Redemption time for Arrogate

DEL MAR, Calif. – Was it the track or an inexplicably bad day when he ran last time, or is he not the same horse? Those are among the questions surrounding Arrogate as he heads into the Grade 1, $1 million Pacific Classic on Saturday at Del Mar, a race that weighs mightily in terms of implications for the Breeders’ Cup Classic, even Horse of the Year.

Powerful performances in the Travers, Breeders’ Cup Classic, Pegasus World Cup, and Dubai World Cup put Arrogate in rarefied air, but in a little more than 102 seconds on July 22, his aura of invincibility was shattered.

Now, after a fourth-place finish here in the San Diego Handicap, beaten more than 15 lengths in the worst loss of his career, Arrogate returns to Del Mar, where the Breeders’ Cup Classic will be held on Nov. 4. There’s a lot on the line in this race, including an automatic berth in the Breeders’ Cup Classic through the Win and You’re In program.

A return to form would make the San Diego look like an aberration. The early part of the Pacific Classic may offer an indication as to how Arrogate will perform, because the intention is to have him right off the leaders, rather than have him lag back and close, as he did in the Dubai World Cup and the San Diego.

“You’ve got to put him in the race,” said his trainer, Bob Baffert. “He can’t run here like he did in Dubai. He came back last time with one eye shut, full of dirt. The kickback was strong, and he lost all interest.”

Arrogate should be able to avoid any kickback because he landed the outside post in a field of eight. But he is meeting two horses who seem to be thriving over a track where Arrogate remains a question mark. Accelerate, who is 3 for 3 here and romped in the San Diego, and Collected, who has trained as well as any horse on the grounds, both appear ready for a top effort.

Arrogate, though, is proven three times at 1 1/4 miles, whereas both Accelerate and Collected have yet to run this far. All those variables have made this race far more intriguing than it looked before the San Diego.

“A lot of these horses don’t want to run a mile and a quarter,” Baffert said.

Baffert said Arrogate “acted like he was dehydrated” after the San Diego, which was run on a warm day. It is expected to be mild here on Saturday, with a high of 72 degrees forecast by the National Weather Service.

Collected pummeled Accelerate in the Precisionist at Santa Anita on June 24 last time out. He is 3 for 3 since returning from a 10-month layoff. Drawn in post 2 and with natural speed, he should be on or near the lead.

“He likes this track,” said Baffert, who trains Collected. “Some horses take to it. He’s got good speed, but he’s not a run-off. His weapon is his speed, and he gets over this track really well.”

Accelerate was beaten nearly 16 lengths by Collected in the Precisionist, and he exited that race to win the San Diego by 8 1/2 lengths while racing in blinkers and with Victor Espinoza for the first time.

“It helped,” said trainer John Sadler, who credited Accelerate’s former jockey Tyler Baze with the suggestion to add blinkers. “He looked good in them. It helps him get up into the race. At Santa Anita, he was always falling out of the gate, not breaking well.”

Sadler also will send out the late-running Hard Aces, who is 1 for 9 since finishing eighth in this race last year.

Like Baffert and Sadler, Doug O’Neill has two runners in the Pacific Classic: Curlin Road and Donworth. Curlin Road nosed out Hard Aces going 1 1/2 miles in the Cougar II here on July 26.

“We’re jumping way up, but he’s got a win over the track,” O’Neill said.

Donworth was a distant second in the San Diego and is making his third start following a 13-month layoff.

“We always thought he was a Grade 1-type horse,” O’Neill said. “Hopefully, he got a lot out of the San Diego and he’ll move forward.”

The Pacific Classic goes as race 8 on an 11-race card that begins at 2 p.m. Pacific. It will be televised live by NBCSN in a one-hour show beginning at 5 that also includes the Grade 2 Del Mar Handicap for older grass runners.

Both the Pacific Classic and the Grade 1 Del Mar Oaks, race 10 on the card, are part of a cross-country pick four that includes the Alabama and Lake Placid at Saratoga. Del Mar is hosting the wager, which has a 50-cent minimum and a takeout of 23.68 percent.

All three stakes at Del Mar are part of the pick six, which has a mandatory payout.

BARBARA D. LIVINGSTON Arrogate had won seven consecutive races before his dull fourth-place finish in the San Diego.