Pacific Classic (Grade 1) (BC)- $1,000.000 Purse
DMR- For Three Year Olds and Upward
One Mile and One Quarter on the Dirt
August 31, 2024

Last year, Hiei finished third in the BC Classic after a late run in the stretch saw him get within a half-length. Now, he is assured of his chance to return to that race once again, just as long as his trainer, Fractious, wants him there. To do that, he had a similar late run but was able to get by them all to win the Pacific Classic. At one point, Hiei was as many as eight lengths back, and that’s a little further behind than he has been in the other races where he closed well to get the win, making this a very impressive performance for a horse that needed a good race after coming up empty in his last two. It’s the first win in the Pacific Classic for Fractious, and the second for jockey, M Franco. Congratulations to them! The time of the race was 2:00.19, the fastest since 2012. Let’s take a look at it:

(½ Mile- :47.57)- Four horses spend the first half mile battling it out for the top spot and go four wide around the opening turn. Wimbledon, trained by Night Rider Stables, holds the upper hand here by a neck while running in the second lane while Living In The Matrix is next on the rail for TwinTowersRacing. Fractious-owned Team Leader is third while running on the outside of the leader, and in the fourth lane, post time favorite Wahpekute Sioux, runs the outside for Mb Stables while trying to make all his supporters look smart for throwing out his dud in the Whitney. Surely, he would redeem himself for that, right? After this front group, it’s about a length and a half to the next group of three. Longshot Prince Ferro is fifth while running on the outside, as All Take is right beside him for Alydar Stables, and Senor Vinagre Y Agua is on the rail for YME Stable. Threshold’s Uranus is right behind them, then comes another Fractious horse in Gold Vault. At the back, we have One Last Punch Line on the rail for Alydar Stables, and trailing the field while being eight lengths off the pace is our eventual winner, Hiei, from Fractious.

(3/4 Mile- 1:11.56)- As the field works their way down the backstretch, Wimbledon looks to inch away from those he had been running with and has done so to everyone other than Living In The Matrix. That one is still within a length to his inside while Team Leader assumes more of a stalking role now. Wahpekute Sioux has lost more ground and is falling back to where the next group of three had been running. Prince Ferro was positioned nicely to make a run here if he so desired while in the third lane, while Senor Vinagre Y Agua and All Take ran closer to the rail in the middle of the pack. Uranus and Gold Vault are single file, while Hiei moves up a spot but is still eight lengths off the pace. One Last Punch Line is still to his inside.

(Top of Stretch, 1.5F To Go)- Around the turn, both Wimbledon and Living In The Matrix are still looking good as they continue to hold a length and a half advantage over the rest of the field. No one had made a run on them yet, but we see a lot of positioning going on behind them as jockeys look for the best lanes to take in the stretch. Prince Ferro is now third, more due to the fact that Team Leader and Wahpekute Sioux were tiring than by making a run, but he continued to be positioned very nicely. Senor Vinagre Y Agua and All Take still ran with one another and didn’t lose ground, but they were not making a push, either. Meanwhile, the closer Hiei was beginning to hit his best stride, getting by stablemate Gold Vault and looking for more while going five wide. He still had around five lengths to make up, but he certainly knows how to make these late runs work. One Last Punch Line did not have the same type of push coming.

(Finish- 2:00.19)- Hiei is full of run as soon as the stretch run begins and does not take long to begin passing horses. With a little less than a furlong to go, he has already moved into fifth and is within three lengths of the lead. Up front, Wimbledon and Living In The Matrix were still up front and matching one another’s stride while Prince Ferro gradually make progress on them. However, the horse to watch was clearly Hiei with how well he was running. He blew by them like a car doing 100 on the freeway in the passing lane, making quick work of them and comfortably drawing away to win by about a length and a half. Surely, a very impressive performance in the stretch by this one. 37/1 shot Prince Ferro did get into second and assured us of a nice exacta. Wimbledon held off Living In The Matrix for third, while Team Leader is fifth, slightly ahead of Senor Vinagre Y Agua and All Take, two horses that seemed to just want to run beside each other all race. Rounding it out, it’s Uranus, Gold Vault, and One Last Punch Lane. At the back, say it ain’t so, Wahpekute Sioux.

About The Winner- Hiei, trained by Fractious and ridden to victory by M Franco, is a four-year-old gelding by Liberty Valance, and is out of Third Eye. He was bred in New York as a second quarter two-year-old by Patterson Stables and was sold unraced in private sales for $40.000 in May 2022. Congratulations to the connections! The win is his eighth in 18 starts and sixth stake win, all of which are graded. His career earnings are now $3,852.400.

Track: Fast
Time: :47²  1:11²  1:35⁴  2:00

$2 Mutuel Prices:

$1 Exacta: 11 – 9 Paid 468.20
$1 Trifecta: 11 – 9 – 5 Paid 1,626.20

Scratched: None

— NS

Categories: Grade I, STAKES ARTICLES