Pacific Classic Final Time Confirmed at 2:00.69

Del Mar officials confirmed Wednesday that the final time registered on its Teletimer of 2:00.69 for Sunday’s TVG Pacific Classic would remain as the official time of the 10-furlong race.

In recent days, some outside sources had given rise to the thought that the race time should have been posted as faster. However, an extensive video review of the race, along with interviews with the track’s timer and starter, as well as additional comparative time studies all failed to substantiate any need for a change.

 “The bottom line,” said the track’s director of racing and racing secretary Tom Robbins, “is we haven’t seen or heard anything that tells us a change is needed.”

The fractions for the track’s $1-million headline event were :24.19, :47.96, 1:12.61 and 1:36.61. The winner was Game On Dude, who scored by eight and a half lengths, a record margin for the race. His final time was third-fastest of the Polytrack era, which began at Del Mar in 2007.

The track record for the distance is 1:59.54, established by last year’s winner, Dullahan. 

Track timer Russell Hudak confirmed that watching replays of the race left him with the impression that nothing unusual had occurred at the start or during the running. As he does for every race, he also hand-timed it and his clocking was in line with his standard findings matched up to Teletimer figures.