Dr Venkman © Benoit Photo
PACIFIC CLASSIC FIELD BEGINS TO COME INTO FOCUS TWO WEEKS OUT
The G1 FanDuel Racing Pacific Classic is less than two weeks away and it’s beginning to take shape. Five horses are being pointed to the race while a few others are still up in the air.
The top three finishers in last month’s G2 San Diego are expected back for the ‘Classic’. Dr. Venkman stretched out around two turns for the first time in the San Diego and proved too tough to catch.
The 4-year-old son of Ghostzapper worked Saturday at Del Mar, breezing six furlongs in 1:12.40 on the main track. It was second best of 12 works at the distance.
The runner-up in the San Diego, Katonah, also worked six furlongs Saturday, stopping the clock at 1:12.60. He had not run in over a year when he raced last month in the San Diego and the Classic will be his second time following the layoff.
“He’s doing great,” trainer Doug O’Neill says. “He’ll have one more work and if all goes well he’ll be ready to rock ‘n roll.”
The third-place finisher in the San Diego was Express Train and he’s under consideration for the Pacific Classic. Trainer John Shirreffs sent out the son of Union Rags on Friday, working him six furlongs in 1:13.00. He’s another one coming back from a long vacaton and the Classic would be his third race after the layoff.
Midnight Mammoth is another pointing to the Pacific Classic. The winner of the G3 Cougar II has won three straight. Trainer Craig Dollase worked the 5-year old son of Midnight Lute six furlongs in 1:13.20 Saturday.
“He’s doing good since the work,” Dollase says. “He’ll breeze one more time next weekend.”
The newest names to emerge as possible contenders in the Pacific Classic are Mixto, a 4-year-old son of Good Magic, who also hails from the Doug O’Neill barn and None Above the Law, the 2021 G2 Del Mar Derby winner.
“He’s a nice solid horse,” O’Neill says of Mixto. “He’s coming off a second in the Pleasanton Mile and a fifth in the Santa Anita Handicap. He’s down here training well and if he continues to do well, (the Pacific Classic) is definitely a strong option.”
None Above the Law broke out of a long drought when he captured the $100,000 Bertrando Stakes at Los Alamitos in June, his first victory since his Del Mar Derby win 33 months and 19 races ago. The 6-year-old Cal-bred worked five furlongs in 1:00.80 on Thursday.
“He did it on his own, we never pushed the horse,” trainer Jorge Periban says. “He’s sound. He’s changed a lot, he’s a lot different.”
Periban says None Above the Law will get one more work before the Classic.
Trainer John Sadler worked his Argentine-bred Full Serrano on Sunday.
“Went really well,” Sadler notes. “Went a minute, out :25 and three. We’ll see how he does next weekend then we’ll make a decision on the Pacific Classic after that.”
A few Bob Baffert horses have been mentioned as possible runners in the Classic. However, any talk of Baffert sending a horse to the Classic is pure speculation at this point. Arabian Knight worked five furlongs in 1:00.20 Saturday, his second work since his fourth-place finish in the San Diego. Reincarnate worked a bullet five furlongs in :59.60.
There is still hope one or two horses from out-of-town will ship in for the big race continuing the trend of invaders coming to Del Mar this summer to get in a race on the track where they will run the Breeders’ Cup in November.
The 34th running of the $1 million, G1 FanDuel Racing Pacific Classic is set for August 31, part of a five-stakes day at Del Mar. Nominations will close Thursday.
THE CHOSEN VRON’S RETURN HIGHLIGHTS NEXT WEEK’S STAKES ACTION
Del Mar serves up a tasty pair of stakes races next weekend, one of which got very interesting with the addition of a Breeders’ Cup-bound horse.
The G2 Pat O’Brien, a seven-furlong test on the main track for 3-year-olds and up, has attracted The Chosen Vron, winner of the G1 Bing Crosby. It also marks the return of Senor Buscador, last year’s G2 San Diego winner and this year’s Saudi Cup champion.
The 39th running of the race becomes even more tantalizing when one glances at the nominations. Topping the list is last year’s Pacific Classic winner Arabian Knight. Trainer Bob Baffert has yet to make a decision on whether or not he will run. He’s also nominated Imagination and Prince of Monaco, last year’s Del Mar Futurity winner.
Also on the list of nominations is Happy Jack, winner of the G2 Triple Bend two races back and Spirit of Makena, the 2023 Triple Bend winner who hasn’t raced since the end of last September.
Fourteen horses have been nominated for the Pat O’Brien. It’s slated to be run on Saturday.
Then next Sunday, it’s the 53rd running of the G3 Rancho Bernardo, a 6 ½ furlong sprint for fillies and mares. It’s attracted 16 nominations including Daisycutter winner Connie Swingle and the hard-knocking daughter of Mohayman Elm Drive, both from the Philip D’Amato barn.
Also on the nominations list is the brilliant Sweet Azteca, recent winner of the G2 Great Lady M at Los Alamitos though, at last check, trainer Michael McCarthy was still up in the air over running her in the Rancho Bernardo or back east in the G1 Ballerina at Saratoga on Travers Day.
Thursday’s card features a salty second level allowance race with 2023 G2 Charles Whittingham winner Offlee Naughty and 2023 La Jolla Handicap winner Maltese Falcon, both of whom are in for the $80,000 tag. Nine horses are entered in the 1 3/8 mile marathon on the Jimmy Durante Turf Course.
Entries for the G2 Pat O’Brien and the rest of the Saturday card will be drawn Wednesday. The G3 Rancho Bernardo and the Sunday’s card will be drawn Thursday.
