Can 52 year old Gary Stevens ride Beholder to the Breeders’ Cup?
The Breeders’ Cup prep season gets intense this weekend. Saturday’s card at Del Mar features three graded stakes races, all of which are Breeders’ Cup Win and You’re In.
The marquee race, the Pacific Classic (GI), awards its winner with a berth in the Breeders’ Cup Classic. A ticket to the Turf awaits the winner of the Del Mar Handicap (GII), and whoever prevails in the Pat O’Brien (GII) has an automatic slot in the Dirt Mile.
The Pacific Classic
Date: Saturday, August 22, 2015
Track: Del Mar
Turf: Dirt
Distance: 1 1/4 Miles
Age: Three Year Olds and Up
Local Time: 6:10pm
Purse: $1,000,000
Two-time Eclipse Award champion Beholder is the early 5-2 favorite for the $1 million Pacific Classic at Del Mar, where she will try to become the first female to win the Grade 1 race.
The competition stacks up high again this year with the two-time Eclipse Award-winning mare Beholder taking center stage to see if she can hold her own with the boys. After securing an easy victory against her own kind in the Clement L. Hirsh Stakes earlier in Del Mar’s summer meeting, the 5-year-old mare trained by Richard Mandella will go up against the likes of Bayern, winner of the 2014 Breeders’ Cup Classic trained by Bob Baffert, and Catch a Flight, the Argentine-bred 5-year-old who recently captured the San Diego Handicap during Del Mar’s second weekend.
The Horse Racing Radio Network will have Free live streaming video from Del Mar live from 4:30pm-6:30pm PDT.
Pacific Classic Morning Lines
| PP | Horse | Jockey | Trainer | Odds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Class Leader (KY) | Mike E. Smith | John W. Sadler | 15-1 |
| 2 | Bailoutbobby (KY) | James Graham | Doug F. O’Neill | 20-1 |
| 3 | Bayern (KY) | Rafael Bejarano | Bob Baffert | 6-1 |
| 4 | Hard Aces (KY) | Victor Espinoza | John W. Sadler | 5-1 |
| 5 | Red Vine (KY) | Joel Rosario | Christophe Clement | 6-1 |
| 6 | Imperative (KY) | Corey S. Nakatani | Richard Baltas | 12-1 |
| 7 | Catch a Flight (ARG) | Flavien Prat | Richard E. Mandella | 9-2 |
| 8 | Hoppertunity (KY) | Martin Garcia | Bob Baffert | 5-1 |
| 9 | Beholder (KY) | Gary L. Stevens | Richard E. Mandella | 5-2 |
| 10 | Midnight Storm (KY) | Tyler Baze | Philip D’Amato | 20-1 |
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Good luck at the races.
— Tom Franklin, US Racing
