DEL MAR — The first step toward a stellar Pacific Classic has been successfully completed.
Led by Journalism, Nysos and Fierceness, 10 horses have been nominated for the premier race of Del Mar’s summer season.
How many will actually enter the $1 million Grade I event won’t be known until Tuesday, when post positions are drawn for the 1¼-mile Aug. 30 race on the main track.
Attention is still focused on Journalism. The winner of the Preakness and Haskell Stakes and runner-up in the Kentucky Derby and Belmont Stakes isn’t committed to the Pacific Classic. Primary owner Aron Wellman and trainer Michael McCarthy are expected to announce the next race for Journalism after the 3-year-old son of Curlin works out Saturday at the seaside oval.
Like Journalism, Fierceness is considered a possibility. The 2024 Travers champion is also nominated for the Grade I Jockey Club Gold Cup on Aug. 31 at Saratoga, where the 4-year-old son of City of Light is currently stabled. Friday morning, owner Mike Repole asked fellow tweeters to assist him in picking a race for Fierceness.
Another nominee who is not expected to enter the Pacific Classic is Baeza, the winner of the Grade II Jim Dandy Stakes and the third-place finisher in both the Kentucky Derby and Belmont Stakes. Trainer John Shirreffs, however, has been pointing Baeza to the Grade I Pennsylvania Derby on Sept. 20.
Nysos, the impressive winner of the San Diego Handicap at Del Mar, heads the list of four probables for the Pacific Classic. Also on that list is a second Bob Baffert-trained nominee in Mirahmadi, the Craig Dollase-trained Midnight Mammoth and Peter Eurton’s Tarantino.
Others nominated for the Pacific Classic are the John Sadler-trained Indispensable, Sam Wilensky’s 8-year-old gelding Lure Him In and Mark Glatt’s 5-year-old Ultimate Gamble.
Nominations closed at midnight Thursday for the other stakes races on Pacific Classic Day.
The Grade II Del Mar Mile drew 17 nominations led by the McCarthy-trained Formidable Man, who won the July 27 Grade II Eddie Read Stakes sand the 2024 Grade I Hollywood Derby at Del Mar. Other featured nominees are Full Serrano — who won the 2024 Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile after finishing second in last year’s Pacific Classic — and King of Gosford, the winner of the Shoemaker Mile at Santa Anita in his last start on May 26.
Trainer Phil D’Amato has five of the 12 nominees in the Grade II Del Mar Derby, including Iron Man Cal, who was second in the 2024 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile and Oceanside Stakes at Del Mar, and The Padre, who won the recent Grade III La Jolla Handicap at the seaside oval.
The Grade III Green Flash Handicap, a win-and-you’re-in qualifier for the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint, drew 18 nominees.
And then there is the $125,000 Shared Belief Stakes for 3-year-olds. The 11 nominees include Journalism and Baeza, four Baffert entries (Citizen Bull, Gaming, Privman and Nevada Beach) and D’Amato’s tandem of Speedy Wilson and Shea Brennan.
Speedy ‘Boat’ returns
One of the more exciting horses on the Del Mar grounds in recent years will return to action Saturday for only his second start of the year in the Grade II Pat O’Brien Stakes, a seven-furlong test that will send the winner to the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile.
The Baffert-trained Speed Boat Beach set the Del Mar record for 5½ furlongs in his racing debut on the closing weekend of the 2022 summer meeting with a clocking of 1:01.86.
Speed Boat Beach’s career has been a roller coaster ride ever since. In fact, the 5-year-old son of Bayern missed all of 2024 while recuperating. In his only start of the past 19 months, Speed Boat Beach placed last in the $200,000 St. Matthews at Churchill Downs after setting the early pace. He bled in that race, drawing another three-month layoff from Baffert.
“He’s coming off a long layoff, so you don’t know what to expect,” Baffert said of Speed Boat Beach. “We know he’s a really good horse. These horses come up with little things.”
Speed Boat Beach has four wins in eight career starts, including a victory in the Grade I Malibu Stakes at Santa Anita on Dec. 26, 2023. He is the 5-2 morning-line favorite in a field of nine.
Notable
Ruben Silvera, who was tossed during Thursday’s program, rallied 9-1 longshot Caisson in the stretch to catch Dandy Man Shines in the final strides to win Friday’s feature.