DEL MAR \u2014 Trainer Bob Baffert has decided to point Nysos toward the Aug. 22 Pacific Classic at Del Mar.<\/p>\n
But that doesn\u2019t automatically mean there will be a Nysos-vs.-Journalism showdown in the premier race of Del Mar\u2019s summer meeting.<\/p>\n
Journalism overcame a near-disastrous start Saturday to win the San Diego Handicap as the 1-5 favorite in the scratch-shortened field for the Pacific Classic prep. But trainer Michael McCarthy stopped short Sunday of committing the 4-year-old son of Curlin to a return to Del Mar\u2019s only $1 million feature.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe tried the Pacific Classic last year,\u201d said McCarthy. \u201cWe\u2019ll see what other options are out there, too.\u201d<\/p>\n
Journalism was upset by Fierceness in last year\u2019s Pacific Classic. Nysos returned to Del Mar on Nov. 1 to win the Breeders\u2019 Cup Dirt Mile. Journalism ran fourth in the Breeders\u2019 Cup Classic on the same day.<\/p>\n
Earlier last week, Baffert said he would next run Nysos, a 5-year-old son of Nyquist, in either the Pacific Classic or the Aug. 8 Whitney Stakes at Saratoga.<\/p>\n
Earlier this year, Baffert split his previously Southern California stable between here and Kentucky. He said last week he plans to have a strong presence at Del Mar this summer, particularly in special maiden races for his deep corps of 2-year-olds.<\/p>\n
Nysos, who arrived back at Del Mar on Sunday, won the San Diego Handicap and the Dirt Mile at seaside oval n 2025. He won the Grade I Met Mile at Saratoga on Belmont Stakes Day after finishing second to Forever Young in the Saudi Cup in February.<\/p>\n
Even with the status of Journalism undecided, the field for the Pacific Classic could be deep. Although Full Serrano was scratched from Saturday\u2019s San Diego Handicap with recurring foot problems, trainer John Sadler said: \u201cWe think he can make the Pacific Classic.\u201d Full Serrano finished second to Mixto in the 2024 Pacific Classic. Another strong possibility for the race is Fingers, the winner of the first two legs of Japan\u2019s Triple Crown earlier this year.<\/p>\n
Saturday redux<\/p>\n
Jockey Umberto Rispoli said there was no panic when Journalism broke late and was five lengths behind immediately after the start of the San Diego.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis wasn\u2019t the first time I was in that situation,\u201d said Rispoli. \u201cI know what I had underneath me. I know what he\u2019s capable of. \u2026 After the slow start, I had to help him a little bit, because after that shock, he would have stopped a little bit. But he did enough to win. That\u2019s what matters.\u201d<\/p>\n
As for Somerset West\u2019s victory as a 35-1 longshot in the Grade II San Clemente, Sadler praised jockey Armando Ayuso.<\/p>\n
\u201cArmando gave Somerset West a really great ride,\u201d said Sadler. \u201cYou have to give him credit. He saved all the ground and came up on the rail.\u201d Somerset West was last at the three-quarter pole and still seventh at the top of the stretch.<\/p>\n
Wickerr basket<\/p>\n
Rispoli put 7-5 favorite King of Gosford on the lead strides out of the gate and led almost wire-to-wire to win Sunday\u2019s featured $100,000 Wickerr Stakes \u2014 a mile test on the turf for 3-year-olds and up.<\/p>\n
King of Gosford ($4.80) finished 1\u00bc lengths ahead of longshot Twirling Point.<\/p>\n
\u201cI wasn\u2019t planning on leading early,\u201d said Rispoli. \u201cBut when the speed horse next to me stumbled at the break, I said \u2018Ah,\u2019 put my horse on the lead and went well from there.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOur plan was to stalk,\u201d said trainer Phil D\u2019Amato. \u201cBut he broke really sharp and Umberto didn\u2019t see anyone else wanting the lead. He called an audible. That\u2019s what good riders do. This was exactly what we needed going into the Del Mar Mile, a confidence booster.\u201d<\/p>\n
Before Sunday, King of Gosford had run in seven straight graded stakes with Santa Anita wins in the 2025 Grade I Shoemaker Mile and 2024 Grade II Mathis Mile. He finished third in this year\u2019s Shoemaker Mile.<\/p>\n
Jockeys Kazushi Kimura and newcomer Emisael Jaramillo each had four wins Sunday. So did trainer Doug O\u2019Neill, who had a win with each of the jockeys.<\/p>\n
Kimura won three straight with Sumter ($15.60), Cho ($5.20) and Melismatic ($21) \u2014 then hit again with favored Lucky N Smart ($7.80).<\/p>\n
Jaramillo won with Howie\u2019s Law ($7 in the first), Next Trick ($12 in the sixth), Ford Frenzy ($12.40 in the eighth) and Ah Jeez ($15.60 in the 11th).<\/p>\n
O\u2019Neill won with Howie\u2019s Law, Phone Booth ($3 in the second), Cho and Ah Jeez.<\/p>\n
Notable<\/p>\n
Motorious, an 8-year-old gelding who is the winner of the past three Grade II Green Flash Handicaps at Del Mar, ran second to Sumter as the 8-5 favorite in his 2026 debut.<\/p>\n
\u2022 There is a Pick Six carry-over of $63,928 for Thursday.<\/p>\n
\u2022 The first 32 races of the summer meeting produced only seven winning favorites. The average $2 winning ticket for the first three days paid $16.55.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"DEL MAR \u2014 Trainer Bob Baffert has decided to point Nysos toward the Aug. 22 Pacific Classic at…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":404986,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[8506,181,74,76,75,127],"class_list":["post-404985","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-diego","tag-horse-racing","tag-latest-headlines","tag-san-diego","tag-san-diego-headlines","tag-san-diego-news","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/404985","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=404985"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/404985\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/404986"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=404985"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=404985"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=404985"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}