Tom Pedulla offers takeaways from a pair of $1 million marquee events, the Pacific Classic (G1) Aug. 29 at Del Mar and the Jockey Club Gold Cup (G1) on Sunday at Saratoga Race Course, plus other Labor Day weekend races that offered automatic berths to the 2025 Breeders' Cup World Championships at Del Mar. The winners of the Pacific Classic Stakes and Jockey Club Gold Cup Stakes earned fees-paid slots in the $7 million Breeders' Cup Classic (G1) Nov. 1, where Horse of the Year honors are likely to be at stake.
BRILLIANT RIDE: The outstanding abilities of jockey John Velazquez were on display as he guided Fierceness to a 3 1/4-length victory against Journalism in the Pacific Classic. First, Velazquez needed to correct the 4-year-old City of Light colt when he attempted to duck into a temporary rail at the start. Then he made a bold and decisive move before the final turn that allowed him to get the jump on 3-year-old Journalism. "On the backstretch, he was keen to go on. That's why I moved between horses going into the turn," said Velazquez, 53. "I had to move as early as I did because he was so keen." In a sign of Fierceness' maturity, he has not handled early adversity well in some previous starts for Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher. This time, he did.
ANYTHING BUT EASY: Pletcher had to endure an anxious moment when Fierceness failed to run straight in the early going of the Pacific Classic. He never imagined another misadventure in the Jockey Club Gold Cup, but it happened when early trouble led Mindframe to dump jockey Irad Ortiz, Jr. "From the start of the Pacific Classic to this," Pletcher said. "Welcome to the world of a horse trainer." As unfortunate as that turn of events was for Mindframe, Pletcher still came out on top when Centennial Farms' Antiquarian earned his first grade 1 victory. Velazquez jetted back from the West Coast to be aboard Antiquarian for another big win.
LIKE FINE WINE: Seven-year-old gelding Gold Phoenix became the first horse in Del Mar history to win a stakes race for the fourth consecutive time with a valiant neck victory in the Del Mar Handicap (G2T) for trainer Phil D'Amato and jockey Flavien Prat. The race, part of the Breeders' Cup Challenge Series, brought an automatic berth in the Breeders' Cup Turf (G1T). "He's got a big heart and intestinal fortitude and Flavien got every inch out of him," said D'Amato. "He is the epitome of fine wine. He gets better with age. It's just fun. That's what we're in the business for, to have moments like this." D'Amato won the Del Mar Handicap for the ninth time.
FIRM FOOTING: There can be little doubt that the condition of the Saratoga turf course means everything to Bellezza. She caught yielding ground when she finished third in the June 6 New York Stakes (G1T), and again when she took second in the July 27 Glens Falls Stakes (G2T). She capitalized when the Saratoga course finally came up firm for Saturday's Flower Bowl Stakes (G2T), a "Win and You're In" event for the Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Turf (G1T), and prevailed by 2 1/4 lengths with Jaime Rodriguez in the irons. "I've always thought she was better on firm turf," noted trainer Miguel Clement. "Her last two efforts might have been a touch subpar by her standards and that's due to the ground." There is every reason to expect firm turf when the Breeders' Cup is run at Del Mar.
PROMISING JUVENILE: Spendthrift Farm's homebred Tommy Jo secured a place in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies (G1) in style, dominating the Spinaway Stakes (G1) by 6 1/2 lengths for Pletcher and jockey Kendrick Carmouche. The Into Mischief filly was coming off an impressive 3 3/4-length decision in her July 26 debut. Eric Gustavson, Spendthrift's owner and president, could not have been prouder after the latest success. "She ran great and is a homebred, which is extra exciting for us, that she was raised on the farm and every division on the farm had a hand in getting her here," he said. To make it even sweeter, the filly is named after his only granddaughter.
