Del Mar’s Pacific Classic has seen its quality ebb and flow like the nearby tide in recent years, from the record-setting romp by Flightline to the forgettable upset by Mixto to the dramatic victory last year by Fierceness over Journalism.
Whether the Aug. 22 edition of the race for 3-year-olds and up is one of the good ones will be answered provisionally when the field is set Sunday.
Knightsbridge, a 5-year-old trained in New York by Bill Mott, could be a heavy favorite after his 10-length win in the Monmouth Cup earned the highest Beyer speed figure for any race (122) since Flightline’s 2022 Pacific Classic (126). Bettors looking for a horse to beat Knightsbridge, who hasn’t won at the Grade I level or at 1¼ miles, may find options: Possible entrants include two other shippers in Dubai World Cup winner Hit Show and Tokyo Derby champion Finger; Grade I winners Full Serrano, Nevada Beach, Subsanador and British Isles; Hollywood Gold Cup winner Forged Steel and runner-up Malarchuk; streaking Navajo Warrior; Chilean Grade I winner The Goat; and the plucky filly Om N Joy.
A classic performance by Knightsbridge or someone else would be timely. The Pacific Classic used to match or surpass Saratoga’s Whitney Stakes as an August destination for the best older horses. But the Whitney is stronger in most years now, having caught up to the Pacific Classic’s $1 million purse and benefited from the money-driven eastward shift in thoroughbred talent.
And starting next year, the Pacific Classic could face competition for the kind of 3-year-old stars who have been big parts of its history since Best Pal beat elder stars in the inaugural running in 1991. Last week, Churchill Downs and the New York Racing Association announced plans for a six-race, May-to-September “championship series” for 3-year-olds, including the Kentucky Derby, Belmont Stakes and other races at Churchill and Saratoga and offering a prize pool of $5 million. It was a week of turmoil for the traditional Triple Crown as Maryland officials announced the Preakness will move eight days later on the calendar.
Del Mar Thoroughbred Club President Josh Rubinstein expressed no concern about the Kentucky-New York series’ effect on California.
“We appreciate innovation and the effort to coordinate national promotion of the 3-year-old division, and we don’t expect the new series will impact our racing program or the Pacific Classic,” Rubinstein said in a text exchange. “We hope that collaborative steps can be taken from here to strengthen the Triple Crown given its importance to the U.S. racing calendar.”
Rubinstein indicated there would be no move to raise the Pacific Classic purse, which remains at its original $1 million.
“At a $1 million purse, we believe the Pacific Classic will continue to be a compelling opportunity for horsemen and horsewomen across the country,” he said, noting that the race’s conditions allow 3-year-olds to carry 118 pounds, six less than older horses.
It will only help if a full field next week, and a winner going on to success in the Breeders’ Cup, shows fans here and horse owners everywhere that Del Mar’s marquee race remains a real classic in most years.
CHANGES AT THE TOP
Sovereignty’s victory with jockey Junior Alvarado in the Whitney Stakes on Saturday made him No. 1 in the National Thoroughbred Racing Association’s weekly poll for the first time since March, and No. 1 in the season’s first Breeders’ Cup Classic contender rankings.
It was Sovereignty’s first victory in three starts in 2026 after consecutive wins in the Kentucky Derby, Belmont, Jim Dandy and Travers earned him the 2025 Horse of the Year title.
Former NTRA poll leader Magnitude slipped to No. 4 after a stumbling start in the Whitney led to a sixth-place finish with Jose Ortiz.
Nitrogen’s second-place finish with John Velazquez in the Whitney lifted the 4-year-old filly from No. 9 to No. 2, strengthening her lead in the older females division.
Deterministic’s repeat win under Kendrick Carmouche in the 1-mile Fourstardave Stakes on the Whitney undercard, the sixth straight win overall for the 5-year-old, moved him up from No. 12 to No. 3, tops among the nation’s turf horses.
In the rankings of contenders for the Breeders’ Cup Classic Oct. 31 at Keeneland, Sovereignty was followed by 2025 winner Forever Young, Magnitude, Golden Tempo, Renegade, Knightsbridge, Nitrogen, Baeza, Commandment and Antiquarian. The rankings are voted by racing journalists and executives and don’t affect who runs in the race.
THIS WEEK AT DEL MAR
Del Mar passes the midpoint of its eight-week summer season with consistent mares Sweet Azteca and Grand Slam Smile looking hard to beat in stakes this weekend.
