A well-matched field of nine was entered Tuesday for Saturday’s $1 million Pacific Classic at Del Mar, the 31st running of the track’s most lucrative annual race.
How well matched? Six of the nine horses were placed between 3-1 and 5-1 on the morning line, indicating contention runs deep in a field without a true standout.
The 3-1 favorite is Express Train, who won last month’s San Diego Handicap by a half-length over Tripoli, with Royal Ship another three-quarters of a length back in third. That race was 1 1/16 miles, or three-sixteenths shorter than the 1 1/4-mile Classic.
Royal Ship, who beat Express Train by 4 1/2 lengths while narrowly losing the 1 1/4-mile Hollywood Gold Cup in May at Santa Anita to Country Grammer, is 7-2 on the line for trainer Richard Mandella and jockey Mike Smith, each of whom has won this race four times.
Mandella also trains Tizamagician, one of only two horses in the field with a win at longer than nine furlongs. Both Tizamagician and Cupid’s Claws have won at 1 1/2 miles (they also ran 1-2 last month in the Cougar II Stakes at Del Mar).
At 4-1 is Dr. Post, the lone shipper from out of town. Trained by Todd Pletcher, Dr. Post has won two stakes races this year in the New York area.
The winner of Saturday’s race receives an automatic fees-paid berth into the Breeders’ Cup Classic, which will be run Nov. 6 at Del Mar.
Pacific Classic field
PP. Horse, Jockey, Odds
1. Tripoli, Pereira, 5-1
2. Tizamagician, Prat, 5-1
3. Dr. Post, Rosario, 4-1
4. Royal Ship, Smith, 7-2
5. Express Train, Hernandez, 3-1
6. Magic on Tap, Cedillo, 20-1
7. Independence Hall, Geroux, 5-1
8. Sheriff Brown, Maldonado, 30-1
9. Cupid’s Claws, Rispoli, 15-1
Post time: 6:30 p.m. Saturday. Distance: 1 1/4 miles. TV: TVG
