Fierceness is a late nominee for next weekend's Pacific Classic

Nominations for the Grade 1, $1 million Pacific Classic close at 3 a.m. EDT Friday, and they’ve been trickling into the Del Mar racing office all week. One in particular caught the eye of the racing officials and will certainly enhance the race if the connections follow through.

The Todd Pletcher stable has nominated the 2024 Travers (G1) winner Fierceness for Del Mar’s marquee race coming up next Saturday. The son of City of Light is partly owned by Repole Stable, which also owns Mindframe, the Stephen Foster (G1) winner. The intention has been all along to keep the two horses separate until the Breeders’ Cup Classic at Del Mar in November. 

Mindframe is heading to the Jockey Club Gold Cup (G1) at Saratoga next Sunday. Bringing Fierceness out West and racing him in the Pacific Classic would get a race into him and give him time to acclimate to the surroundings. The Pacific Classic is a win-and-you’re-in race for the Breeders’ Cup Classic, further sweetening the deal. 

Pletcher worked Fierceness on Saturday at Saratoga. He went four furlongs in 47.66 seconds, third fastest of 135 at the distance.

Fierceness burst on the scene two years ago when he won the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile at Santa Anita. He returned the following year and won the Florida Derby (G1) at Gulfstream Park but threw in a clunker in the Kentucky Derby, finishing 15th. Fierceness then won the Jim Dandy (G2) at Saratoga, followed by his victory in the Travers. 

Fierceness finished second to Sierra Leone in last year’s Breeders’ Cup Classic at Del Mar, then returned this year to win the Alysheba (G2) at Churchill Downs on Oaks Day. He ran second to Raging Torrent in the Met Mile (G1) in June and faded to fourth last out in the Whitney (G1) this month.

Keep in mind this is only a nomination and that big-time trainers such as Pletcher and Bob Baffert make nominations across the country with the idea that it’s best to reserve a spot in a race and decide later if they’re going to actually run in it. The fact that Pletcher made the nomination so late is a good indicator. We’ll know for sure next Tuesday when Fierceness could be entered in the Pacific Classic.

In other Pacific Classic news, Nysos worked Thursday at Del Mar, just five days since his last workout. He went five furlongs in 58.8 seconds, third-fastest of 31 at the distance.

“He went very well,” Baffert noted, adding that he might give Nysos one more breeze before the race. “He’ll probably go something easy next week. So far so good.”

Meanwhile, Del Mar announced that this year’s Pacific Classic card will be the richest day of racing ever at the seaside oval, outside of the Breeders’ Cup. The purses for the 11-race program add up to $2,374,000, more than $100,000 above the previous record set on Pacific Classic Day in 2023.

The track's 10% purse increase going into this summer is one reason for the increase racing secretary David Jerkens said. “We also increased our maiden dirt bonus, inflating some purses to $100,000, and we have a couple of maiden races that day.”

The purses for the five stakes races on the Pacific Classic undercard remain the same as last year. The Del Mar Handicap (G2) and the Del Mar Mile (G2) are each worth $300,000. The Green Flash (G3) and the Torrey Pines (G3) each have purses of $150,000.