Pacific Classic Day Live Blog

Today's Pacific Classic is the 9th race on the Del Mar card and will go to post at approximately 5:00pm Pacific time.  The race will be shown on TVG. The $0.50 Players Pick Five will begin with the first race of the day at 1:00pm Pacific. Additionally, the entire Del Mar card will be streamed live on DRF.com.

Current changes at Del Mar.

8-Bourbon Bay has been scratched from the Pacific Classic. He will run in race 3, the Del Mar Handicap.

At the bottom of this post you'll find a summary of the results, payouts, fractions and internal splits for entire Pacific Classic card.  Click on the winning horse's name to go to the result chart (via Equibase).

6:45 PM: Bombs away! in the 11th and final race on the Del Mar card; 7-Woodman's Lass gets up to win the nightcap at boxcar odds of 54/1, triggering massive payouts and a Pick 6 carryover of $341,252.09.

The Pick 6 pays a consolation of $2,493.80 for 5-of-6.

6:12 PM: Three straight double digit winners has made the Pick 6 a little more interesting coming into the final leg. Here are your will pays for the Pick 6:

1: $11,367.40
2: Carryover
3: Carryover
4: $341,252.40
5: $337,873.60
6: Carryover
7: Carryover
8: $341,252.40
9: $68,250.40
10: $113,372.80
11: $170,626.20
12: $85,100.20

5:40 PM: 5-Acclimation and Patrick Valenzuela take the Pacific Classic field gate-to-wire for a big Grade 1 win.

Twirling Candy ran hard at the end and, even though he came up short, the 10 furlongs doesn't appear to be the problem with this colt. Acclimation set a new track record with the win and Twirling Candy was right there with him.

5:12 PM: The crowd doesn't care about Twirling Candy's 0-for-2 at 10 furlongs as he's the current 5/2 betting choice.

4:52 PM: Another fast, fast race on five-lane highway that is the current Del Mar turf course.  7-Atticus Jack (5/1) takes command at the top of the stretch and sails home to win the 8th race in an eye-popping 1:33.60. 

The Pacific Classic is next where Twirling Candy will try to get over the 10 furlong hump.

4:20 PM: 1-Armenian Star takes the 7th race gate-to-wire and wins easily at odds of 5/2 in a good time of 1:09.68.

3:47 PM: Sunday's Pick 6 gets off to a chalky start as 4-Born Lucky wins race 6 at odds of 2/1.

3:15 PM: 4-The Factor is back at the top of his game as he runs Smiling Tiger into the ground in the early stages to win the Grade 1 Pat O'Brien at Del Mar.

The Factor and Smiling Tiger set quick opening splits in the O'Brien - 22.41 and 21.87 - but Smiling Tiger couldn't keep up with the Baffert trainee once they rounded the far turn.

With this win in the Pat O'Brien, The Factor becomes a major contender for this year's Breeders' Cup Sprint at Churchill Downs.

The $0.50 Players Pick 5 came back at $1,194.00.

2:50 PM: 2-Half Dome Dude rolls past the leaders in deep stretch to win the fourth race on the card at Del Mar at solid odds of 5/1. Good splits all throughout the race and a solid final 1/8th in 12.66. 

The Grade 1 Pat O'Brien is next featuring the return of The Factor.  The excellent synthetic sprinter Smiling Tiger (10-6-1-3) will look to do better than his 3rd place finish in this race last year. 

If the top two get into too much of a tussle in the early stages the race could set up perfectly for late-running Crown of Thorns.

2:20 PM: 4-Celtic New Year holds on in the Del Mar Handicap to upset Bourbon Bay at odds of 9/2.  The race was oddly run, something that I suppose is not that surprising for a 1 3/8 mile race on the grass with very little speed in the field.  The opening fractions were lightly set by Make Music For Me until the field was about a half mile from home.  At that point, Soul Candy made a last-to-first move, injecting some much needed speed.  Celtic New Year got an inside run off the turn, as well as first jump on Bourbon Bay, and was able to deny the favorite the victory in a gutsy effort.

1:50 PM: And we've got a bridge-jumper in the 3rd at Del Mar.  Someone bet over $100k on Bourbon Bay to show.

1:45 PM: 5-Adriatic Moon noses 6-Rosemount Lad at the wire to take the 2nd at Del Mar.  I thought for a brief moment I might get the 6 home at nice odds of 12/1, but he couldn't hold on in the final strides.

1:22 PM: A tough way to start the day if you had Cayambe in the 1st at Del Mar as the stewards DQ'd that horse and placed 3-Winsome Charm as the winner.

The turf course at Del Mar appears to be lighting fast this afternoon; the 1st race was a field of $32k N1Yers and they hit the line in a sizzling 1:33.71.  The track record for a mile on the turf at Del Mar is 1:32 and 1 (set Three Valleys in 2005).

1:05 PM: Our first race of the day at Del Mar and out first inquiry.  Cayambe crossed the line first, but will he stay up?

10:50 AM PACIFIC: Del Mar has some changes to report, most notably 7-Great Warrior (BRZ) scratching out of the Pacific Classic. Combined with the earlier scratch of Bourbon Bay we are left with a field of nine.

Fractions and Splits

Payouts