If it’s the final weekend in August, it’s time to get ready for what is year-in, year-out one of the highlights of the North American racing calendar: Del Mar’s signature event, the Pacific Classic Stakes.

The 1 ¼-mile, Grade 1 stakes has been a highlight of the summer meet at Del Mar since its inaugural running won by Best Pal in 1991. Other notable winners include Free House (1998), Candy Ride (2003), Pleasantly Perfect (2004), Lava Man (2006), Game On Dude (2013), Shared Belief (2014), Beholder (2015), California Chrome (2016), Accelerate (2018), and Flightline (2022).

This year’s Pacific Classic Aug. 30 at Del Mar is part of the Breeders’ Cup “Win and You’re In” Challenge Series. The winner of the $1 million Pacific Classic will earn an expenses-paid spot in the starting gate for the $7 million Longines Breeders’ Cup Classic, which will be run right back at Del Mar on Nov. 1.

This year’s 35^th Pacific Classic features a field headlined by California’s leading 3-year-old, Preakness Stakes winner Journalism, plus a rising star in San Diego Handicap winner Nysos and an intriguing shipper from New York in multiple Grade 1 winner Fierceness.

Read on for information about this year’s Pacific Classic field plus some betting insights:

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1. Fierceness (3-1 morning-line odds)

Jockey: John Velazquez

Trainer: Todd Pletcher

Owners: Repole Stable, Susan Magnier, Michael Tabor, and Derrick Smith

Career record: 12 starts – 6 wins – 2 seconds – 1 third

Career earnings: $4,555,320

Top Equibase Speed Figure: 117

Pedigree: City of Light – Nonna Bella, by Stay Thirsty

Age: 4

Color: Bay

Running style: Press the pace/stalker

Analysis: The 2025 Pacific Classic field got a boost of star power Aug. 24 when co-owner Mike Repole and trainer Todd Pletcher told reporters that their three-time Grade 1 winner would make the cross-country trip to Del Mar. Fierceness will return to the site of one of his best career races, that coming last fall when he dueled for the early lead and kept on well in the stretch despite a fast pace to finish second behind rallying Sierra Leone in the 2024 Longines Breeders’ Cup Classic. Fierceness came back for his first start at age 4 and promptly set a Churchill Downs track record for 1 1/16 miles when winning the Alysheba Stakes Presented by Sentient Jet, but he then underachieved as the post-time favorite in both the Hill ‘n’ Dale Metropolitan Handicap, aka the Met Mile, and most recently in the Whitney Stakes, both at Saratoga. Although he finished second in the Met Mile behind now-retired Raging Torrent, Fierceness still ran creditably at a distance that’s probably shorter then he prefers, but his fading fifth-place finish in the 1 1/8-mile Whitney Aug. 2 at Saratoga was more concerning. He’s since posted a series of strong workouts at Saratoga, and appears set to regain his best form in the Pacific Classic – which he’ll need to do in order to win.

BENOIT photo

2. Midnight Mammoth (12-1)

Jockey: Armando Ayuso

Trainer: Craig Dollase

Owner: Jeffrey Sengara

Career record: 37 starts – 8 wins – 5 seconds – 7 thirds

Career earnings: $417,730

Top Equibase Speed Figure: 111

Pedigree: Midnight Lute – Taker Home, by Vindication

Age: 6

Color: Dark bay or brown

Running style: Press the pace/stalker

Analysis: This veteran gelding has shown enough stamina in his starts over the past couple of years to merit consideration as a trifecta or superfecta filler in the Pacific Classic, although he’s a definite outsider as a win candidate. He was campaigned mainly in races around a mile in distance from 2021-’23 but last summer tried a marathon distance for the first time in the 1 ½-mile Cougar II Stakes at Del Mar and won by 10 ¼ lengths. Since then, Midnight Mammoth has competed at route distances with one exception, and in his prior start to Saturday’s Pacific Classic he finished a good second in the 1 ¼-mile Hollywood Gold Cup Stakes May 26 at Santa Anita Park, only three-quarters of a length behind Skippylongstocking. He’s had more than three months of rest since that start and will return to the site of his Cougar II triumph in what should be his toughest test yet in start number 38. It will take a career-best effort for him to hit the board.