JOCKEY JOE TALAMO TOUCHES DOWN AT DEL MAR FOR THE SUMMER
This summer meet at Del Mar has been a bit of a homecoming for jockey Joe Talamo. He’s back riding at the seaside oval after four years on the Midwest circuit. Talamo is from that part of the country. That’s where his family lives and that’s where he went to ride when business slowed down for him on the west coast.
When business started to dry up again last year and continued early this year, he decided to return to the place where he’s enjoyed his greatest success.
“It’s been really good,” Talamo says of his return. “It’s so nice to be back. We’re fortunate in that we can travel around and ride. We’re not stuck in one particular area which is a unique thing. Some athletes are under contract and stuck somewhere.”
That doesn’t make the transition from one place to another any easier. Despite Talamo’s success during his previous stint on the west coast, he’s finding this time around a bit challenging.
“Not being around for a while and having other jockeys riding all of the horses it’s definitely been tough getting on some,” Talamo notes. “But I’ve been pretty fortunate to get some live opportunities so hopefully we can keep that going.”
The jockey’s room, at least the people in it, is quite different from what Talamo remembers.
“A lot of new names, really good riders,” he observes. “A good group of guys personality-wise, everybody gets along pretty well. It is funny how few old names are in there. I’m a grandpa now. The first time I rode here I was 17. Now I’m 34.”
Talamo first rode here in 2007 and made an instant splash, winning the Eclipse Award for top apprentice. As a bug boy he won the riding title at Fair Grounds before shifting out west and finishing second in the jockey standings at Hollywood Park’s spring-summer meet where he became the first apprentice to ever win two Grade I races on the same card.
He then posted another runner-up finish in the jockey standings at Del Mar that year and, on his first day as a journeyman, he won three races.
He compiled nearly $12 million in earnings in 2012, ninth best in the nation, and passed the $100 million mark in career earnings in 2018. Talamo’s never won a Triple Crown race but he does have one Breeders’ Cup victory to his credit, the 2009 Sprint on California Flag.
Talamo has come a long way from the days he first began riding. He was born and raised in Marrero, Louisiana, across the Mississippi River from New Orleans. When he was 13 he began riding the bush tracks.
“That was a blast,” he remembers. “Their heyday was in the 50s, 60s and 70s. Some of the best jockeys ever rode there. I mean Eddie Delahoussaye, (Kent) Desormeaux, Calvin Borel and Robbie Albarado. Then in the 90s and early 2000s they were closed down for a long time. I don’t think many people went to them and they didn’t have a lot of new jockeys coming up.”
When they reopened, Talamo was a teenager and he jumped at the opportunity to hone his riding skills. Most of the horses he got up on were coming off of a layoff and heading to nearby Evangeline Downs or they were 2-year-olds getting ready to race.
“You got to dress up like a jockey,” Talamo recalls. “It was like a training center. You could compare it to a San Luis Rey Downs, just not as nice. They had a starting gate that could fit five horses. Back in the day they used to have a straight half mile, one horse against another, and it would end in an open field. But I didn’t ride against a chicken or a monkey.”
Talamo is hoping a change of scenery will again turn things around for him.
“Business-wise it’s been a really slow year for me,” Talamo admits. “I love Louisville. Me and my family love it back there but the summertime is pretty brutal in terms of jockey rides. You’re racing at Ellis Park which is two hours away or at Indiana and that’s two hours away. Sometimes you’re driving over a thousand miles a week so it can be pretty daunting.”
So he figured he would come out to Del Mar for the summer. Whether or not Talamo stays in Southern California past this year is still up in the air.
”After this meet I’m going to talk to Rene (Amescua, his agent) and see how things go,” Talamo says. “I plan to take off the Los Alamitos meet in September and possibly come back in October at Santa Anita. For the wintertime I was thinking maybe Fair Grounds or something like that. Our home base is Louisville. That’s not going to change.”
But a chance to spend a summer or two at Del Mar? You could do a lot worse.
COOLING OUT: Del Mar Oaks winner Iscreamuscream came out of her race “in good shape” according to trainer Phil D’Amato. “We’ll let her tell us where we go next. The American Oaks (at Santa Anita) is our year-end goal.” Which begs the question ‘What about the Breeders’ Cup?’ “I’m not a big fan of running 3-year-old fillies in the Breeders’ Cup,” D’Amato says. “I haven’t seen many North American 3-year-old fillies do well on the grass at Breeders’ Cup. But we’ll keep all our options open.”…Jockey Martin Garcia flew into Del Mar Saturday to ride Buchu in the Oaks. They finished fourth but he didn’t come away from his trip empty handed. In the race before the Oaks, Garcia won aboard Citizen Bull, a 2-year-old out of the Bob Baffert barn. It was his first victory at the seaside oval since 2022…Los Alamitos-based trainer Arturo Williams notched his first win ever at Del Mar. He scored with Dancing Soul in the 10th and final race Saturday…Notable works on Sunday: Dirt – Johannes (4f, :48.00); R Heisman (4f, :49.20); Stay Hot (4f, :48.20); Happy Jack (5f, 1:01.80); In the Air Tonight (5f, 1:03.20); Nothng Like You (5f, 1:00.40); Sweet Azteca (5f, :59.40); Tahoe Sunrise (1:00.40); Imagination (7f, 1:25.00) and Muth (7f, 1:25.00). Turf – Connie Swingle (4f, 47.40); Johnny Podres (4f, 48.80); Master Piece (4f, :50.20); Ag Bullet (5f, 1:00.60); Du Jour (5f, 1:04.20) and Gold Phoenix (5f, 1:01.40). 289 horses put in official works Sunday, 260 on the dirt, 29 on the grass.
