Fierceness won the 2025 Pacific Classic in Style, Benoit Photo
Del Mar Press
A field of 11 runners – led by six out-of-towners, one of them from Japan, as well as a filly – were entered to run Sunday in next Saturday’s 36th edition of the $1-million Pacific Classic, the Grade I highlight of a four-stakes afternoon at the seaside oval.
Del Mar’s morning line maker, John Lies, has hung Godolphin’s Knightsbridge the 5/2 favorite in the mile and a quarter Classic, which is a “Win and You’re In” race for the Breeders’ Cup Classic that will be run on October 31 at Keeneland in Kentucky.
Knightsbridge, a 5-year-old horse owned and bred by the Godolphin empire and racing out of the barn of trainer Billy Mott, has been shipped in from Saratoga following his galloping win in the Monmouth Cup at the Jersey shore track on July 18 in extremely rapid time.
Second-favorite in the race is C2 Racing Stable or Mathis Stables’ Forged Steel, another eastern shipper but one with some west coast history under his belt. The 4-year-old Vekoma colt came to Santa Anita in May and took down the Grade II Gold Cup by nearly 10 lengths at the same mile and a quarter distance he’ll be tasked with Saturday. He’s listed at 5-1.
Next on the Classic line is yet another invader – Wathnan Racing’s Hit Show, a 6-year-old Candy Ride horse who has won more than $9 million in purses and a dozen races during a stellar career. He’s in from New York also for trainer Brad Cox and has been made third choice in the lineup at 6-1.
Here’s the full Pacific Classic lineup in post position order with riders and morning line odds:
| 2026 Grade I Pacific Classic Post Positions | ||
|---|---|---|
| Post Position | Horse/Jockey | Morning Line Odds |
| 1 | Om N Joy Kent J. Desormeaux | 20-1 |
| 2 | Forged Steel Edwin Gonzalez | 5-1 |
| 3 | Finger (JPN) Keita Tosaki | 8-1 |
| 4 | Subsanador (ARG) Mike E. Smith | 12-1 |
| 5 | Malarchuk Umberto Rispoli | 10-1 |
| 6 | Original Sin Juan J. Hernandez | 15-1 |
| 7 | Hit Show Florent Geroux | 6-1 |
| 8 | British Isles Diego A. Herrera | 12-1 |
| 9 | Navajo Warrior Micah J. Husbands | 8-1 |
| 10 | Full Serrano (ARG) Joel Rosario | 8-1 |
| 11 | Knightsbridge Junior Alvarado | 5-2 |
The Pacific Classic will be the 10th of 11 races on the Saturday card. First post time is the usual 2 p.m.