BENOIT photo

3. Ultimate Gamble (20-1)

Jockey: Kazushi Kimura

Trainer: Mark Glatt

Owners: Red Baron’s Barn and Rancho Temescal

Career record: 9 starts – 3 wins – 1 second – 1 third

Career earnings: $155,840

Top Equibase Speed Figure: 112

Pedigree: Medaglia d’Oro – Eltimaas, by Ghostzapper

Age: 5

Color: Dark bay or brown

Running style: Stalker

Analysis: This horse makes his stakes debut after nine starts to date, seven of them at the allowance-optional claiming level following his maiden victory in career start number two. He’s finished worse than fourth only once and flashed some intriguing potential on occasion, winning a one-mile race at Santa Anita Park last summer by 6 ¼ lengths while earning a 112 Equibase Speed Figure. Ultimate Gamble didn’t show much in his first two starts this year at age 5, but in his lead-in race to the Pacific Classic he endured some early bumping and then more significant bumping in the stretch run of a one-mile allowance-optional claiming race July 27 at Del Mar and was moved up to first via disqualification (Lure Him In finished a close third in that race). It’s difficult to envision Ultimate Gamble being much of a factor in a Pacific Classic featuring Journalism, Nysos, and Fierceness and he’ll be hard-pressed to do as well as his sire, Medaglia d’Oro, did back in the 2003 Pacific Classic, when he finished second behind track-record-setting Candy Ride.

Eclipse Sportswire

4. Nysos (8-5)

Jockey: Flavien Prat

Trainer: Bob Baffert

Owner: Baoma Corporation

Career record: 6 starts – 5 wins – 1 second – 0 thirds

Career earnings: $598,500

Top Equibase Speed Figure: 117

Pedigree: Nyquist – Zetta Z, by Bernardini

Age: 4

Color: Bay

Running style: Stalker

Analysis: Journalism and Fierceness have had more national exposure among Pacific Classic contenders, but Nysos is actually the slight morning-line favorite based on his sensational six-race career to date. He’s a neck shy from being undefeated and has dominated in California, going a perfect 5-for-5 including recent wins in the seven-furlong Triple Bend Stakes by 5 ½ lengths May 31 at Santa Anita Park and the 1 1/16-mile San Diego Handicap July 26 at Del Mar by 2 ¾ lengths. His only defeat came in his first start of the year, the May 3 Churchill Downs Stakes Presented by Ford held at seven furlongs on a sloppy track. Nysos closed with a rush in that race and was involved in a four-horse photo to determine win honors, and he ended up second behind Mindframe (subsequent winner of the Stephen Foster Stakes) and in a dead heat with Banishing (winner of last week’s Charles Town Classic Stakes), with Book’em Danno (winner of last week’s Forego Stakes) another head back in fourth. That might be the strongest field to compete in a dirt race so far this year. Nysos had never tried 1 1/16 miles before last month’s San Diego, but he made short work of the field coming out of the far turn and coasted home ahead of pacesetting stablemate Mirahmadi. It’s always a question mark when a horse tries 1 ¼ miles for the first time – if he can handle it Nysos will give Bob Baffert a great opportunity to earn his record-extending eighth win in the Pacific Classic.

BENOIT photo

5. Indispensable (15-1)

Jockey: Paco Lopez

Trainer: John Sadler

Owners: By Talla Racing, West Point Thoroughbreds, and Edwin Barker

Career record: 14 starts – 2 wins – 4 seconds – 5 thirds

Career earnings: $282,820

Top Equibase Speed Figure: 108

Pedigree: Constitution – High Performer, by Candy Ride

Age: 4

Color: Bay

Running style: Stalker

Analysis: This longshot comes into the Pacific Classic off of his best career effort, which came on this track July 19 in a one-mile allowance-optional claiming race. Indispensable stalked the early pace, took a short lead in the homestretch of the two-turn race, and then held off a late challenge to win by a neck while exchanging bumps with the runner-up. That was his second start of 2025, and the colt has overall assembled a solid record of 11 top-three finishes through 14 starts, including two seconds and a third in three stakes races last year at age 3. All that said, he’s facing a huge class test Saturday in the Pacific Classic, especially considering that the main win candidates – Fierceness, Journalism, and Nysos – each employ the same off-the-pace running style as he does. Indispensable could improve off of last month’s speed figure and do no better than fourth in the Pacific Classic. Trainer John Sadler has won this race four times in the last seven years and faces long odds of adding a fifth victory Saturday.

