2026 San Diego Handicap Preview

Key Takeaways:

• Del Mar's opening weekend features an intriguing Pacific Classic prep. The San Diego Handicap brings together proven Grade 1 performers, returning veterans, and improving contenders over 1 1/16 miles.
• Several contenders have major questions to answer. Layoffs, distance changes, and current form make this a race where proven class alone may not be enough.
• Journalism gets ideal conditions to return to the winner's circle. The class drop, preferred distance, and reunion with Umberto Rispoli make him the horse to beat.
• Mc Vay has upset potential with room to improve. The cutback in distance and his versatile running style give him a chance to take another step forward at a price.
• The Goat is the field's wild card. Second off the layoff and stretching back out to two turns, he has the upside to outperform expectations if he moves forward.

Del Mar gets underway this weekend, and the headline of opening weekend is the Grade 2, $300,000 San Diego Handicap on Saturday, July 18. The local prep for the Pacific Classic (G1) on August 22, this race covers 1 1/16 miles on the dirt, and it drew a field of seven older horses.

The group is led by Journalism, who stretches out after finishing third to Nysos in the Met Mile (G1) on June 6. The mile is on the short side for him, and this 1 1/16-mile distance should be closer to what he wants. But, he’ll face some serious foes, including Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile winner Full Serrano and Mirahmadi, who was second to Nysos in this race last year and makes his first start since then.

The history of the race dates back to 1937. A few of the early editions were sprints, but most of them have been run between a mile and 1 ⅛ miles, with 1 1/16 miles being the consistent trip since 1994. California superstar Native Diver became synonymous with the race when he won three years straight, from 1963 to 1965. More recently, winners have included Kentucky Derby winners Giacomo (2006) and California Chrome (2016), Breeders’ Cup Classic winner Accelerate (2017), and Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile winner Nysos.

San Diego Handicap Information

• Race Date: Saturday, July 18
• Track: Del Mar
• Post Time: 5:30 p.m. Pacific Daylight Time
• Distance: 1 1/8 miles
• Age/Sex: three-year-olds and upward
• Where to Watch: FanDuel TV
• Where to Bet: FanDuel Racing

2026 San Diego Handicap Draw and Odds

This is the official field for the San Diego, including post positions, trainers, jockeys, and morning-line odds.

San Diego Handicap Prep Race Results

Five of the seven horses in the San Diego come out of graded-stakes races. None won, though all of them finished in the superfecta. Mirahmadi makes his first start since finishing second in the San Diego at the beginning of Del Mar last year. Journalism finished third in the Met Mile on Belmont Day and now stretches out. McVay cuts back after finishing a well-beaten third to Forged Steel in the Santa Anita Gold Cup on Memorial Day. The others stretch out from fourth-place finishes: Full Serrano comes out of a fourth-place finish behind red-hot Nu What’s New in the Oaklawn Mile (G3) on March 28, and The Goat was last seen finishing fourth in the seven-furlong Triple Bend on May 31, his first North American start.

Shea Brennan is a California-bred mainstay and tries open stakes company for the first time off a wire-to-wire win in the one-mile Bertrando at Los Alamitos on June 20. Iron Man Cal is the only one coming out of allowance company. He tracked the pace and ran on to win by half a length in a second-level turf mile on June 7, and switches to dirt for the first time.

San Diego Handicap Contenders

These are the contenders entered in the San Diego:

1. Mc Vay: The cutback in distance from the 1 ¼-mile Gold Cup (G2) last out is a positive, but this may not be enough of a cutback – he has done better thus far at the flat mile. He also has yet to prove himself at this level – despite his seven-figure yearling price and the flashes of pace versatility he has thrown, he hasn’t ever looked a winner in ungraded company, and his graded placing last out was by default, in a group of horses who didn’t necessarily love 1 ¼ miles. That said, the field thins out quickly past Journalism, and he’ll be a price.
2. Mirahmadi: Bob Baffert is always tough in big races, but the question is the layoff. Mirahmadi hasn’t raced since the San Diego a year ago, where he set the pace and finished second behind Nysos. There isn’t a Nysos here – he has proved good enough to chase bigger targets – but Journalism is here, and he needs to be at his best first off a year-long lay to beat Journalism on his regular day. And, he’s got some other speed in front of him, so he’ll have to go fast to get his trip.
3. Shea Brennan: He led at every call to win the Bertrando last out, going a mile at Los Alamitos. The good news is he doesn’t completely need the lead to win; he has scored from off the pace in sprint races. But, in order to win this, he’ll either have to be used hard against other speed like Mirahmadi, or he’ll have to prove he can rate at a route against better horses than he has ever faced.
4. Iron Man Cal: This Phil D’Amato trainee has spent his entire career on the grass. He has a lot of runner-up finishes in stakes company, with his only stakes win coming by disqualification as a juvenile. But, he cleared his second-level allowance condition last out, meaning he comes into this spot in good form, and he has the tactical speed to set off of a likely contested pace without dropping too far back. However, he still has to take a significant step up over any of his races, and do so over a new surface which he may or may not handle – sire Collected bodes well, but his female family is heavily turf.
5. Journalism: He has been keeping top company this year, in the Oaklawn Handicap (G2) and Met Mile (G1), two of the year’s blockbuster races so far. Now he gets a class drop. He’ll have to remember how to win since he hasn’t won, or even looked a likely winner, since the Haskell (G1) a year ago. However, the return to Umberto Rispoli in the irons – the jockey who rode Journalism to all his career heights – is a step in the right direction.
6. Full Serrano: He has back class with his victory in the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile, which happened over this course, but he hasn’t won since an allowance last September. He does his best work when he’s on or close to the lead, but hasn’t been up there in his last few starts. The draw toward the outside isn’t a bad sign for getting that sort of trip – but on the other hand, he may not have the same speed that he used to have, and he’ll have to work very hard early even if he does.
7. The Goat: It’s hard to know what he is; he is a three-time Group 1 winner in Chile, but was a flat fourth in his only American start. But, that was a seven-furlong race – probably short of his best – and it was his first start in a year and a half. Now he stretches back out to a two-turn distance, something that should move him forward. However, he showed enough speed early in that sprint last out to suggest he’ll be part of the contested early pace, and even if there’s a heavy speed bias, there is more proven pace.

