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
On Saturday, the virtual racing world will be focused out west as our next “win and you’re in” race for the BC Classic takes place at DMR. It is none other than the Pacific Classic, a race that has seen the likes of Icicle, Barbarino, and Ginger Haggis pick up victories, while Combat Wombat even did it twice. This is the 21st edition of the race, one that everyone will have an interest in following. The purse has been constant at $1,000.000 from the second year on with one exception being for the virtual pandemic of 2020. Last year’s race was won by one of the greats, as Individuation scored the fifth Pacific Classic victory for Mb Stables. He’s not here to try and match what Combat Wombat did in 2018 and 2022. We do have eleven horses who are here that would love to add a Pacific Classic victory to their resume and enjoy all of the other benefits that come with it. Let’s meet that field, now:
1- Senor Vinagre Y Agua (YME Stable, ridden by F Pennington)- When I looked at this one in the Whitney, I had some concerns about him making the step up from hit and miss performances in three optional claimers, and the betting public agreed, making him a 40/1 longshot. But Senor Vinagre Y Agua stepped up and ran a great race, passing a few in the stretch to get up for third and earn a career high 101 SRF. So, now he’s a big moment in his career. Can he follow that up, because if he does, he’s successfully established himself as a BC Classic contender. Failing to step up again will lead to some thinking the Whitney was more of a fluke.
2- Uranus (Threshold, ridden by A Beschizza)- Turned out to be a great claim, for $47.500, as perhaps previous trainer Smokey Stover gave up on him too soon. He had been a graded runner before but rediscovered that form when under the guidance of Threshold. Ran off a three-race winning streak late last year and into this year, that was highlighted by capturing the Grade 1 SA Handicap. He’s been perfectly fine since then as well and was second recently in the Grade 3 Blame. Last time out, he had a dud in the MTH Cup, but it’s the type of race I can look past without a problem. The trainer wouldn’t mind seeing a wet track, but this is DMR and no rain is expected.
3- Living In The Matrix (TwinTowersRacing, ridden by A Cedillo)- In June, Living In The Matrix went wire to wire at SAR to go on and win the Grade 2 Suburban, so why not try the same thing two months later at the same track at a slightly shorter distance in the Whitney? Well, the better competition was able to get to him that day, and he found himself passed by a handful and dropped to sixth. That’s the way that he likes to run, so it would surprise me to see a different approach here. Cedillo is going to have to make sure he has something left in the stretch here to duplicate the Suburban result.
4- All Take (Alydar Stables, ridden by V Espinoza)- The winner of the 2022 PRK was here last month and in a race that was different for him: the Grade 1 Crosby. It was his first time going less than a mile in over a year, and if we exclude that seven-furlong race, you have to go back to 2021 to find a six-furlong race. That did not work out the way the trainer was hoping, and now All Take will be glad to not be in the gate with a bunch of sprinters. You have to go back to March, though, to find the last time you can say that All Take had a good race, and that was in the Grade 3 KY Cup Classic at TP that he won. A great work here earlier in the week will erase any thought that he may be “losing it”, so I expect him to bounce back well here with an encouraging result.
5- Wimbledon (Night Rider Stables, ridden by K Carmouche)- Unfortunately for the trainer, Wimbledon has not done much in 2024. In four starts, he has three subpar outings at the graded level, including a flat performance in Grade 1 Manhattan. His other start saw him dropped down in class quite a bit into N2X allowance at HOU that he was amazingly even eligible for. Been on the turf a lot recently but has historically gone back and forth between surfaces. While you never say never in our virtual racing world, this is not a horse that I could put money on.
6- Team Leader (Fractious, ridden by T Gaffalione)- One of two three-year-olds in the field, each of which are saddled by Fractious. Three-year-olds have had some success in this race and won four in a row between 2016 and 2019, but for Team Leader to be the next such winner, he’s going to have to be much better than he was in the Haskell, placing tenth and being defeated by five lengths. He’s been taking on top notch competition, but three of his last four races have not seen good results. We need to see the side of him in the race that was the exception: when he was third in the BEL, for him to have a chance.
7- Gold Vault (Fractious, ridden by F Prat)- Our three-year-olds will start side by side in the starting gate, and they do have a four-pound weight allowance on the rest of the field. Of the two, Gold Vault is the one that excites me more here even though Team Leader is the one that has been in the bigger races. I like that way that Gold Vault is looking coming into this race, with a strong third place effort in the Haskell last month with F Prat aboard. This has been a good jockey/horse combination when they have been able to get together, and I’m confident that Prat will get the best out of Gold Vault here.
8- Wahpekute Sioux (Mb Stables, ridden by J R Velazquez)- Mb Stables is strong in most top graded stakes, but he has been particularly good in the Pacific Classic, winning the race five times as well as twice in the last three years. Wahpekute Sioux is his only runner here, and the colt needs to redeem himself after a sluggish performance in the Whitney. In the preview of that one, I said that there was not a thing wrong with him heading into the race, and he should be the favorite. And he was. And he had a flat performance and could only finish eighth in a nine-horse field. For now, we can throw that out. But if it happens again, we’ll have to be more concerned.
9- Prince Ferro (Maxmillion Farm, ridden by A Jimenez)- Maxmillion Farm has three wins in this race, with Combat Wombat doing it twice but he also had the 2009 winner with the late Basic Force. For Prince Ferro to be his fourth winner, the gelding will have to make a successful surface change has he moves from the turf to the dirt, running on the main track for the first time since July 2023. After a dud in the Grade 3 Louisville, the trainer has prepared this one for three months to make the move. I’m a little skeptical about him here as the competition level may be too tough, but Maxmillion has more virtual racing knowledge in his pinky than I do, in total.
10- One Last Punch Line (Alydar Stables, ridden by F Geroux)- As recently as February, One Last Punch Line was regularly running in open allowances at TUP, so you can never discount the type of horses that race there. He’s ultimately been moved up and has picked up wins in two of his last three races which includes the Grade 3 Louisville at CD. That came on the turf, but his other big win in that stretch was on the dirt, where he came from off the pace to win the Grade 2 San Diego Handicap right here last month. This field is much tougher, but he is working well and has earned this opportunity.
11- Hiei (Fractious, ridden by M Franco)- In seventeen starts, Hiei has been in the winner’s circle seven times, picking up some impressive victories along the way. His summer last year was particularly special, becoming the winner of the BEL and then following that up by winning the Haskell. Two starts later, he won again, taking the Grade 1 Awesome Again at SA. All that led to the BC Classic, and even though he did go off at 10/1 there, he had to be seen as a strong threat regardless. He came on late there to be third. This brings us to 2024, where he may have fallen from the spotlight just a bit. In March, he was great in winning the Grade 2 NO Classic, but his other three starts, all of which are in Grade 1’s have him at or near the middle of the field. They’re not bad starts, but for Hiei, they’re kind of “blah”. This is a great spot for him to remind us of how good he can be.
Prediction: 8-11-3-7
— NS
Categories: Grade I, STAKES ARTICLES