Nikki Sherman/EQUI-PHOTO

6. Journalism (9-5)

Jockey: Umberto Rispoli

Trainer: Michael McCarthy

Owners: Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners, Bridlewood Farm, Don Alberto Stable, Robert LaPenta, Elayne Stables Five, Susan Magnier, Michael Tabor, and Derrick Smith

Career record: 9 starts – 6 wins – 2 seconds – 1 third

Career earnings: $3,798,880

Top Equibase Speed Figure: 110

Pedigree: Curlin – Mopotism, by Uncle Mo

Age: 3

Color: Bay

Running style: Stalker

Analysis: After a very ambitious late spring and summer campaign requiring multiple flights East, this uber-talented Southern California-based 3-year-old is ensconced back in familiar confines for his first race against older horses. Journalism left California for four consecutive races after winning the Santa Anita Derby in April, and he was impressive every time: second behind Sovereignty in the Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve and Belmont Stakes Presented by NYRA Bets, and first in the Preakness Stakes and NYRA Bets Haskell Stakes. The Curlin colt has been training steadily at Del Mar since the Haskell in late July, and he’s 1-for-1 on this dirt track, that win coming last fall in a one-mile maiden race, his second career start. Co-owner Aron Wellman of Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners confirmed that Journalism would start in the Pacific Classic after a strong five-furlong workout at Del Mar on Aug. 23. Journalism has not been able to seal the deal in his two prior starts at a mile and a quarter, but the formidable Sovereignty won’t be in the starting gate Saturday. Based on his stellar career record, there’s no reason to expect anything other than another big effort from Journalism in the Pacific Classic, one that should net him a 1-2 finish.

Sonny Hughes/Coglianese Photos

7. Lure Him In (20-1)

Jockey: Edwin Gonzalez

Trainer: Sam Wilensky

Owners: C2 Racing Stable, Double B Racing Stables, Paul Braverman, Timothy Pinch, and Mach 1 Racing

Career record: 53 starts – 11 wins – 10 seconds – 9 thirds

Career earnings: $682,353

Top Equibase Speed Figure: 112

Pedigree: Khozan – Alluring Lady, Indygo Shiner

Age: 8

Color: Bay

Running style: Stalker

Analysis: This gelding takes the “throwback” trophy over both Midnight Mammoth and Tarantino in the Pacific Classic. While those veterans each have more than 30 career starts, 8-year-old Lure Him In has 53 through six seasons. On occasion, he’s run well enough to earn speed figures that are within range of the Pacific Classic’s historical mark, for example notching a 112 Equibase figure back in January 2024 when winning the 1 1/16-mile Sunshine Classic Stakes at Gulfstream Park. He’s also in good form this year having won three of five starts with one second and one third, all on dirt and with each start coming at a different racetrack. That third-place finish came in his most recent start, a one-mile allowance-optional claiming race featuring only four horses July 27 at Del Mar that was won by Pacific Classic challenger Ultimate Gamble via disqualification. It’s easy to root for horses like Lure Him In and also not out of the realm of possibility that he finishes well enough to fill out the superfecta in the Pacific Classic if one or more of the higher-profile contenders misfires. That would appear to be his ceiling, however.

Eclipse Sportswire

8. Tarantino (20-1)

Jockey: Edwin Maldonado

Trainer: Peter Eurton

Owners: David Bernsen and Rockingham Ranch

Career record: 31 starts – 4 wins – 8 seconds – 6 thirds

Career earnings: $552,420

Top Equibase Speed Figure: 112

Pedigree: Pioneerof the Nile – Without Delay, by Seeking the Gold

Age: 7

Color: Bay

Running style: Stalker

Analysis: Tarantino mirrors Midnight Mammoth as a Pacific Classic contender who’s been very active through a multi-year career and bankrolled a lot of money without ever scoring a marquee stakes victory. In fact, the gelding is still winless at the stakes level, racking up five seconds and four thirds. His latest third came last month in the 1 1/16-mile San Diego Handicap here at Del Mar, where he pressed early leader Mirahmadi but tired in the stretch to finish six lengths behind dominant winner Nysos and 3 ¼ lengths behind Mirahmadi. Nysos is back for a Pacific Classic that also attracted Journalism and Fierceness, so it’s safe to say Tarantino’s win chances are remote. Since he was claimed by his current owners and sent to trainer Peter Eurton last summer, however, he’s only finished worse than fourth once in nine starts, so expect him to be involved for the first mile or so at least Saturday evening before the Pacific Classic’s distance and competition become too much to handle.