This Year, a Longshot Is McAnally’s Best Shot in the Classic

DEL MAR —  Last year, when he won the Pacific Classic for the first time, trainer Ron McAnally’s horse was Candy Ride, who was undefeated, had only three horses to beat and was a 2-1 second choice. Sunday, for the 14th running of the Classic, McAnally will saddle El Elogiado, who has never won a race in the U.S. and is 30-1 on the morning line.

Seemingly the only thing these two horses have in common is that they were bred in Argentina.

“It won’t be as easy this time,” McAnally said Wednesday morning. “I don’t have the confidence that I had last year.”

Sid and Jenny Craig, who own both Candy Ride and El Elogiado, live near the track and are tantalized by the idea of winning the $1-million race again. Candy Ride had to beat one very good horse, Medaglia d’Oro, to win his Pacific Classic. El Elogiado’s task is mountainous, because he’s facing Pleasantly Perfect, Choctaw Nation, During, Colonial Colony, Perfect Drift and Total Impact -- all horses with solid stakes-winning credentials.

McAnally, 72, considered the history of Del Mar’s richest race and came up with some encouragement.

“I’ve been at this a long time,” he said of his Hall of Fame career, “and I’ve seen some unexpected things happen. There have been a lot of surprises in this race. [Bobby] Frankel had one. So did [Richard] Mandella.”

Frankel, who has won the Classic six times but won’t have a starter Sunday, dropped a $51-bomb on Del Mar with Missionary Ridge in 1992. In 1996, when Mandella stopped Cigar’s 16-race winning streak, it was with Dare And Go, who paid $81.20. Mandella, who also won with Gentlemen in 1997, is running Pleasantly Perfect as he seeks a third Classic win.

“Hopefully,” McAnally said, “we’ll be another one of those surprises. If you don’t run, you can’t win.”

Pleasantly Perfect, who was 3-5 the day Choctaw Nation beat him, drew the No. 5 post position and was installed as a 6-5 favorite in an eight-horse field. The last favorite to win the race was Gentlemen in 1997. The field, in post-position order, with jockeys:

El Elogiado, Kent Desormeaux; Colonial Colony, Rafael Bejarano; Choctaw Nation, Victor Espinoza; Perfect Drift, Pat Day; Pleasantly Perfect, Jerry Bailey; Total Impact, Mike Smith; Night Patrol, Tyler Baze; and During, Corey Nakatani.

Candy Ride, who won the $600,000 first-place purse a year ago, running 1 1/4 miles in track-record time of 1:59, is in McAnally’s barn, but he hasn’t run since. The Craigs might have been willing to pay a supplementary fee of $800,000 to make Candy Ride eligible for last year’s Breeders’ Cup Classic but an ankle injury made that difficult decision academic.

“He had a [swelling] on the outside of the ankle,” McAnally said. “At the start, we thought the problem was only minor. But it’s good now. He’s been galloping every day. He’s close to a breeze, and if all goes well, he might have a race by October. But this year’s Breeders’ Cup [at Lone Star Park on Oct. 30] is out of the question.”

Candy Ride, bought by the Craigs for $900,000, has won all six of his starts, three last year for McAnally. El Elogiado, a 4-year-old gray colt who cost about half as much, also was undefeated coming out of Argentina, but his three-race streak ended in his U.S. debut at Hollywood Park, and he ran second here in a 1 1/16 -mile allowance July 25.

“He’s not like Candy Ride, who’ll do anything you want him to do in the mornings,” McAnally said. “This horse is not a good work horse.”

In his final preparation Monday, El Elogiado worked six furlongs in 1:13.

Desormeaux, who has the mount, won the Arlington Million, by disqualification, on Kicken Kris last Saturday, then escaped serious injuries here the next day when his mount, Wetherly, broke down in the Best Pal Stakes. Desormeaux won the second of his 11 million-dollar victories aboard Missionary Ridge in the Pacific Classic. Desormeaux also has two seconds and three thirds in the Del Mar race.

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(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX)

Pacific Classic

Field for Sunday’s $1-million Pacific Classic at Del Mar. Post time: 4:46 p.m. (eighth race on a 10-race card). TV: Coverage begins at 4 p.m. on ESPN2. Distance: 1 1/4 miles.

*--* PP Horse Jockey Trainer Odds 1 El Elogiado Kent Desormeaux Ron McAnally 30-1 2 Colonial Colony Rafael Bejarano Walter Bindner Jr. 8-1 3 Choctaw Nation Victor Espinoza Jeff Mullins 9-2 4 Perfect Drift Pat Day Murray Johnson 7-2 5 Pleasantly Perfect Jerry Bailey Richard Mandella 6-5 6 Total Impact Mike Smith Laura de Seroux 6-1 7 Night Patrol Tyler Baze Marcelo Polanco 20-1 8 During Corey Nakatani Bob Baffert 12-1

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