San Diego Handicap: 3 Best Bets

These are the three best bets in the 2026 San Diego Handicap:

1. Journalism (1-1)

There are enough questions about Mirahmadi’s layoff and Full Serrano’s current form to make them questionable bets here. But, the other favorite has strong reason to be the goods. It seemed a bit strange that Umberto Rispoli was taken off of Journalism last year after his runner-up finish in the Pacific Classic (G1), which was a solid effort against tough older horses. Nothing ever worked out as well with Jose Ortiz. And even though those races were all against very tough company, this looks like the right spot and the right way to rebuild Journalism.

In addition to switching back to Rispoli in the irons, Michael McCarthy is getting Journalism away from the top of the handicap division and also cutting him back to a distance he has proven he likes. The mile last out was too sharp, especially against the likes of Nysos, but now he lines up in a marginal Grade 2 over a distance at which he won the San Felipe (G2) last year. With enough pace versatility to win from close to the lead or well off the pace, and speed figures that suggest his usual day at the office will require the best from his opponents, Journalism is the one to beat.

2. Mc Vay (15-1)

Mc Vay is taking a shot here, as he isn’t exactly proven in graded-stakes company yet. But, he has been a better horse this year at five, since moving out west, than he had been during his east-coast swing. He has won races from both on and off the pace, and his races this year require only a reasonable step forward to be competitive. Jockey Hector Berrios, who has ridden him both times this year, returns to the saddle.

There are questions, of course, but reasons that he can answer them in the affirmative. He has yet to win at 1 1/16 miles on dirt, but hasn’t tried that distance since an attempt in the slop a year and a half ago at Fair Grounds. With dry California dirt and the fitness gained from trying a longer distance last out, there’s still room for this lightly-raced five-year-old to move forward.

3. The Goat (6-1)

Full Serrano, the “A” entrant from the John Sadler barn, will be an underlay on the tote board. The Goat, his second-stringer, is the wild card in the race. With just six starts, he is lightly-raced enough to improve. Though he has yet to prove whether he is up to the American graded-stakes level, his only attempt so far has come at seven furlongs, and it was his first race in a year and a half.

Even in that sprint race, he showed some early speed – a good thing to have at Del Mar, and something he could perhaps use from this clean outside gate in a more sustainable way at two turns. All three of his group-level wins in Chile came at a mile or more, all the way out to 1 ⅜ miles. If this John Sadler trainee is fitter and better settled in second off the layoff, he could at least contend for a share in this field that, behind Journalism, is full of either long shots or serious underlays.

San Diego Handicap FAQ

Q: When is the San Diego Handicap?

A: The San Diego happens Saturday, July 18, 2026, at 5:30 p.m. Pacific Daylight Time.

Q: Where is the San Diego Handicap?

A: The San Diego Handicap happens at Del Mar Racetrack in Del Mar, California.

Q: Which trainer has the most wins in the San Diego Handicap?

A: Three trainers are tied with five San Diego Handicap wins each: Robert Frankel, Charlie Whittingham, and John Sadler. Sadler, who most recently won in 2019 with Catalina Cruiser, has two chances to take the record for himself this year: Full Serrano and The Goat.

Q: Who is the favorite for the San Diego Handicap?

A: Journalism is the even-money morning-line favorite in the San Diego Handicap. He is likely to hold as a well-defined choice, both off of his name recognition as a Preakness winner and because he is stretching out to a better distance for this race.

Q: Who is the best San Diego Handicap jockey?

A: Chris McCarron and Victor Espinoza are tied with the most San Diego Handicap wins all time, with six each. Among the jockeys riding in the 2026 edition, Joel Rosario leads with two wins, with Dakota Phone in 2010 and Catalina Cruiser in 2019. The latter was for John Sadler, who also trains his current entrant, Full Serrano.

Q: Who won the San Diego Handicap in 2025?

A: Nysos won the 2025 San Diego Handicap for trainer Bob Baffert and jockey Flavien Prat. Prat does not ride in the San Diego this year, but Baffert returns with Mirahmadi – the second-place finisher from last year’s edition. Juan Hernandez, who rode last year, returns to the irons this year.

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