DEL MAR — Defending champions are the morning-line favorites in three of the four stakes races – two Grade II and two Grade IIIs — on Saturday’s undercard to the $1 million Pacific Classic.
Gold Phoenix is the early 5-2 favorite to win the Grade II Del Mar Handicap for a third straight year. Kyle Frey will be aboard the 6-year-old gelding in the 1 3/8-mile turf run for older horses. Gold Phoenix has won three of five previous Del Mar starts, but ran seventh on July 28 while defending his win in the 2023 Eddie Read Stakes.
Six horses will oppose Gold Phoenix in the $300,000 race, including 8-year-old gelding Rockemperor (Antonio Fresu), Balnikhov (Kazushi Kimura, third in the Read) and Master Piece (Juan Hernandez). The winner wins a berth in the Breeders’ Cup Turf.
The other Grade II will also have a defending champion.
The Bob Baffert-trained Du Jour (Hernandez) won the 2023 Del Mar Mile on the turf by 2¼ lengths and returns as the 8-5 favorite in a field of 10 older horses that includes last year’s runner-up (Exaulted, Diego Herrera). Mike Smith will be aboard second-choice First Peace, who won the July 21 Wickerr Stakes at Del Mar. The winner is guaranteed a berth in the Breeders’ Cup Mile.
And defending champion Motorious (Fresu) is the narrow 7-2 favorite in the Grade III Green Flash, a five-furlong turf sprint for older horses. The packed field of 12 will include the 5-year-old mare Connie Swingle, who will be seeking a sixth win in her last nine starts under Frey.
The other Saturday stakes race is the Grade III Torrey Pines — a mile run on the main track for 3-year-old fillies with early 4-5 favorite Hope Road (Hernandez) headlining the field of seven. Hope Road will be looking for a third straight win for the Hernandez-Baffert team. The field includes Santa Anita Oaks winner Nothing Like You.
NOTABLE
Cavalieri ($6.40), a 3-year-old daughter of Nyquist who was a $900,000 purchase 16 months ago, won her first career start for Hernandez and Baffert in a one-mile maiden race, scoring a mild upset of the Michael McCarthy-trained Accuracy, a 3-year-old daughter of Arrogate.
• Hernandez finished Thursday with three straight wire-to-wire wins — Cavalieri, favorite Air Force Red ($6.80) in the 1 1/16-mile feature on the turf and favorite Runamileinmyshoes ($5.80) in the one-mile finale — to increase his lead in the jockey race over Umberto Rispoli and Antonio Fresu to 12 wins.
• Jockey Flavien Prat, who won the past two Pacific Classics with Arabian Knight and Flightline — and three of the last five — will not fly west for this year’s race, marking the first time since 2014 that he has missed the race. Also absent Saturday will be Rispoli, who is riding at Kentucky Downs.
• Baffert didn’t enter Muth in the Pacific Classic and will instead run the Arkansas Derby winner in Sunday’s $125,000 Shared Belief Stakes.
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