Horse Racing: Pacific Classic at Del Mar
The 1 million dollars Pacific Classic will take place on Saturday, the 28th of August at the Del Mar racecourse. Ten colts were entered in the qualifying race for the Pacific Classic on Tuesday. These racehorses included the winner of the Hollywood Gold Cup, Awesome Gem and the defending champion, Richard’s Kid.
The 7-year old racehorse, Awesome Gem won the Gold Cup on the 10th of July, thus making a first Grade I victory. He was able to achieve this win after trying 13 times to finish in the first spot in a Grade I race. Awesome Gem will be competing against Lava Man and Gentlemen in both the Hollywood Gold Cup and the Pacific Classic in the same year.
At Rancho Valencia in Rancho Santa Fe a gathering took place in which Awesome Gem was given the ninth post. Awesome Gem is the son of Awesome Again, and ran in the Pacific Classic under the jockey David Flores for the eighth time in a row. David Flores won the 1999 Pacific Classic.
Awesome Gem’s trainer, Craig Dollase, told the correspondents that he was looking forward to the colt’s victory in the Pacific Classic. He also said that there was a numerous variety of horses some are from the marathon-race type while others come off turf races. He declared that the meet this year is going to be a unique race.
Under the training of Bob Baffert, the racehorse Richard’s Kid won the Pacific Classic for the second time, when he defeated Einstein with a very narrow margin at 24-1 last year. This time he ran under the jockey Mike Smith. This particular horse finished in the third place in the Cougar II Handicap which took place on the 30th of July at the Del Mar racecourse, this year.
Richard’s Kid is the five year old son of Lemon Drop Kid. He was the runner-up to the winner in the Cougar II that took place last year and then was seen to reverse his fortunes at the Pacific Classic at Del Mar. This is the signature race which is run over a mile and a quarter on a synthetic Polytrack.
It has been quite some time that Awesome Gem has been training over the Polytrack at Del Mar. However, he has been observed not to enjoy running over it like he does over the Hollywood Park’s Cushion Track where he trains 10 months of the year. The trainer Dollase said that the horse had to make most of the Del Mar track because the race was to be conducted here and there was no other choice. He added that the racehorse was fit and healthy to successfully participate in the Pacific Classic.
The 2-5 favourite of the Hollywood Gold Cup, Rail Trip has been sent east and so did not compete against Awesome Gem in the Pacific Classic. The main contenders that Awesome had to face in this particular meet on Saturday included legitimate competitors Eddie, who is the Read Stakes winner.
This Pacific Classic, offering a purse of one million dollars, was run for the 20th time. It is the only stakes race left that takes place in California. One of the race horses who entered the race was Temple City and Dakota Phone. Temple City won the 3 and a quarter length Cougar II while Dakota Phone won the Grade II San Diego Handicap by just half a length on the 31st of July.
Despite the ninth place finish in the Sunshine Millions Classic, which took place over Santa Anita’s Pro-Ride on the 30th of January, The Usual Q.T. was made a part of the Pacific Classic. The colt has eight career victories, all on the turf surface.
The Usual Q.T.’s trainer, James Cassidy, told the media that the athletic horse has 3 second place finishes in the five starts, which were all on the synthetic track. He further added that they skipped the Arlington Million, which took place last weekend because of the way the race was set up and not the condition of the Pro- Ride as the critics said that the horse did not like the track.
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