santa Anita in June when three horses hit the wire together. All three are back for the CTT and TOC. It was Kentucky Gal’s first win in over a year.
“I think she’s just getting good again,” D’Amato claims. “She took time off the layoff to kind of get back to what she was prior. She really likes training here at Del Mar and I’m expecting another solid performance.”
The runner-up to Kentucky Gal in the mile and a quarter Possibly Perfect was Innovative and she’s also back for D’Amato. She got nailed on the wire by her stablemate and missed by a nose.
“She’s another one who’s shown she likes the added distance,” D’Amato contends. “She can be a tactical kind of filly. She can place herself in a good spot depending on how fast or slow the pace is. She’s another one with a good chance.”
D’Amato also will start the Argentine-bred Pulp Fiction.
The third-place finisher in the Possibly Perfect was The Mizzen Queen, an Irish-bred who led every step of the race until the final strides.
“I think the distance is the key with her,” trainer Dan Blacker notes. “She seems to be better at the longer distances. That was our approach coming to Del Mar. We were pointing for a one-x (entry level allowance race) but that race didn’t go so we’re back in the stake. A little tougher spot but she’s doing really good. I think she’ll be forwardly placed if not on the lead and we’re pumped to have (jockey) Juan Hernandez.”
Trainer Graham Motion is also sending a horse for the CTT and TOC. Vronti is an English-bred who has run at four different tracks in her last four races. Del Mar will be number five.
“She handled the ship good,” Motion’s assistant Alice Clapham says. “She got in Wednesday night and everything’s good so far. Her last race at Saratoga showed that she likes the distance and this will be something more in her wheelhouse.”
Vronti finished second in that Saratoga race, a NW2 allowance at the same 1 3/8’s mile distance. She was on the west coast a couple of months ago when she ran fifth in the G1 Gamely at Santa Anita on Memorial Day.
One other horse who could be in the mix is Resolve, a daughter of Midnight Lute who ran fourth in the Possibly Perfect and followed with a fading sixth in the $100,000 Osunitas Stakes at Del Mar last month.
“In the last race she never got covered up,” trainer Leonard Powell explains. “If she doesn’t have cover she doesn’t run the same. She needs to be covered up early to finish the way she can.
“We have Joel (Rosario),” Powell adds. “He won on her when he rode her last time. He got a beautiful trip so we hope for the same.”
The 29th running of the CTT and TOC Stakes is the eighth race on the 10-race card Saturday. Probable post time is 5:30 p.m.
Here’s the field from the rail with the jockeys and the morning line odds: Lubie’s Music (Emisael Jaramillo, 8-1); Pulp Fiction (Hector I. Berrios, 12-1); Innovative (Ricardo Gonzalez, 6-1); Cailin Dana (Armando Ayuso, 15-1); Vronti (Umberto Rispoli, 5/2); Resolve (5-1); Roselee May (Kazushi Kimura, 12-1); Catalina Cocktail (SCRATCHED); Kentucky Gal (Antonio Fresu, 5-1); Candy Bar (Abel Lezcano, 8-1), and The Mizzen Queen (12-1).
REDDAM, ALEXANDER, SIEGEL TO RECEIVE TOC AWARDS SATURDAY
A trio of California owners/breeders/stalwarts will be honored by the Thoroughbred Owners of California (TOC) at its annual meeting held at the Veranda Café at Del Mar at 8:30 Saturday morning.
Reddam Racing, which is overseen by longtime owner/breeder J. Paul Reddam, was named the state’s kingpin for purse earnings for the fifth year in a row in 2025 with earnings totaling $1,599,676. The outfit won 27 races from 173 starts, headed by the likes of stakes winners Take Another Card, Look Forward and Jasmina.
Nick Alexander, who walked away from a highly successful car business to become a highly successful owner/breeder of Thoroughbreds from his farm in Santa Ynez, led all owners in number of California wins with 28 victories from 123 starters in 2025 with earnings of $1,220,258. Among his top winners were Speedy Wilson, Shea Brennan and Tom Horn.
Further, owner/breeder Samantha Siegel, who with her family has been involved in California Thoroughbred racing for more than five decades, has been named this year’s recipient of the TOC Chairman’s Award, which is presented annually to individuals who have made outstanding contributions to the industry. She has served on the TOC board since 2016 and is also a board member of two other stellar equine organizations in CARMA and the Edwin J. Gregson Foundation.
WEEKEND HANDICAPPING SEMINARS BACK AT DEL MAR
Racing fans can once again take part in Del Mar’s Free Weekend Handicapping Seminars, held each Saturday and Sunday starting at 1 p.m. on the Kona Stage in the Plaza de Mexico.
The seminars, which run for approximately a half hour prior to the first race post at 2 p.m., offer insights on the day’s racing card from expert handicappers.
Del Mar veteran Dan Smith is the host for the Saturday cards and his guest this week is Equibase chart caller and racetrack veteran Ellis Davis.
Sunday programs will be overseen by handicapping ace Frank Scatoni and he’ll have assistant trainer Berkeley Headley as his guest.
COOLING OUT: It’s not everyday you see a runner-up in a Breeders’ Cup race run in an entry level allowance race but there was Mr. A.P. going off as the 4/5 favorite in Thursday’s first race. The runner-up to Ted Noffey in last year’s Breeders’ Cup Juvenile at Del Mar won handily and paid $3.60 for the score…Saturday’s G3 Best Pal winner Hughes posted a 101 Equibase Speed Figure, the highest for a 2-year-old this year. The son of Into Mischief won by 7 ¾ lengths and stopped the clock at 1:09.61 in the six-furlong sprint. Trainer Bob Baffert is pointing Hughes to the G1 Del Mar Futurity on September 6…Notable works on Friday: Dirt – Bartholdy (4f, :48.00); Call Sign Seven (4f, :48.40); Desert Gate (4f, :47.20); She’s No Quant (4f, :48.80); Baltic Fire (5f, 1:01.80); Man O Rose (5f, :59.60), and Big City Lights (6f, 1:15.20).