Five classic TVG Pacific Classics
Aug 18, 2013 22:40:00 GMT -5
Post by Jon on Aug 18, 2013 22:40:00 GMT -5
Five classic TVG Pacific Classics at Del Mar
By Ed Zieralski
San Diego Union Times
Here are five classic TVG Pacific Classics that capture the aura of Del Mar's signature $1 million race
Del Mar — It is said to have been John C. Mabee’s grandest and greatest idea for Del Mar, the $1 million TVG Pacific Classic, the West Coast’s only seven-figure race and one that has provided a barn full of classic moments in its first 22 years at storied Del Mar.
Next Sunday will be the 23rd edition of Del Mar’s signature race. And it also will be the 10-year anniversary of jockey Julie Krone’s masterful Classic win on a magical colt named Candy Ride for Hall of Fame trainer Ron McAnally and beloved horse owners Sid and Jenny Craig.
Capturing the day in words, U-T San Diego columnist Nick Canepa wrote that the Argentine-bred colt “ran as if he were being chased by the mob, like the devil with the wind at his back.” Hank Wesch, the U-T’s former turf writer, compared the story of Krone replacing jockey Gary Stevens, who was severely injured in the Arlington Million, to the great horse racing movie of the day, “Seabiscuit.”
McAnally remembers it as one very special day in late August at Del Mar for everyone associated with Candy Ride, who won the 1¼-mile Classic in a record time of 1:59.11.
“Oh, Candy Ride, 10 years,” said Ron McAnally, smiling that cagy smile of his as he looked off the porch from his spot on the backstretch at I Barn on Del Mar’s backstretch. “That was just a special day for all of us. And to have people like Sid and Jenny Craig, people who started with nothing, but made it big and who loved to see people have a good time. They’ve been so generous. I just told Jenny the other day that Debbie (Ron’s wife) and I had more fun with her and Sid. We traveled all over the country and world with them.”
Sadly, Candy Ride never raced again and missed a date with horse racing history at that year’s Breeders’ Cup Classic. A ligament injury sidelined him, but today he’s a champion sire who has produced the likes of Evita Argentina, Misremembered, Twirling Candy, Sidney Candy and many more.
The Candy Ride win in the Pacific Classic in 2003 is third on our list of the Top Five Pacific Classics.
Here are the other four:
Cigar, 1996: The Republican National Convention was in San Diego, and Cigar went for a record 17th win to beat the great Citation’s record. TV stations had helicopters whirling above the Del Mar backstretch when Cigar arrived. But in front of a Pacific Classic record crowd of 44,181, trainer Richard Mandella’s Dare and Go, with Alex Solis aboard, upset the great Cigar. It was the first of three Classic wins for Mandella.
Best Pal, 1991: The “hometown horse,” John and Betty Mabee’s Best Pal, won the inaugural Classic for Golden Eagle Farm, the Mabee’s Ramona breeding ranch that remains in limited operation today. Jockey Patrick Valenzuela rode and would return to Del Mar 20 years later to win the Classic again on Bud Johnston’s Acclamation for trainer Don Warren.
Lava Man, 2006: Known as the greatest claimer in the history of horse racing, the Doug O’Neill-trained gelding won with jockey Corey Nakatani for STD Racing Stable. Lava Man, now a “coach” and pony in the O’Neill barn, is the only horse to sweep California’s Triple Crown – the Santa Anita Handicap, the Gold Cup and Pacific Classic – in the same year. Bob Baffert’s Game On Dude will try to do that this year. Game On Dude has a fourth and a second in the Classic.
files.ntra.com/video.aspx?id=19647
Tinner’s Way, 1994-95: No one has owned the TVG Pacific Classic like the late trainer Bobby Frankel. His back-to-back wins with Tinner’s Way for Juddmonte Farms was in the middle of four straight Classic wins, and he won two in a row again (2000-01) with Skimming and again for Juddmonte Farms. Frankel conditioned six Pacific Classics winners, three more than the next best, Bob Baffert and Richard Mandella, both of whom have three Classic wins.
