Acclamation wins Pacific Classic at Del Mar

DEL MAR, Calif. (AP) - Acclamation led all the way to win the $1 million Pacific Classic by a head at Del Mar, holding off Twirling Candy in a furious stretch drive Sunday.

Jockey Patrick Valenzuela earned the victory 20 years after he won the first Classic with Best Pal.

Acclamation covered 1 1/4 miles in 2:00.61, the fastest time since the synthetic Polytrack surface was installed in 2007, and paid $10.80, $5.40 and $5. The 5-year-old bay was winless in six previous starts on synthetic surfaces.

Twirling Candy, the 2-1 favorite, returned $4 and $3.40. Stately Victor finished four lengths back in third and paid $7. Game On Dude, the 3-2 second choice saddled by Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert and co-owned by retired Los Angeles Dodgers manager Joe Torre, was fourth.

Game On Dude dueled Acclamation for much of the way before falling back in the stretch, when Twirling Candy came up quickly on the outside and battled Acclamation through the final furlongs.

Valenzuela waved his right-handed whip in his horse's eyes until the finish line, then pumped his right arm in the air as they galloped down the track.

Acclamation earned an automatic berth in the Breeders' Cup Classic at Churchill Downs in November.

The Factor made a winning return to the races after a 4 1/4-month layoff, taking the $250,000 Pat O'Brien Stakes by 1 3/4 lengths for Baffert, who won for the third straight year.

The Factor dueled 7-5 favorite Smiling Tiger much of the way before prevailing under Martin Garcia, who dug into the whip deep in the stretch. The colt ran seven furlongs in 1:21.56 and paid $5.40, $4.20 and $3.20 as the 8-5 second choice.

``He was just cruising,'' Garcia said. ``My horse is really fast. You saw it today: not only is he fast, maybe as fast a horse as I've ever ridden, but he'll keep on going.''

Camp Victory returned $5 and $3.20, while Crown of Thorns was another half-length back in third and paid $3.40 to show. Smiling Tiger, who carried five more pounds than The Factor, faded to fourth in the field of six.

The Factor had been idle since finishing seventh as the favorite in the Arkansas Derby on April 16, a poor result that kept him out of the Triple Crown races. Baffert chose the Pat O'Brien over the King's Bishop at Saratoga for his speedy colt, the lone 3-year-old in the race.

``The track at Saratoga is really deep and demanding. It's pretty tough off a layoff,'' he said. ``I'm glad he stayed here. When Smiling Tiger hooked us early, I thought, `Oh boy.' When this horse is really on his game, he's such a superstar. He's really matured a lot.''

Baffert said The Factor could run in either the Breeders' Cup Sprint or Dirt Mile.

In the $200,000 Del Mar Handicap, Celtic New Year edged 3-5 favorite Bourbon Bay to win by a head and earn an automatic berth in the BC Turf.

Ridden by Victor Espinoza, Celtic New Year ran 1 3-8 miles on the turf in 2:14.92 and paid $11, $4.20 and $2.80. Bourbon Bay, who was scratched from the Pacific Classic to run in this race, returned $2.60 and $2.10.

Imponente Purse was another head back in third and paid $2.80 to show.

Heavy wagering on Bourbon Bay created a $19,510.33 minus show pool. The biggest bets on the 5-year-old gelding were show wagers of $90,000 at Santa Anita and $10,000 at Del Mar.