There’s one school of thought that Del Mar racetrack in California shouldn’t even be considered as a venue for the Breeders’ Cup - the home straight is far too short, the theory goes. But then there’s another that doesn’t like Churchill Downs because the home straight there is considered too long.
It’s just all part of the challenge. The Breeders’ Cup is a travelling circus, offering variety, and that undoubtedly is a good thing
That said, Del Mar, where the Breeders’ Cup will be run three weeks on Friday and Saturday (November 5-6) is a merry-go-round track that suits a particular kind of course specialist.
The emphasis is invariably on speed, rather than stamina, and the latest meet this summer showed that once again.
Express Train was on the engine straight away when winning the G2 San Diego Handicap, Tripoli raced in the first three throughout to win the G1 Pacific Classic, as did runner-up Tizamagician, who had run a similar race to win a G3 on his previous outing. These races were typical for the main-track action at Del Mar.
Future books for the Longines Classic are headed by the impressive G1 Whitney Stakes winner Knicks Go, who trainer Brad Cox chose to run at Saratoga rather than sending him west for the G1 Pacific Classic, which is over the same trip at the BC Classic.
As things turned out, the Pacific was arguably a much softer race than the Whitney. Tripoli gave trainer John Sadler and owners Hronis Racing their third win in the event but the 4-year-old son of Kitten’s Joy is hardly in the same league as their 2018 champion, Accelerate.
The older top handicap horses trained in California were firmly put in their place when they met 3-year-olds Medina Spirit and Stilleto Boy in the G1 Awesome Again Stakes at Santa Anita. Tripoli will enjoy home court advantage at the Breeders’ Cup, but neither he nor Express Train, Idol or Tizamagician can be called top-class. And are any of them fast enough to go with Knicks Go early on?
Medina Spirit is a more likely threat in that respect. Can he put pressure on the favorite? We will have to wait to find out, but one thing we do know is that his trainer, Bob Baffert, is not afraid to send his contender to the lead.
The Breeders’ Cup has stopped by at Del Mar just the once before, in 2017, when Gun Runner made every post a winning one to beat Collected and West Coast in the Classic (see video below). The first two home were 1-2 all the way, while West Coast was fourth from the outset and went into a clear third after three quarters of a mile. With half a mile to go the trifecta had been solved.
Run over the same trip at the BC Classic, the Pacific was won gate-to-wire by Maximum Security last year. Note that the second, Sharp Samurai, is essentially a turf miler. He was put into contention early and raced second all the way to get a nice payday.
In 2019, the Pacific Classic was won by Higher Power, who slotted into second from the outset before taking command after a mile, going on to an easy win. Twelve months earlier, his barnmate, Accelerate, ran an almost identical race to win the Pacific by 12½ lengths. He followed up in the G1 Awesome Again at Santa Anita and BC Classic at Churchill Downs, winning well on both occasions but far from as easily as he had done at Del Mar.
The 2017 Pacific went to Collected, in 2016 the race fell to California Chrome (see video below), in 2015 to the mare Beholder, in 2014 to Shared Belief and in 2013 to Game On Dude. Beholder was ridden the same way as Accelerate and Higher Power, Shared Belief was held up in fifth early on, while Game On Dude and California Chrome both went straight to the lead and were never headed.
There’s definitely more emphasis on speed than stamina at the Del Mar dirt track and, before you dismiss its importance and say that ‘surely with a top-class performer you can overcome this bias’, let me remind you of one horse who failed repeatedly in his attempts at doing just that: Arrogate.
Spectacular at Saratoga, Santa Anita, Gulfstream Park and Meydan, he failed each time he went for Graded stakes glory at Del Mar (fourth to Accelerate in the G2 San Diego, second to Collected in the Pacific Classic and fifth to Gun Runner in the BC Classic). Arrogate clearly wasn’t in top shape for those races, but, with all due respect to Collected, even a half-fit Arrogate would have brushed him aside over a more testing course.
Arrogate was not the first champion to succumb at Del Mar. This is also the venue where Cigar’s 16-race win streak came to an end - when Dare And Go beat him in the Pacific Classic in 1996.
Cigar’s streak had been built via wins at Aqueduct, Gulfstream Park, Oaklawn Park, Pimlico, Suffolk Downs, Hollywood Park, Belmont Park, Nad Al Sheba and Arlington International. He took his racetrack with him. He could run anywhere. But, when he got to Del Mar, he was beaten - and by a horse that went off at 39/1.
What makes this track so unique?
The main quirk in Del Mar’s configuration is the 919-foot dash from the home turn to the winning post. That’s 1.4 furlongs, or 281 metres. It goes without saying that you do not want to be too far back when the leader turns for home.
Winning from off the pace can be done, though you need to have much the best horse, and get a strong pace, to succeed that way.
Mike Smith recently told Racing TV he felt it was worth it to forfeit some ground by going wide in order to get a clear run at the leaders when turning for home at Del Mar.
There’s a lot of focus on feet travelled and how some horses save or lose ground, but in many cases it can be better to have the horse on the four path around the home turn and be in a good rhythm than to have it hugging the rail and be in a somewhat restricted, uncomfortable rhythm.
It’s all very well to sit covered up on the inside expecting a gap to materialise as the leaders swing into the straight at courses like Keeneland and Churchill Downs, which offer long straights to work with once that gap has been exploited. It is far riskier at Del Mar.
Compare the distances from the turn to the winning post at some venues where contenders have had their preps for the Breeders’ Cup:
- Del Mar: 919 feet
- Santa Anita: 990
- Belmont Park: 1,097
- Saratoga: 1,144
- Keeneland: 1,174
- Churchill Downs: 1,234