00:00We're going to talk about the Pacific Classic in this first segment, the Grade 1 Pacific Classic.
00:04It's going to go as race number 10 on Saturday.
00:07It was run in 1991, first one ever won by Best Pal.
00:10How about Cigar? He was trying to win a 17th in a row, and it got snapped by Darren Goh back in 1996.
00:17I think Julie Crone was the first female to win a million-dollar race when she won one of these in the early 2000s.
00:23And, Scotty, we've seen horses like California Crone, Flightline, Pleasantly Perfect, Lava Man, Shared Belief, Beholder.
00:30Candy Ride, Freehouse, some awesome horses win this race.
00:33We have. We also saw Arrogate lose this race after losing to San Diego.
00:38That's one of the more memorable ones when I was there.
00:41Beholder, of course, one of the more memorable ones as well.
00:44But this one, shaping up to be absolutely fantastic.
00:48We've got an East Coast Invader.
00:49We've got a three-year-old taking on older for the first time.
00:52And they aren't just your average invaders or horses moving up to take on older.
00:57They're some of the top in their division.
00:58It feels like a real big three in this race.
01:01And one of those big three is fierceness.
01:03He was second in the Breeders' Cup Classic last year, Scott.
01:06He was actually favored in the Whitney.
01:08And he's looming up in the Whitney.
01:10At the top of the lane, he opens up by two lengths.
01:13He looks like he's going to go on and run really well.
01:15And then he just flattens out.
01:17Pretty disappointing effort from him as the favorite in that race and as one of the top older horses.
01:22But they decide to ship out here to Del Mar instead of facing that same group of runners.
01:28And he gets the inside draw in a race where he's probably the classiest of the speed.
01:33I'd like to see them maybe put the pedal to the metal with him in here.
01:37What do you think about fierceness in this spot?
01:38I think they're going to put the pedal to the metal.
01:41This is a horse that needs things his way to at least some extent to be at his best.
01:45Was disappointing last time.
01:46I've never really bought into this one's chances in the biggest of races unless he was on the outside or had things his way.
01:53He was on the outside last time.
01:55Hit a wall.
01:56But you could maybe make a case, Gino, that it was a fast pace.
01:59He moved earlier.
02:00The race did fall apart to an extent.
02:02But still, you would like to see him run better.
02:04I think his best chance is to go to the front.
02:06They do have that long run into the first term to sort things out that will help this horse.
02:11But when he gets caught on the inside, you do not love it.
02:14Yeah, his best career race actually came in a race that he didn't win.
02:17It was when he was second in the Breeders' Cup Classic going a mile and a quarter at Del Mar.
02:22And it was in a really fast pace that he was right a part of.
02:26I wonder if they just try to replicate those circumstances and just go really fast.
02:30And you're going a mile and a quarter at Del Mar.
02:33We move to Midnight Mammoth.
02:34I've been really impressed with his last couple races, Scott.
02:37But he's still going to have to level up once more to compete with the top three in here.
02:42I could see him in the fourth spot or competing with some of the others.
02:45But this doesn't seem like he's quite on the level as these top three yet.
02:49No, I would think it would be a surprise if any of the top three that we'll get to don't win the race.
02:54But I think this is a horse that is one of the ones that makes sense to kind of hit the board.
02:58Agreed.
02:59And take advantage of a less than a effort from one of the top three.
03:04Distance, not an issue.
03:05I don't think a mile and a quarter are going to be a problem.
03:07He proved that in the Gold Cup.
03:08And I like that Craig DeLossi gave him time off after that monster effort last time.
03:13So I'm not as worried about regression.
03:16I think he makes a lot of sense here in the underneath spots.
03:18Yeah, he's really honest.
03:20And as you pointed out, distance won't be an issue for him.
03:22Ultimate Gamble will try Stakes Company for the first time.
03:25He got put up via DQ most recently.
03:28It was in a small field.
03:30He just seems like he's going to have to get faster based on the speed figure, Scott.
03:34Without question.
03:34His last couple of races against four horse fields.
03:37This is a whole new level of competition.
03:40His one recent win other than the DQ was in wire-to-wire fashion.
03:44I don't think he's fast enough to make the lead.
03:46They're trying because he's probably a 1.7.
03:48Well, he is a $1.75 million purchase.
03:51I think that's why they're probably trying a spot like this, which is very ambitious.
03:55Nysos is 5 for 6.
