Pacific Classic 2015: Date, Post Positions, Odds, Prize Money Purse and More

The Pacific Classic is one of the best races on the summer circuit. The race generally attracts some of the top talent from around the country, including top-tier riders from both the West and East Coast.

This year, we'll see one of the best females in North America, Beholder, take to the track in an effort to continue her impressive winning ways.

To do so, the Richard Mandella-trained mare will navigate over 1 1/4 mile on the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club dirt track. Beholder will also be asked to beat the boys for the first time in her star-studded career in a race that no filly or mare has ever won.

Whether she proves up to the task or not has yet to be seen, but Mandella should have her ready to go Saturday, August 22.

So, with the big day in sight, let's take a complete look at this year's running of the Pacific Classic.

Pacific Classic Info

When: Saturday, August 22

Where: Del Mar Thoroughbred Club

Purse: $1 million

First Post: 5:05 p.m. ET

Pacific Classic Post Time: 9:10 p.m. ET

Where to Watch: TVG, HRTV

Post Positions, Odds and More

Post Positions	Horse	Jockey	Trainer	Odds
1	Class Leader	Mike Smith	John Sadler	15-1
2	Bailoutbobby	James Graham	Doug O'Neill	20-1
3	Bayern	Rafael Bejarano	Bob Baffert	6-1
4	Hard Aces	Victor Espinoza	John Sadler	5-1
5	Red Vine	Joel Rosario	Christophe Clement	6-1
6	Imperative	Corey Nakatani	Richard Baltas	12-1
7	Catch a Flight (ARG)	Flavien Prat	Richard Mandella	9-2
8	Hoppertunity	Martin Garcia	Bob Baffert	5-1
9	Beholder	Gary Stevens	Richard Mandella	5-2
10	Midnight Storm	Tyler Baze	Philip D'Amato	20-1

Race Preview

The Pacific Classic is always one of the year's best races, and, despite the no-show from Triple Crown winner American Pharoah, this year's version has drawn a few of the sport's top runners. Here, we'll take a look at some of the top contenders in this year's field.

Beholder, the 5-2 morning-line favorite, drew an unfavorable outside post, but the Henny Hughes mare is a legitimate contender. Arguably the best mare in the country, Beholder is a winner of four straight—two were Grade 1 stakes races— and eight of her last nine overall.

She'll run up against stiff competition, though, and if history is any indication of how she might perform, then she'll be a very beatable favorite.

Since the race's inception in 1991, only four females have run in the Pacific Classic—Paseana (1992, fifth), Island Fashion (2005, ninth), Amani (2012, sixth) and Byrama (2013, seventh)—per BloodHorse.com. As you might have noticed, none of those horses wound up winning the Pacific Classic, and in order for Beholder to do so, Hall of Fame jockey Gary Stevens will have to navigate her through a treacherous field of competitors.

The most intriguing competitor comes in the form of the 6-1 third choice, Bayern. The Bob Baffert-trained Offlee Wild colt threw up clunkers in both the Churchill Downs Stakes and then again in the Met Mile, but bounced back well with a solid third-place showing in the Grade 2 San Diego Handicap.

Through much of the race, Bayern was pushed, though the pace wasn't overly fast, this caused him to give way to both Appealing Tale and Catch a Flight. That said, the fact that he was able to hold on for a third-place finish is a good sign given his awful showings in his prior two races.

Here at Del Mar, with even a hint of an uncontested lead, the Kaleem Shah-owned colt will walk to a victory in the Pacific Classic.

Our final two contenders, Hoppertunity and Hard Aces aren't of the same class as Bayern or Beholder, but there are several things playing well in their favor.

Both entries have solid connections as Hoppertunity, an Any Given Saturday colt, is trained by Bob Baffert, and saddled by one of the sport's best riders, Martin Garcia. Meanwhile, Hard Aces, a Hard Spun colt, is trained by John Sadler and will be ridden by Triple Crown-winning jockey, Victor Espinoza.

Connections aren't the only thing working in the favor of these two colts, as both have solid wins on their resume.

Last time out, Hard Aces bested both Hoppertunity and Catch a Flight in the Grade 1 Gold Cup at Santa Anita (shown above). Meanwhile, Hoppertunity boasts three graded stakes victories including a win in the Grade 1 Clark Handicap.

That said, Hard Aces is the more accomplished of the two, having logged victories on six separate occasions, including this year's Louisiana Handicap and the Gold Cup at Santa Anita. Hoppertunity, meanwhile, has the look of a horse who's more of the "always the bridesmaid and never the bride" look about him with three wins in non-maiden special-weight races.

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