Pacific Classic
 

The nine that are expected to run in the 16th edition of Del Mar’s annual signature event are Lava Man, Giacomo, Perfect Drift, Magnum, Preachinatthebar, Super Frolic, Good Reward, Papi Chullo and Top This and That.

People keep waiting for Lava Man to take a step backwards, and while he may do that sometime this year, I don't think it will be in this race and I don't think it will happen in California. I think this race will be pretty chalky with Lava Man over Perfect Drift and/or Giacomo.

All I can say is they are lucky Surf Cat is on the sidelines....

Thats a pretty nice field. Better than I expected based on what Delmar has put out thus far.

HOY is Lava Mans for the. Just 2 more wins and we get a "people's horse" to capture this award. Hard not to root for a guy like this, and the Tin Man.

Oh I agree. Very hard to knock the horse. Also very hard not to want the horse to win. But the horse hasnt done anything wrong all year and two more wins earns him HOY.

Well now that Flower Alley has lost any chance he ever had at HOY, there is only Bernardini to worry about for those honors.

I told Kev that if English Channel had won the Arl Million and went on to win the BC Turf, he may have a realistic shot at it.

English Channel ran a good race Saturday. But when you let a horse that is as experienced as The Tin Man go to an easy lead then you arent going to catch him. With all that said, English Channel is prob the 4th best turf horse in the country right now.

whos the top 3 EB?

My top turf horses in the US right now are

1) Gorella
2) Showing Up
3) Cacique
4) English Channel

Now you could always Flip Flop 3 and 4. But when you make all things equal, I think that Gorella is the best turf horse right now. Kind of like the best pound per pund turf horse so to speak.

The Tin Man just spanked Cacique and Eng Channel and he doesnt get in this list?

WOW....OK....I love Gorella...I really do...but she had the PERFECT set up on Saturday. Put her in the Arlington Million and let her lolly gag in the back of the field and let her try closing into those fractions....No way....she doesnt finish top 5 in that race.

Showing UP...I have no idea....until he faces olders...still up in the air.

Cacique over EC?? Cacique has finished in front of EC 2 times:

1st time: Manhattan...MY God EB...have you seen the fractions they ran in that race???? 1/2 in :51......3/4 1:16.60.....1 mile in 1:40...EC was also carry 2 more lbs that day and was beaten a 1/2 length. 2lbs equates to more than 1/2 length over the distance of a 1 1/4 race.

2nd time: Arlington Million...not quite as slow as the Manhattan, but EC was 3 wide the entire race vs 2 wide for Cacique. You are intelligent enough to know that 2 wide vs. 3 wide for a race of that distance is a HUGE difference.

EC has 3 wins from 5 starts this year...with 2 grade 1's
Cacique has 1 win from 5 starts this year...with 1 grade 1.

Not yet. I mean that was a perfect race for The Tin Man. I think when you rank horses to have to take past performances, recent races, how races were raced etc etc. The Tin Man got to dictate the exact race he wanted. Put another horse on the lead with him and I dont think he wins last Saturday. But another performance by him like last Saturday would put him on top of the list. I cant ignore what he has done, but one race doesnt make it for me.

Tim...I hardly call that a spanking. You could have put a decent $50-$75K claimer in front of them with those fractions and they wouldn't have caught him either. IMO...that race was nothing buts other jockeys letting Tin Man get away with slow fractions....plain and simple.

Like I said, making everything equal, Gorella is the best turf horse right now. You just can pick one race out and give that as an example. That isnt fair. You have to look at the entire resume. I also dont use weight as an excuse as to why a horse doesnt win unless the weight is absurd (5 lbs or more). And i also said you could flip flop numbers 3 and 4. But I truly believe that Cacique has more upswing that English Channel.

Exactly GPK. A perfect race for The Tin Man.

The same Gorella that finished 5th behind EC in the Woodford Reserve?

yeah....you can toss that race completely. The horses that ran 1-2-3 the whole way finished 1-2-4.

NOTHING AT ALL against the winner. I love seeing that old fella out there winning races...its great for the sport..

Yes. Again, you have to make everything equal here GPK. Just like when people said the Roy Jones Jr is the best lb per lb fighter, Gorella is the best lb for lb turf horse right now.

don't get me wrong EB....I simply love Gorella...she's essentially the female version of English Channel....real small but has a huge heart and loves to run. I'm a huge fan of hers...

what are you basing that on...I know its your opinion strictly...but what are you basing that opinion on?

again....Gorella took the place of Megahertz and Intercontinental when they both retired as my favorite female....but I have a hard time placing her the best turf horse in the country. Shes easily top 5....but I can't annoint her the best yet.