San Diego Handicap winner could prove out to be the favourite for the all important high pursed Pacific Stakes
The Hollywood Gold Cup’s top three finishers First on Dude, Game on Dude and Twirling Candy displayed a fine performance on 9 July at Hollywood Park and were destined to compete yet again in the $1 million Pacific Classic Stakes at Del Mar on 28 August.
The trio definitely earned the reputation to be the ones to look out for in the Del Mar meet, but nobody predicted the recent development which unfolded the end of First Dude’s racing career after tearing his tendon.
The injury was triggered after he came out of the Hollywood Gold Cup as a winner, forcing him to retire.
Twirling Candy at the moment has too much on his plate, as the colt looks to start in either the Grade 2 $200,000 Del Mar Mile Handicap on August 27 or the Grade 1 Woodward on 3 September, but trainer John Sadler insists that the Pacific Stakes stays under
consideration.
The thin competition at the top leaves room for other older opportunistic horses to fill up the void and look to land the guaranteed massive purse of $1million.
The Grade 2 $200,000 San Diego Handicap at Del Mar on 30 July has become an important race all of a sudden with the recent developments taking place.
The stature of the race is of much significance, since the 1 1/16 miles event is part of the Breeders’ Cup “Win and You’re In” program.
The winner of the San Diego Handicap will earn a spot in the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile, and get their fees waived off and on top of that the winner will get a $10,000 travelling allowance.
The $200,000 purse event is far more important than at first glance, because the race is also a prep race for the $1million Pacific Classic Stakes.
San Diego Handicap will reel in the likes of Aggie Engineer; the 6-year-old gelding is desperate for a win after finish on the card in his last three races.
The 4-year-old colt Golden Itiz, who is trained by Ronald Ellis for owner Jay Em Ess Stable is also among the San Diego Handicap cast.
Golden Itiz is coming off a win in an Allowance race held at Hollywood Park on 10 July, over at a distance of 7 furlongs. The colt covered the dash in 1 minute 22.68 seconds.
Trainer Ronald Ellis is hopeful that his colt will emerge victorious, but he also said that it’s the first time Golden Itiz will run on the Del Mar main track.
Game on Dude remains a possible for the Grade 1 Pacific Stakes out of the Gold Cup winning trio, and will look to get back in to winning ways after 3 finishes on the card out of 3 previous starts.
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