3 Best Bets to Win the 2026 Pacific Classic Stakes

Key Takeaways:

• The Pacific Classic anchors a strong 11-race Del Mar card, with the $1 million Grade 1 headliner joined by three other stakes, including the Green Flash Handicap and its Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint berth.
• The race’s likely hot pace creates an appealing setup for closers, while the main contenders also bring proven class at 1 ¼ miles and plenty of experience in major stakes.
• Hit Show is the standout pace-dependent play, with the expected speed duel giving his reliable late rally a chance to carry him past the field at 6-1.
• Knightsbridge is the horse to beat after his dazzling Monmouth Cup victory, and if he can avoid getting caught up in the early battle and reproduce that effort, his 5-2 price is justified.
• Navajo Warrior is the value play at 8-1, bringing a three-race winning streak and enough past tactical versatility to potentially handle the expected pace if he can transfer that ability to stakes company.

The summer racing meet at Del Mar reaches its high point Saturday, August 22, with the Grade 1, $1 million Pacific Classic Stakes at Del Mar. The Pacific Classic is open to three-year-olds and older horses racing 1 ¼ miles on the dirt. The most prestigious race of the summer meet in Southern California, it not only offers one of the best purses of the year, but the winner also automatically earns a bid to the Breeders’ Cup Classic. Two horses have won the Pacific Classic and the Breeders’ Cup Classic in the same year, and both within the last 10 years: Accelerate in 2018 and Flightline in 2022. Pleasantly Perfect also won both, but in different years: the Breeders’ Cup Classic in 2003 and the Pacific Classic in 2004.

The 2026 edition of the Pacific Classic drew a field of 11 headlined by Knightsbridge, the talented Bill Mott trainee who comes off a dazzling victory in the Monmouth Cup (G3) and now tries a two-turn Grade 1 for the first time. But, it won’t be easy. Hit Show and British Isles are both Grade 1 or Group 1 winners at 1 ¼ miles already, Full Serrano is a Breeders’ Cup winner over the course, and exciting Japan-based shipper Finger has only improved as the distances have gotten longer.

The premier event of the Del Mar meet, the Pacific Classic is the 10th of 11 races on Saturday’s Del Mar card, which features three other stakes races including the Green Flash Handicap (G2), an automatic qualifier for the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint. The races get underway at 2 p.m. Pacific Daylight Time, with post time for the Pacific Classic set for 6:30 p.m. PDT. You can watch and wager on the entire card through FanDuel TV and FanDuel!

2026 Pacific Classic Bets

These are the three Pacific Classic best bets along with morning-line odds for each horse:

1. Hit Show (2026 Pacific Classic odds: 6-1)

Hit Show (6-1) may not always get there on time, but he’s a horse who always makes a rally from off the pace and proves mighty tough in the late stages if the early pace is hot. And, the early pace in the Pacific Classic is likely to be a hot one. Forged Steel, Finger, Malarchuk, Navajo Warrior, Full Serrano, and Knightsbridge all tend to show a lot of speed, at least in their best efforts. Even though some of them do have some form from just off the pace – even if a couple of them don’t go, there’s still a very strong chance of a red-hot pace.

That’s good news for Hit Show, who reliably settles, reliably runs on late, and is the kind of horse who can take his racetrack with him. He is also already a Grade 1 winner at 1 ¼ miles, after his score in the 2025 Dubai World Cup – over no less a horse than Forever Young, who finished third. He has a strong rapport with jockey Florent Geroux, who rode him to that win in Dubai as well as multiple other stakes triumphs, and he’ll be a tough one to hold at bay in the late stages.

2. Knightsbridge (2026 Pacific Classic odds: 5-2)

Knightsbridge (5-2) answered the two-turn question in the Monmouth Cup, jumping to the lead and leaving the field in the dust with one of the most impressively fast races of the year. A run back to that obviously wins this – but, of course, there’s always the risk of regression (even after a five-week break), and this is a deeper field than Knightsbridge was facing at Monmouth. Even so, he has been able to hold his own against classy horses before: he was a respectable second in the Met Mile two back, behind only Nysos and ahead of Journalism. And, though he has never gone longer than the 1 ⅛ miles he covered last out, he is by Nyquist out of Tyburn Brook, an unraced Bernardini daughter of Breeders’ Cup Distaff winner Round Pond.

The far-outside post is a bit of a concern due to the possibility of ground loss. But, there’s a long enough run into the first turn to allay that somewhat. And, if Knightsbridge can tap into the tactical speed he showed winning the Gulfstream Park Mile (G3) back in February, perhaps he stays out of a big pace battle and can get first run ahead of the closers. A pace battle going this long probably wouldn’t be the best idea – though he won several races including the Fred Hooper (G3) after battling on the front end, meaning there’s precedent for him to dig in and shake off good company up front.

3. Navajo Warrior (2026 Pacific Classic odds: 8-1)

Saffie Joseph, Jr. has never been afraid to strike while the iron is hot, and that strategy has been working very well for Navajo Warrior (8-1) this year. The son of 2003 Pacific Classic winner Candy Ride hadn’t ever run in a stakes race until this year, but after he won a second-level allowance at Gulfstream in March, he stepped right up to the Pimlico Special (G3) and won that. He won again next out in the Cornhusker Handicap (G3) at Prairie Meadows in July.

He won the 1 3/16-mile Pimlico Special strongly enough to suggest he shouldn’t have a problem with the extra half a furlong. The big question for Navajo Warrior is pace – both his Pimlico Special and Cornhusker Handicap wins came on the front end, meaning he is either going to have to do very dirty work for an entire 1 ¼-mile trip, or he is going to have to prove he can come from off the pace. Looking back at his previous form in starter- and allowance-level company, he has that ability: it’s not easy to run your career record to 10 wins in 18 starts at any level, and he has amassed wins from stalking, midpack, and even closing spots. The question is whether he can tap into that gear against stakes-quality horses. But, the price will more than likely be right to bet that he can – and if that happens, he may just continue his hot streak.

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