DEL MAR – There will be three other graded stakes races Saturday on the Pacific Classic undercard.
The Grade I Del Mar Oaks, a 1⅛-mile test on the turf for 3-year-old fillies, will be run just before the Pacific Classic as the ninth race. And the Grade II Del Mar Mile, a 1-mile turf run for older horses, will be run just after the Pacific Classic as the finale to an 11-race day.
Earlier, the Grade II Green Flash Handicap will send 10 older horses five furlongs on the turf with the winner assured of a berth in the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint. There will also be two $100,000 races for maidens on the card.
Kensington Lane, who will be ridden by Del Mar jockey leader Joel Rosario, is the narrow 3-1 favorite among the 10 scheduled starters in the $300,000 Del Mar Oaks. She will be making her second U.S. start as one of three Phil D’Amato-trained entries in the Oaks. D’Amato will also have Peanutbutterbombe (Antonio Fresu) and Inbox (Hector Berrios) in the race.
Kensington Lane won her U.S. debut on July 4 in the Grade I Belmont Oaks at Saratoga. D’Amato became her trainer when Kensington Lane’s owners decided to relocate her a second time in Southern California.
“She arrived here about a month ago and has done nothing wrong so far,” said D’Amato. “She’s been training like the consummate pro.”
Kensington Lane is one of two Oaks entries shipping in from Europe. The other is morning-line second-favorite Green Carrera (Umberto Rispoli), who finished second in the Killarney in Ireland last month after winning the Sandringham Handicap at Royal Ascot and the Curragh in Ireland.
Also shipping in from Kentucky will be Tam Tam (Junior Alvarado), who is the third-favorite at 4-1. Tam Tam, a daughter of Medaglia d’Oro, won an ungraded stakes at Churchill Downs on June 27 after finishing a disappointing third in the Grade III Regret on May 30.
Trainer Brendan Walsh will have two fillies in the Oaks. Raiding Party was third in the Grade II San Clemente at Del Mar last month while the Irish-bred Define (Kazushi Kimura) made her first U.S. start last month.
The 12-horse field in the Del Mar Mile is topped by El Potente (Berrios) D’Amato’s King of Gosford (Rispoli) and George Papaprodromou’s Cabo Spirit (Smith).
Trained by Dan Blacker, El Potente has been off since finishing second in the Grade II Kilroe Stakes at Santa Anita on March 7. A month before that, the 7-year-old son of Temple City won the Grade III Thunder Road at Santa Anita by 3 ¾ lengths.
King of Gosford has won eight of 21 career starts and has two wins and two seconds in six starts at Del Mar. She won the Wickerr Stakes under Rispoli at Del Mar on July 19 and the 2025 Grade I Shoemaker Mile at Santa Anita under Flavien Prat. In between, he had finishes of sixth (2025 Del Mar Mile), fourth and third.
Cabo Spirit finished second to Gold Phoenix in the Grade II Eddie Read Stakes at Del Mar on July 26 and will be making a sixth straight start under veteran Hall of Famer Mike Smith. The 7-year-old son of Pioneer of the Nile’s most recent win came in the Grade III San Gabriel Handicap under Smith at Santa Anita last Dec. 29.
Meanwhile, D’Amato’s Motorious (Antonio Fresu) will be seeking a fourth straight win in the Green Flash. The 8-year-old Irish-bred gelding won the sprint outright in 2023 and 2024 and was declared the winner when crossing second under the wire last year when winner Reef Runner was disqualified.
Motorious finished second in the 2024 Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint and fifth in both 2023 and last year. He has 10 wins and six runner-up finishes in 26 career starts.
Sumter (Smith) is the second morning-line pick at 4-1, followed by No Hay Hudson (Hernandez) and Man O Rose (Edwin Maldonado), both at 5-1. Sumter won an allowance race at Del Mar on July 19. No Hay Hudson hasn’t raced since finishing seventh in a Grade II stakes at Keeneland on April 4. And Man O Rose hasn’t races since finishing third in an ungraded stakes at Santa Anita on March 22.
Notable
Hernandez was successful in his pre-Pacific Classic sojourn to England, winning Friday’s Grade I Nunthorpe Stakes aboard trainer Wesley Ward’s Bacio. The victory could secure Hernandez a ride in the Breeders’ Cup since he is 2-for-2 on Bacio in stakes races leading up to the Turf Sprint. After the finish of the Nunthorpe, Hernandez could be seen, baggage in hand, sprinting toward the helicopter that would begin his 17-hour trip back to Del Mar.
• Friday produced the biggest longshot of the summer meeting with Amigo G A in the third. Ridden to victory by Edgar Payeras, Amigo G A paid $117.80 to win. Making his debut on the turf, Amigo G A was the third winner of longer than 50-1 this meeting.
• Doug O’Neill upped his leading training total of wins to 19 Friday with Piedra Fria ($24.60) in the first and Pura Vida Princesa ($9.20) in the seventh. Friday marked the sixth time this meeting that an O’Neill-trained horse won the opening race.