Pacific Classic draw set, with plenty of star power ready to run Saturday at Del Mar

by Jay Posner

The Pacific Classic is the richest race of every summer at Del Mar — the richest all year in California, in fact, outside of when the Breeders’ Cup is held in the state.

Some years, the field for the 1¼-mile race lives up to its $1 million purse. In 2016, for example, California Chrome, the Horse of the Year two years prior when he won the Kentucky Derby and Preakness, defeated the mare Beholder, who had romped to victory in the 2015 Classic en route to her third of four Eclipse Awards.

Other years, though, the field can be lacking. In 2024, for example, only one horse in the field had a prior Grade 1 win.

There’s no argument in which category Saturday’s Pacific Classic belongs.

While five of the eight runners entered Tuesday have combined for exactly one graded-stakes victory, the other three horses more than make up for it — Fierceness, Journalism and Nysos are all included in the top seven of the Breeders’ Cup Classic rankings by the NTRA.

“It’s rare at this juncture on the calendar to get top-level horses to compete against each other,” Del Mar racing secretary David Jerkens said Tuesday just before the post-position draw at a restaurant overlooking the racetrack. “We’re in an era where horses try to bypass stiff competition leading up to the Breeders’ Cup. We’re grateful. It’s something you can’t count on every year.”

This always figured to be a spot for Nysos to run, but as recently as last week there was no guarantee that either Fierceness or Journalism would join him.

Based at Saratoga with trainer Todd Pletcher, Fierceness could have walked out of his stall Sunday and run for the same money in the Jockey Club Gold Cup. But primary owner Mike Repole also has Mindframe for that race, and the decision was made to send Fierceness back to the track where he finished second in last year’s Breeders’ Cup Classic — and where this year’s race will be held.

The decision to run Journalism was more dependent on whether primary owner Aron Wellman of Rancho Santa Fe and trainer Michael McCarthy felt the 3-year-old was doing well enough after a demanding spring and early summer to take on older horses.

The advantage, of course, was being able to race where the Preakness Stakes and Haskell Stakes winner has been training for the past five weeks over the track where he broke his maiden last fall.

“It’s nice to have a home game,” Wellman said Tuesday. “The thought of putting him on a plane for the Travers (last week) or the Pennsylvania Derby (Sept. 20) just wasn’t all that appealing to us. And he’s thriving here at Del Mar.”

Journalism is the sixth horse with a win in a Triple Crown race to contest the Classic, but just the second to do it as a 3-year-old (War Emblem was sixth in 2002). He will be the 20th 3-year-old to start, with six of the previous 19 winning, most recently Arabian Knight in 2023.

That was the record seventh Pacific Classic win for trainer Bob Baffert, who on Saturday will saddle Nysos, the narrow 8-5 favorite on John Lies’ morning line. (Journalism is 9-5, Fierceness 3-1.)

Nysos, who was regarded as an early favorite for the Kentucky Derby last year until an injury kept him from racing for 15 months, returned this year to win the Triple Bend and San Diego Handicap. He is 2-for-2 at Del Mar, 5-for-6 lifetime, but has never raced beyond 1 1/16 miles.

“Those are three serious horses,” Wellman said, “so that part of it is exciting. And we didn’t scare anybody away. I mean five other horses feel as though it’s worth putting their hat in the ring, so we’ve got a lot of respect for them and don’t count anybody out. But I think this is a really epic renewal of the Pacific Classic with the three heavyweights.”

First post Saturday is 1:30 p.m. The Classic goes as the 10th of 11 races at about 6:05.

In post-position order, the field: Fierceness (John Velazquez riding), 3-1; Midnight Mammoth (Armando Ayuso), 12-1; Ultimate Gamble (Kazushi Kimura), 20-1; Nysos (Flavien Prat), 8-5; Indispensable (Paco Lopez), 15-1; Journalism (Umberto Rispoli), 9-5; Lure Him In (Edwin Gonzalez), 20-1; Tarantino (Edwin Maldonado), 20-1.