Pacific Classic

The field for this year's GI Pacific Classic is coming into focus as 'TDN Rising Star, presented by Hagyard' Knightsbridge (Nyquist) is making the trip out west to run in Del Mar's marquee race August 22. Entered off a dominant 10 1/4-length win in the GIII Monmouth Cup, trainer Bill Mott will ship Knightsbridge to Del Mar Saturday for his stretch out to the 1 1/4-mile Pacific Classic. "We knew he was pretty good," Mott notes. "Obviously, he's progressed as time has gone on. He's done a little more each...

FOX Sports will become the exclusive home of live racing coverage from Del Mar in 2027 under a new multi-year agreement between the New York Racing Association and the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club. The new deal was announced by FOX Sports in a press release Wednesday. FOX Sports, which already provides coverage of racing from Saratoga Race Course and Belmont Park, offers more than 1,000 hours of live racing programming annually. "There's no more beautiful venue in racing than the place where the turf meets the surf. By adding Del...

Coming off a sensational performance in the GIII Monmouth Cup in which he earned a 122 Beyer figure, Knightsbridge (Nyquist), will head west to contest the Aug. 22 GI Pacific Classic at Del Mar for his next start. The 1 1/4-mile race will be another test for a horse who, before the nine-furlong Monmouth Cup, had never gone beyond a mile. "We'd love to try to win a Grade I with him," trainer Bill Mott said. "He's done a lot and proven that he's a talented horse. Naturally, with his...

Edited Press Release  Joe Harper, Chief Executive Officer of the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club (DMTC), will transition from his day-to-day role and will assume the title of CEO Emeritus at the end of this year, Del Mar officials announced today. Harper, 83, who originally joined Del Mar in 1977, also will remain as a director on the DMTC board. "Joe Harper's name and presence have been synonymous with Del Mar for nearly 50 years and his stewardship of this association and this facility has been invaluable to Thoroughbred racing in...

SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY -- Last week, Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert said he was going to run the imposing 'TDN Rising Star' presented by Hagyard Nysos (Nyquist) in the $1-million GI Whitney Stakes at Saratoga Race Course on Aug. 8 unless he changed his mind. He changed his mind. Speaking by phone from Kentucky, Baffert said the 5-year-old would instead be pointed to the 1 1/4-mile $1-million GI Pacific Classic at Del Mar  on Aug. 22. "He's actually on a plane today to Del Mar," Baffert said. "I want...

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y.--Right now, Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert is planning on running his sparkling 5-year-old 'TDN Rising Stars, presented by Hagyard' Nysos (Nyquist) in the $1 million GI Whitney Stakes at Saratoga Race Course Aug. 8. Unless he changes his mind. For now, though, he has penciled in the imposing Nysos to the Whitney, which is shaping up as maybe the race of the year. "It all depends on how he is training up to it," Baffert said by phone from Louisville, Ky. "Right now, I am pointing...

M's Racing's Finger (Jpn) (Gun Runner) will forego an opportunity to sweep the Japan Dirt Triple Crown in favor of a start in the GI Pacific Classic at Del Mar on Aug. 22, according to multiple Japanese horse racing sources. Having broken his maiden by some 9 1/2 lengths in his 3-year-old debut at Nakayama Jan. 4, the bay colt has since exclusively raced in listed stakes company on the National Association of Racing (NAR) circuit in Japan. The 1 1/2-length winner of the Listed Bluebird Cup at Funabashi Racecourse...

GI Santa Anita Derby and GI Preakness Stakes winner Journalism (Curlin) continued to prep for his upcoming start in the GI Breeders' Cup Classic Nov. 1, working a half-mile bullet in company in :47.0 (1/41) Friday at Santa Anita. Journalism shared the bullet for the distance with his workmate, Touch of Destiny (Midshipman), an group-winning import from Uruguay who has not started in the U.S. Of Journalism, trainer Mike McCarthy said "I thought he worked well. It was just an easy half-mile, a leg stretcher." Journalism most recently was second...

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - Early Sunday afternoon, Mike Repole wasn't sure if he had slept or not Saturday night. "I might have taken a nap from 2 (a.m.) to 4," Repole said in the Saratoga box seat area. "I am running high on adrenaline right now." Sixteen hours earlier, Repole, with 40 friends and family--including Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher--gathered at his Saratoga house and watched Fierceness (City of Light) overcome a world of trouble and still draw off to a 3 1/4-length win over GI Preakness Stakes winner...

Bi-coastal, 1 1/4-mile Grade I stakes over the weekend at Del Mar and Saratoga featured a number of contenders projected to target the GI Breeders' Cup Classic. The obvious winner was continent-crossing jockey John Velazquez, who parlayed a win in Saturday's GI Pacific Classic into a score 16 hours later in Sunday's GI Jockey Club Gold Cup. Here's a look how the horses who were in action emerged from those efforts and where they stand heading into the championship race. Fierceness: For a colt who has a reputation for sometimes...

The Repole Stable connections have heard it for nearly as long as their star has been racing, that 'TDN Rising Star' Fierceness (City of Light) can be blazing hot when he gets his own way and ice cold when he doesn't. Their Eclipse-winning 2-year-old has spent much of his career in a win-loss pattern that left owner Mike Repole and trainer Todd Pletcher scratching their heads. But perhaps Saturday, Fierceness finally laid those demons to rest in exactly the spot he'll need to have them buried come November as he...

'TDN Rising Star' Nysos (Nyquist) has been scratched from Saturday's GI Pacific Classic. "He looked good this morning and, all of a sudden we noticed his hind foot was a little sensitive," said trainer Bob Baffert. "He must have had something brewing in there. It's the way this business is. He will be alright." Baffert said Nysos will be rerouted to the GI Goodwood Stakes (formerly the Awesome Again) at Santa Anita Sept. 27, another 'Win and You're In' race for the GI Breeders Cup Classic. The 4-year-old Baoma Corp-owned...