Richard's Kid out to defend Pacific Classic title

Horseracing Betting Lines

08/24/2010 - Del Mar, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Richard's Kid, trained by Bob Baffert, will defend his crown in Saturday's $1 million Pacific Classic at Del Mar versus nine challengers. The winner of the 1 1/4-mile stakes will automatically gain entry into this year's Breeders' Cup Classic at Churchill Downs in November.

Won last year by Richard's Kid on Labor Day, the Pacific Classic will mark its 20th running this weekend. The five-year-old thoroughbred can become the third horse to win the stakes in consecutive years.

Owned by Zabeel Racing, Richard's Kid will start from post six with Mike Smith riding. Smith rode Richard's Kid in last year's Classic. Smith also won the 2002 Classic with Came Home.

In his last two starts, both with Martin Garcia aboard, the horse finished third both times.

Richard's Kid is the winner of seven of 25 career races for just under $1 million. Last month he was third in the Cougar II Handicap at Del Mar and earlier in July finished behind Awesome Gem and Rail Trip in the Hollywood Gold Cup.

His only win since last year's Classic was in February's San Antonio Handicap at Santa Anita. Also this year, Richard's Kid was seventh in the Dubai World Cup.

San Diego Handicap winner Dakota Phone will attempt to duplicate stablemate Blind Luck's victory in last week's Alabama. The five-year-old gelding will be ridden by Joel Rosario from post three. Rosario was aboard Blind Luck for the Alabama win. Jerry Hollendorfer trains both horses.

Dakota Phone's San Diego win snapped a 16-race losing streak by the Kentucky- bred. He had won on November 28, 2008 at Golden Gate Fields in the Forty Niner Stakes. In 29 career starts, the five-year-old has five wins and $583.810.

"We've had this horse a long time," noted the trainer, "and made money, but he's done it the hard way (not winning often)."

Awesome Gem, winner of the Hollywood Gold Cup, has drawn post nine with jockey David Flores. The seven-year-old gelding is owned by West Point Thoroughbreds and trained by Craig Dollase.

The chestnut gelding this year posted runner-up finishes in the Charles Town Classic and Lone Star Park Handicap. He was third in the New Orleans Handicap and eighth in this year's Frank Kilroe Handicap at Santa Anita Park.

In his career the gelding has won seven of 36 starts for more than $2.2 million.

This will be Awesome Gem's fourth straight start in the Pacific Classic. He was second to Student Council in 2007 and seventh in each of the last two editions.

Here is the complete field for the Pacific Classic in post position order: Battle of Hastings, Brice Blanc, 10-1; Isle Of Giant's, Patrick Valenzuela, 30-1; Dakota Phone, Joel Rosario, 6-1; Temple City, Rafael Bejarano, 5-1; Unusual Suspect, Alonso Quinonez, 20-1; Richard's Kid, Mike Smith, 7-2; Hold Me Back, Garrett Gomez, 8-1; Crowded House, Corey Nakatani, 20-1; Awesome Gem, David Flores, 9-2 and The Usual Q.T., Victor Espinoza, 3-1.

All ten runners will carry 124 pounds.

Best Pal, a new Hall of Fame inductee, won the inaugural running in 1991. Tinner's Way won back-to-back Classics in 1994 and 1995, and Skimming duplicated that feat in 2000 and 2001. In 2006, Lava Man won the Pacific Classic along with the Santa Anita Handicap and Hollywood Gold Cup.

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Big Ten Conference odds

Teams that should be in: Michigan State, Indiana
Work left to do: Illinois, Purdue, Michigan, Iowa

Behind the big two, the pecking order might be in a bit of flux. Has Michigan State passed Indiana after handling the Hoosiers in East Lansing? Where is Illinois in that mix? What looked like a four-big league last week could be morphing into five -- and even six is not unthinkable at this point if everything breaks right.

Should be in:

Michigan State [21-8 (8-6), RPI: 20, SOS: 15] The Spartans made it four-for-four on the homestand, a gigantic accomplishment that leaves them in extremely good shape. MSU is only 1-6 on the road and is at Michigan and at Wisconsin to close things out, meaning the date with the Wolverines on Tuesday looms very, very large. Beating Texas early will hold up well, as will the rout of Bradley and the win over BYU, but will 8-8 be enough? It very well could be, as the computer numbers are good, but why chance it?

Indiana [18-9 (8-6), RPI: 24, SOS: 32] Hmm ... good thing the last two are at Northwestern and home to Penn State, because IU might want to get both to feel completely safe after dropping its third in the last four, fading after halftime at Michigan State. Who knew the best nonconference win would be over Southern Illinois, which is a gift that keeps on giving for the Hoosiers. The win over Wisconsin also looks good on the mantel.

Work left to do:

Illinois [21-9 (9-6), RPI: 31, SOS: 25] A good performance at Penn State leaves the Illini in pretty good shape. Can they go to Iowa and take care of business to really look on their way? That's a huge game, as there is a possible cluster of teams that will end at 9-7. Illinois beat Bradley, but has lost to Xavier. A 9-7 mark and a semifinals trip in Chicago could be enough with the computer profile hanging in there, but it would be better not to mess around, clinching at least a tie for third.

Purdue [18-10 (7-7), RPI: 47, SOS: 28] Couldn't get it done at Iowa, but did win at Northwestern to put 9-7 squarely in sight. Where does that leave the Boilermakers, though? Even if they beat Minnesota and Northwestern at home, that won't help the computer numbers. Nonconference wins over Virginia, DePaul and Oklahoma are solid, but not spectacular. The Boilers very well might need an upset in the B10 quarters to have a legit claim.

Michigan [19-10 (7-7), RPI: 55, SOS: 53] Well, Michigan did what it needed to do, winning at Minnesota to take control of its fate. The Wolverines have Michigan State and an already-wrapped-up-the-league Ohio State at home to close, so the chances are there. Win both and we can talk. There is no marquee win yet in the profile, and the Wolverines were splattered in several games against name opponents. A mediocre computer profile fueled by a lack of road wins isn't helping, either.

Iowa [16-12 (8-6), RPI: 80, SOS: 64] For the sake of being complete, we'll add Iowa, this season's Stanford. It's plausible that the Hawkeyes could get to 10-6 (at Penn State, vs. Illinois left), but where does that leave them after a gruesome nonconference performance where the best win was over ... Toledo? Iowa State? Cornell?? If they get to 10-6, we can start to look at what they need to do in the B10 tourney, although my gut sense is that they would need to make the final and have knocked off Ohio State or Wisconsin on the way to have any real claim.

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