Wilson: All the stars won't be out for Pacific Classic at Del Mar

The $1 million Pacific Classic, aually held in August, has been Del Mar’s signature race since the popular gelding Best Pal won the inaugural ruing in 1991.

Since then, such thoroughbred heavyweights as Bertrando, Candy Ride, Lava Man, Game On Dude, Shared Belief and Beholder have won the race. Dare And Go won perhaps the most famous of all the Pacific Classics in 1996 when, at boxcar odds of 39-1, he upset the great Cigar in front of a then-record throng of 44,181.

Now fast forward to June 2016 and the anticipation that was begiing to swell as we looked forward to a Pacific Classic on Aug. 20 that could potentially have included defending champion Beholder, 2014 Horse of the Year Califoia Chrome and the Bob Baffert-trained Dortmund, who was on the verge of making his season’s debut in time to make a major splash during the second half of the year.

Add Melatonin, wier of the Santa Anita Handicap and Gold Cup at Santa Anita and a rising star in the older-male division, to the mix and we were looking at a race too good to be true. Del Mar might have needed to hire additional help to handle the number of fans who would have kept the tustiles clicking all afteoon.

Well, tus out a race of that magnitude was too good to be true. Get your scorecards out because I’m about to update you on a Pacific Classic that may not tu out to be as special as we all hoped:

CALIFORNIA CHROME >> The champ is the only one of the Big Four who is certain to run on Aug. 20. He’s currently at his home base at Los Alamitos, preparing for a major workout Sunday moing.

“My horse is training well. I don’t worry about anybody else. I just worry about him — and they should, too,” said Chrome’s trainer, Art Sherman.

Bigger, stronger and more mature than ever at age 5, Califoia Chrome is unscathed in four races this year and, along with Tepin, sits atop the standings in the Horse of the Year race as the field rounds the tu for home.

BEHOLDER >> What’s with all this nonsense about the 6-year-old mare’s demise? She lost a Grade I race (Clement L. Hirsch Stakes) by a half-length to an Eclipse Award wier — Stellar Wind — while ruing more than two seconds faster than when she won the same race last year, and suddenly social media Einsteins are predicting she’s finished?

Yes, the Pacific Classic is on hold. The only reason trainer Richard Mandella opted for the race last year was because she was so dominant in her Hirsch victory. But chances are she wouldn’t have romped home by seven lengths if a horse the caliber of Stellar Wind had been in there. This time, Mandella says he’ll wait a bit longer before making a decision about what’s next.

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Beholder, who had an eight-race wiing streak snapped with the loss to Stellar Wind but was still 9 3/4 lengths in front of the third-place finisher, was scheduled to retu to the track Thursday for light exercise.

DORTMUND >> The 1,440-pound son of Big Brown is in the Pacific Classic for now, but you never know about this guy. Remember, he’s only raced 11 times in his career and is coming off what one longtime racing observer called one of the worst quarter cracks she’s ever seen.

Durability has not been his strong suit, but he was ultra-impressive while losing by a half-length to Califoia Chrome in the Grade II San Diego Handicap on July 23 -- Dortmund’s first start since last November’s Grade III Native Diver Stakes at Del Mar.

Dortmund figures to be even tougher next time with a race under his belt. If he runs, a Califoia Chrome-Dortmund rematch would alone be worth the price of admission.

MELATONIN >> There will be no attempt at the Califoia Triple for this 5-year-old gelded son of Kodiak Kowboy because of illness, but trainer David Hofmans was lukewarm about trying the likes of Chrome and Beholder before the Breeders’ Cup Classic to begin with.

The major goal now will be getting Melatonin in top shape for the Breeders’ Cup on Nov. 5 at Santa Anita. Before illness struck, he was rounding into a major force. In addition to his two big victories at Santa Anita, he ran a strong second to Effinex in the Oaklawn Handicap on April 16.

Follow Art Wilson @Sham73 on Twitter