By Ed Zieralski
San Diego Union Times
Here are five classic TVG Pacific Classics that capture the aura of Del Mar's signature $1 million race
Del Mar — It is said to have been John C. Mabee’s grandest and greatest idea for Del Mar, the $1 million TVG Pacific Classic, the West Coast’s only seven-figure race and one that has provided a barn full of classic moments in its first 22 years at storied Del Mar.
Next Sunday will be the 23rd edition of Del Mar’s signature race. And it also will be the 10-year anniversary of jockey Julie Krone’s masterful Classic win on a magical colt named Candy Ride for Hall of Fame trainer Ron McAnally and beloved horse owners Sid and Jenny Craig.
Capturing the day in words, U-T San Diego columnist Nick Canepa wrote that the Argentine-bred colt “ran as if he were being chased by the mob, like the devil with the wind at his back.” Hank Wesch, the U-T’s former turf writer, compared the story of Krone replacing jockey Gary Stevens, who was severely injured in the Arlington Million, to the great horse racing movie of the day, “Seabiscuit.”
McAnally remembers it as one very special day in late August at Del Mar for everyone associated with Candy Ride, who won the 1¼-mile Classic in a record time of 1:59.11.
“Oh, Candy Ride, 10 years,” said Ron McAnally, smiling that cagy smile of his as he looked off the porch from his spot on the backstretch at I Barn on Del Mar’s backstretch. “That was just a special day for all of us. And to have people like Sid and Jenny Craig, people who started with nothing, but made it big and who loved to see people have a good time. They’ve been so generous. I just told Jenny the other day that Debbie (Ron’s wife) and I had more fun with her and Sid. We traveled all over the country and world with them.”
Sadly, Candy Ride never raced again and missed a date with horse racing history at that year’s Breeders’ Cup Classic. A ligament injury sidelined him, but today he’s a champion sire who has produced the likes of Evita Argentina, Misremembered, Twirling Candy, Sidney Candy and many more.
The Candy Ride win in the Pacific Classic in 2003 is third on our list of the Top Five Pacific Classics.
Here are the other four:
Cigar, 1996: The Republican National Convention was in San Diego, and Cigar went for a record 17th win to beat the great Citation’s record. TV stations had helicopters whirling above the Del Mar backstretch when Cigar arrived. But in front of a Pacific Classic record crowd of 44,181, trainer Richard Mandella’s Dare and Go, with Alex Solis aboard, upset the great Cigar. It was the first of three Classic wins for Mandella.
Best Pal, 1991: The “hometown horse,” John and Betty Mabee’s Best Pal, won the inaugural Classic for Golden Eagle Farm, the Mabee’s Ramona breeding ranch that remains in limited operation today. Jockey Patrick Valenzuela rode and would return to Del Mar 20 years later to win the Classic again on Bud Johnston’s Acclamation for trainer Don Warren.
Lava Man, 2006: Known as the greatest claimer in the history of horse racing, the Doug O’Neill-trained gelding won with jockey Corey Nakatani for STD Racing Stable. Lava Man, now a “coach” and pony in the O’Neill barn, is the only horse to sweep California’s Triple Crown – the Santa Anita Handicap, the Gold Cup and Pacific Classic – in the same year. Bob Baffert’s Game On Dude will try to do that this year. Game On Dude has a fourth and a second in the Classic.
files.ntra.com/video.aspx?id=19647
Tinner’s Way, 1994-95: No one has owned the TVG Pacific Classic like the late trainer Bobby Frankel. His back-to-back wins with Tinner’s Way for Juddmonte Farms was in the middle of four straight Classic wins, and he won two in a row again (2000-01) with Skimming and again for Juddmonte Farms. Frankel conditioned six Pacific Classics winners, three more than the next best, Bob Baffert and Richard Mandella, both of whom have three Classic wins.