Sprinter Sweet Azteca (Juan Hernandez riding) tries to win the Grade III Rancho Bernardo Handicap for the third year in a row Sunday, after the 5-year-old trained by Richard Baltas recorded her third straight Grade II Great Lady M. Stakes victory at Los Alamitos in July. Her top competition in a field of six fillies and mares is 5-year-old Thermal (Joel Rosario), returning to California for trainer John Sadler after a career-best win at Lone Star Park in Texas.
Turf specialist Grand Slam Smile (Hernandez) seeks her second success in the Solana Beach Stakes for California-breds, which would also be the Sean McCarthy-trained 5-year-old’s sixth win in her past seven races restricted to state-breds. The field of 12 going 1 mile includes 4-year-old Take Another Card (Umberto Rispoli), a three-time runner-up to Grand Slam Smile, and lightly raced 5-year-old Can’t Sleep (Emisael Jaramillo), making her first try beyond sprint distances.
NEXT UP AT LOS AL
Quarter-horse racing at Los Alamitos on Saturday night features Doodah Cartel (Henry Reynoso Lopez) in one of three 400-yard trials for the Grade II Golden State Derby on Sept. 5.
Paul Jones-trained Doodah Cartel was perfect in his first five starts of 2026, including wins in the Grade I Los Alamitos Winter Derby and Grade II El Primero Del Ano Derby, before finishing third to Brother Ray after a bad start in the Grade II Governor’s Cup Derby in July.
SHORTENING UP
• The death of Valentina Jan, a Cal-bred 3-year-old filly injured in a maiden claiming sprint at Del Mar on Aug. 6, was the 21st from all causes in racing and training at Santa Anita, Los Alamitos and Del Mar in 2026. That’s two more than the average number of deaths at the three Southern California tracks from Jan. 1 to Aug. 6 in the five previous years.
• After favorites won only 17.5% of races in the first 10 days of the Del Mar meet, the trend reversed as public choices won 51.1% in the five days through Sunday. Favorites normally win at about a 33% clip.
• Todd Pletcher became the seventh trainer in North America to win 6,000 races when Versailles Road and jockey Manny Franco won an allowance-level turf event at Saratoga on Aug. 8. Pletcher, 59, trails only Steve Asmussen (11,297), Dale Baird, Jerry Hollendorfer, Jack Van Berg, King Leatherbury and Scott Lake.
• White Abarrio, the 2023 Breeders’ Cup Classic winner at Santa Anita, was retired to stud at Gainesway Farm in Lexington, Ky., after the 7-year-old finished seventh and last behind Sovereignty in the Whitney. White Abarrio’s 11 wins in 28 career starts include Grade I’s in the 2022 Florida Derby, 2023 Whitney and Breeders’ Cup Classic and 2025 Pegasus World Cup.
• Authorities were investigating after four horses, returning from layoffs and prepared at the Fair Hill (Md.) training center, won Aug. 9 at Saratoga and Monmouth at odds from 7-2 to 17-1 amid unusual betting activity. Winning trainers Angel Quiroz and Ernesto Ochoa shrugged off the controversy in, respectively, comments to Thoroughbred Daily News and a social-media post.
Follow horse racing correspondent Kevin Modesti at X.com/KevinModesti.
DEL MAR LEADERS
(Through Sunday)
Jockeys / Wins
Juan Hernandez / 20
Joel Rosario / 16
Antonio Fresu / 14
Kazushi Kimura / 11
Umberto Rispoli / 10
Emisael Jaramillo / 10
Armando Ayuso / 10
Hector Berrios / 8
Joe Bravo / 5
Tyler Baze / 5
Trainers / Wins
Doug O’Neill / 14
Phil D’Amato / 9
Bob Baffert / 7
John Sadler / 7
George Papaprodromou / 7
Mark Glatt / 6
Antonio Garcia / 5
Brian Koriner / 5
Jeff Mullins / 5
Michael McCarthy / 5
UPCOMING STAKES
DEL MAR
Saturday
• $100,000 CTT & TOC Stakes, fillies and mares, 3-year-olds and up, 1⅜ miles on turf
• $150,000 Solana Beach Stakes, California-bred fillies and mares, 3 and up, 1 mile on turf
Sunday
• $100,000, Grade III Rancho Bernardo Stakes, fillies and mares, 3 and up, 6½ furlongs
LOS ALAMITOS
Saturday
• $70,000 Claiming Futurity, 2-year-old quarter horses, 350 yards