Caracortado will not run in the Pacific Classic but is expected to be
seen in another graded stakes next weekend, trainer Mike Machowsky said
Sunday morning.
But the loss of an expected entrant in the $1 million signature
event of the meeting was counterbalanced by the somewhat unexpected,
before the eligibility list came out on Friday, nomination of Quindici
Man. Trainer Craig Lewis entered Quindici Man in Wednesday’s Harry F.
Brubaker Stakes under the proviso that he be allowed to scratch from it
for the Pacific Classic based on what the horse showed in a workout over
the track.
Quindici Man went five furlongs in 1:01 1/5 under exercise rider
Manny Rotela. “He really galloped out very well,” Lewis said, “I had
him out in 1:13. He looked good. We’re in.”
Quindici Man was a close-up third behind Pacific Classic probables
Game On Dude and Setsuko in the Santa Anita Handicap in March and has
been described as a “true mile-and-quarter horse” by Lewis. The
question answered by Sunday’s work was how he might handle Del Mar’s
Polytrack.
Martin Garcia has the mount for the Classic.
Trainer Mike Machowsky had endorsed Pacific Classic possibilities for
Caracortado from the morning after the 4-year-old Cat Dreams gelding
finished third as the favorite in the Grade I Eddie Read Stakes on July
23. But Machowsky has decided to pursue other options and will enter
Caracortado in the $200,000, Grade II Del Mar Mile over the Jimmy
Durante Turf Course on Saturday, August 27, and the Grade I, 7-furlong
Pat O’Brien Stakes on the Pacific Classic undercard of Sunday, August
28.
“Not really cold feet,” Machowsky said of the choice not to go in the
Classic. “But it’s going to be a full field, it’s $15,000 (entry and
starting fees), and it’s a mile and a quarter on synthetics. I think he
could win it, but weighing the pros and cons, I know he could win the
other two races. I know he’ll run well at a mile or seven-eighths.
“He’s doing great (in training), I just want to pick a spot that makes sense for all of us.”
Joe Talamo, aboard for Caracortado’s last eight starts, has the mount
for the Del Mar Mile, which is the most likely of the two
possibilities. Talamo rides Camp Victory for Mike Mitchell in the Pat
O’Brien and Victor Espinoza is expected to ride if the O’Brien is the
choice for Caracortado.