Avila could be double-handed in Pacific Classic; Delegation en route

Avila could be double-handed in Pacific Classic; Delegation

en route

A.C. Avila has saddled four horses in the Grade 1, $1 million Pacific Classic

since 1998. Only six trainers have had greater representation and their names

are Robert Frankel (19), Bob Baffert (15), Richard Mandella (14), Ron McAnally

(11), Doug O'Neill and Craig Dollase (six each).

Now Avila, 59, appears set to add to his total with Hawk's Eyes and possibly

Holding Glory in the 23rd renewal of Del Mar's signature event next Sunday.

Avila's Classic runners to date have been Ayrton S. (eighth, 1998), Jack

Grandi (seventh, 1999), Oceanus (seventh, 2005) and Global Hunter (eighth,

2009). Jack Grandi and Oceanus were, like Hawk's Eyes and Holding Glory, bred in

Avila's native Brazil.

Hawk's Eyes and Holding Glory, four-year-old sons of Public Purse and Group 1

winners in Brazil, were brought to the United States this spring. Hawk's Eyes

was fourth in the Sunset Handicap at Hollywood Park in his U.S. debut on July 14

and eighth of nine after being forwardly placed for a half-mile in a featured,

$100,000 optional claiming race at one mile on the Jimmy Durante Turf Course on

August 1.

"He was running well the first part that day then he (kicked) himself at the

three-eighths and lost a shoe. So he had an excuse that day," Avila said. "The

(1 1/4-mile Pacific Classic) distance won't bother him and the reason I

nominated him is because he has been training much better on the synthetic here

than he had on the dirt at Santa Anita."

Holding Glory was second in a mile optional claiming race on August 3. The

race winner, You Know I Know, is nominated to the Pacific Classic and a likely

second starter in the event, with Kettle Corn, for trainer John Sadler.

"I just tried him on the synthetic because I had nowhere else to go with

him," Avila said. "He did OK, but he looks more like a turf horse to me."

The $200,000 Del Mar Handicap, a 1 3/8-mile turf marathon on August 24, is an

option being considered in addition to the Pacific Classic

Hawk's Eyes and Holding Glory are both owned by Luiz Fernando Dannemann, a

Brazilian businessman and major owner/breeder in the country who owns and

operates the Coudelaria Jessica Thoroughbred facility in Bage do Sul there.

Hawk's Eyes worked seven furlongs on the Polytrack in 1:27 1/5 on Wednesday.

Holding Glory worked six furlongs in 1:13 Saturday morning. Avila planned to

consult with Dannemann overnight to finalize Pacific Classic plans with the

horses.

"It will be up to the owner," Avila said. "He pays the bills and he calls the

shots."

In other Pacific Classic news, Canadian-based Delegation is in Louisville,

Kentucky, awaiting a Monday plane for Del Mar.

"Our options were to go to Saratoga and wait there for a plane that would

stop in Louisville, or go to Churchill Downs and wait there," trainer Mark Casse

said Saturday.

"So we vanned him from Woodbine to Churchill Downs and he's been training

there the last few days."

Delegation, a four-year-old gelded son of Speightstown, was an early

commitment for the Classic after a 9 1/4-length, track record-setting victory in

the Dominion Day Stakes at Woodbine on July 1. The Dominion Day was at the same

distance, 1 1/4 miles, and on a similar Polytrack surface as Del Mar's.

The Grade 3 victory made Delegation five-for-six on synthetic surfaces,

accounting for $333,553 of his career $537,751 earnings from 12 career starts.

"He's got pretty good form on any surface, but he likes the synthetic, likes

the distance and the million dollars helps too," Casse said of the factors in

the decision to come west. 

Luis Contreras, aboard for the Dominion Day victory, will be back in the

irons for the Pacific Classic.

Casse, 52, has been a prominent trainer in Canada for more than a decade,

winning four Sovereign Awards, counterpart to the U.S. Eclipse, as Canada's top

trainer as well as conditioning several champion horses.

He also has been a successful manager of farms in Kentucky and, currently,

Ocala, Florida. But he's never been to Del Mar.

"I've been to a lot of racetracks but not Del Mar," Casse said. "I'm looking

forward to it."

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