03:57He's only lost one time.
03:58And in that race that he lost, he finished second.
04:00And it was a dead heat second.
04:02It was his first start in like 15 months.
04:04So he's never really done anything wrong in his career.
04:07Scott, we're watching him win the San Diego.
04:10This was actually the farthest race he's ever run.
04:12So this was a mile and a 16th.
04:14Things opened up really nicely for him.
04:15He was sitting just behind the lead.
04:17He got a good opening and he pushed through.
04:20This will definitely be a tougher group than he faced there.
04:23But he did face Mindframe and Banishing and Bookum Dano and some good horses earlier in the year sprinting.
04:30I wonder if he's a true mile and a quarter horse.
04:33I mean, when you have a race like this and you have three that feel like they're top contenders,
04:39you can kind of poke holes and you're going to have to figure out which one you want to stack in which way.
04:43I could have gone in any way, honestly, with Nysos and journalism and fierceness.
04:47But I ended up putting Nysos third of the three of them.
04:50It's not that I don't like him or respect him, but I do wonder at a mile and a quarter if he is at his best going longer when we haven't seen it yet.
04:58We have to see it.
04:59That's a great point for a horse that's going to be a short price in here.
05:03And I thank you, Bob Baffer, you know, he's on the pulse of things.
05:06I'm sure he's still at this point of his career.
05:09But he's a little bit surprised, though, that journalism and fierceness showed up in this spot where he probably wanted to try to find out about the mile and a quarter over this surface,
05:18particularly because it's where the Grieger's Cup Classic will be.
05:22The horse can't get the distance.
05:24He'll run him back at the two-turn dirt mile.
05:26But, I mean, he is so good.
05:28He's done nothing wrong.
05:29His loss is one of his best races.
05:30That was the best field of the year probably in any race.
05:34So, yeah, Nysos is hard to knock, but I'm with you on the distance question marks, which is kind of all that you need to poke holes in someone in this field.
05:44Indispensable.
05:44He's moving in the right direction.
05:46I liked his win last time out.
05:47He's a four-year-old who's only made two starts at four.
05:50So, he just feels like he's peaking right now.
05:53Paco Lopez is actually going to be riding him.
05:55I think he has five or six mounts on the Saturday card.
05:58He'll be around on Saturday at Del Mar.
05:59It just feels like Indispensable will still have to continue to step forward, though, to really compete with any of those.
06:06He's kind of in that range that you were talking about with Midnight Mammoth for me, where I could see him maybe being a horse that, if one of these three didn't fire, he could be a horse that runs third or hits the board.
06:16I'm just not sure if he's quite good enough to beat all three of those horses.
06:20Yeah, similar opinion here.
06:21Third off the layoff.
06:22Don't hate him.
06:23He's run well in all five starts over the surface.
06:25Should be primed for his best.
06:26But this is a big step up, and he has to also prove that 10 for a lump.
06:30But Paco, talk about him in one of the other previews.
06:33He's on fire of late.
06:35Journalism.
06:36No knocks on this multiple grade one winner.
06:38He won the Preakness.
06:40He won the Haskell.
06:41Now, I will point out, his two most recent wins, he has had to really work in both of those, and they were both over the same horse, over Gosker and the Preakness and in the Haskell.
06:53But once he kind of gets rounded up and going, he builds up some momentum.
06:58He gets these big strides late.
07:00He's such a cool horse, Scott.
07:02They had to make the decision.
07:03Did they want to take on sovereignty again, or do they want to face older horses?
07:06They stay at Del Mar because if he runs well here, he won't have to ship anywhere.
07:10He can sit right here.
07:11He can run in the Breeders' Cup at Del Mar.
07:13If they go fast early on, he feels like he's the one that can take advantage.
07:18And when you compare him to Nysos and Fierceness, journalism has been a mile and a quarter twice this year, and he's been a mile in 316s.
07:26He might have a lot more fitness and foundation than his other two main rivals.
07:30Yeah, I could talk about this horse all day long.
07:33I love him.
07:34He's so cool.
07:34He's danced all the dances for the most part, and now instead of the Travers, he'll take on this tough field.
07:40But I trust him in the most at a mile and a quarter.
07:42I know he's going to come running.
07:44We'll see.
07:44He's going to have to run down tough horses here, tougher than he ever has.
07:48Sovereignty's been ahead of him and run away a couple months, and then he's been behind him and run him down twice, right?
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