Pacific Classic to Test Stamina of Key Contenders

The Breeders' Cup Challenge Series: Win and You're In runs through Del Mar and York Racecourse this week, with six races offering paid, automatic berths into the Breeders' Cup Oct. 30-31 at Keeneland. In stakes action already decided midweek, Item (GB), Haffner, and Kalpana (GB) captured Breeders' Cup qualifiers at York, winning the International Stakes (G1), Acomb Stakes (G3), and Yorkshire Oaks (G1), respectively. One more Breeders' Cup Challenge race follows there Aug. 21: the Nunthorpe Stakes (G1), a unique 5-furlong grass dash for horses ages 2 and older that also awards a berth into the Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint (G1T). Juveniles competing in the Nunthorpe understandably receive a significant weight break. Once the weekend arrives, Breeders' Cup Challenge Series action shifts stateside to Del Mar, which stages the $1 million Pacific Classic Stakes (G1) and the $200,000 Green Flash Handicap (G2T) Aug. 22 at the seaside venue. The Pacific Classic propels its winner into the $7 million Breeders' Cup Classic (G1) Oct. 31, while the Green Flash victor earns a berth in the $1 million Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint, also Oct. 31 at the Lexington track. Since the Pacific Classic's inauguration in 1991, two horses have completed the Pacific Classic-Breeders' Cup Classic double in the same year: Accelerate in 2018 and Flightline in 2022. The latter, now off to a promising stud career, was at his most brilliant in the two races, taking the Pacific Classic by 19 1/4 lengths and the Breeders' Cup Classic by an 8 1/4-length margin during a slam-dunk Horse of the Year campaign. There is no such standout in Saturday's field, but the 1 1/4-mile dirt contest drew 11 horses. The connections of many appear eager to try the Pacific Classic following the recent retirements of Nysos and Journalism, two of California's top horses. With John Sadler training, Hronis Racing has won four Pacific Classics since 2018, either alone or in partnership—including with the aforementioned Accelerate and Flightline. Those same connections will be represented by Full Serrano (ARG) Saturday. Two years ago, he finished second in the Pacific Classic to Mixto, and later in the fall captured the Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile (G1). Full Serrano won at 1 1/4 miles on turf in his native Argentina before beginning his United States campaign, but Saturday's distance seemingly falls a furlong or two beyond his ideal range. Distance is also a question mark for Godolphin's Knightsbridge, the 5-2 morning-line favorite. He passed his first two-turn route test with a 10 1/4-length romp in the Monmouth Cup Stakes (G3) last month in New Jersey, but that victory came at 1 1/8 miles at Monmouth Park, a track typically kind to front-running horses. Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott kept him racing at a mile or shorter in his 10 starts before that. Saturday's race should go a long way toward determining whether the Classic or the shorter Dirt Mile is the better fit for him this fall. Established at the distance is Wathnan Racing's late-running Hit Show, who rallied to win the 2025 Dubai World Cup at 1 1/4 miles, beating Mixto and Japanese star Forever Young (JPN). He has three lesser stakes wins in nine follow-up starts. Most recently, he finished a distant second in the Suburban Stakes (G2) at Saratoga Race Course behind runaway winner Phileas Fogg. The presence of several speed horses Saturday, including Knightsbridge and Full Serrano, should ensure lively fractions. Hit Show is at his best when a demanding pace sets him up and leaves the early leaders fatigued. International intrigue Japanese shipper Finger (JPN) is another front-runner. The 3-year-old has never finished worse than second in eight starts and arrives after victories in the April 29 Haneda Hai and June 10 Tokyo Derby at Oi Racecourse, the first two legs of Japan's Dirt Triple Crown. Those wins came at 1 1/8 miles and 1 1/4 miles, respectively, with both accomplished from the front. He is the first foal of Estilo Talentoso, a Maclean's Music mare who won the 2021 Bed o' Roses Stakes (G3) in New York and placed in a pair of grade 1s. Finger's pedigree provides an additional American connection through his sire Gun Runner, whose victory at Del Mar in the 2017 Breeders' Cup Classic punctuated a Horse of the Year campaign. Where he fits against older American competition is anyone's guess, but given the success of Japanese runners in international races in recent years, he warrants respect against a field that also includes U.S. shippers Forged Steel and Navajo Warrior, plus the California filly Om N Joy. Ward Runs Turf Sprinters in Green Flash, Nunthorpe Trainer Wesley Ward, based at Keeneland in Central Kentucky, sent horses both east and west for turf-sprinting opportunities this week. Saturday at Del Mar, he runs No Nay Hudson (IRE) in the Green Flash for the third straight year. The Andrew Farm, For the People Racing Stable, and Debra O'Connor-owned runner finished a close fourth in the 2025 Green Flash and third the year before. No Nay Hudson ran seventh in the Shakertown Stakes (G2T) in April at Keeneland in his lone start of 2026. He'll need to outrun a familiar Green Flash rival in the Phil D'Amato-trained Motorious (GB), who pursues a fourth straight victory in the race, having won outright in 2023 and 2024 and then via disqualification in last year's edition. Motorious returns off a runner-up finish behind fellow Green Flash starter Sumter in a July 19 allowance optional claimer at Del Mar, his first start of the year. That comeback should leave him in peak condition for Saturday. On Friday, Ward runs Bacio at York in the Nunthorpe for owners MyRacehorse, Torie Gladwell, Deja Blu Stable, Jacob Shockley, Knollwood Stables, Valerie Dailey, and Joshua Hanna. The 3-year-old is 2-for-2 this year and 4-for-5 overall. After opening his 2026 campaign with a victory at Churchill Downs in an allowance optional claimer, Bacio defeated 26 rivals in the non-black-type Palace Of Holyroodhouse Handicap during the Royal Ascot meeting. He survived a stewards' inquiry to prevail. California-based jockey Juan Hernandez has a return ride in the Nunthorpe. Ward is in search of his first win in the race after a pair of seconds in the prestigious York event, first with speedy juvenile Acapulco in 2015 and then with Lady Aurelia during her 3-year-old season in 2017. Bacio is the anticipated co-favorite with Rayevka (IRE) at odds of approximately 4-1.