PACIFIC CLASSIC: LAVA MAN IS 8-5 FAVORITE.Byline: KEVIN MODESTI Staff Writer It's Lava Man Lava Man (foaled on March 20, 2001) is a dark bay gelded thoroughbred race horse by Slew City Slew (Seattle Slew) out of L'il Ms. Leonard (Nostalgia's Star) who rose from the lowest levels of claiming races to become regarded by many racing fans and members of the racing media as a vs. Giacomo on the marquee for Sunday's $1 million Pacific Classic, but Perfect Drift Perfect Drift, (foaled April 29, 1999 in Kentucky) is an American thoroughbred gelding racehorse. He is sired by the leading stud,Dynaformer, out of the Naskra mare, Nice Gal. This makes Perfect Drift a half-brother to 2006 Kentucky Derby winner, Barbaro. refuses to get off the stage. Perfect Drift, the Kentucky-based 7-year-old gelding gelding castrated male horse. who ran second in the Pacific Classic the past two years, is back at Del Mar for another try with brash-talking trainer Murray Johnson. The eight-horse field, set Wednesday, includes Lava Man, an 8-5 favorite to become the first to sweep the Santa Anita Handicap The Santa Anita Handicap is an American Thoroughbred horse race held annually in the late winter at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California. It is a Grade I race for horses three years old and up, and is considered the most important race for older horses in North America during , Hollywood Gold Cup The Hollywood Gold Cup is a Grade I stakes race for thoroughbred horses inaugurated in 1938 at Hollywood Park Racetrack in Inglewood, California. It was run as a handicap race until 1997 when it was switched to weight-for-age conditions. and Pacific Classic; Giacomo, 3-1 to record his first major victory since the 2005 Kentucky Derby; and Perfect Drift, 6-1 to improve on his frequent near-misses in big races. Johnson remembers Perfect Drift edging Lava Man for the place as Borrego won the '05 Pacific Classic and said he's ``confident ... we'll finish ahead of him'' again. ``You know, last year he was more dominant coming into this race than this year,'' Johnson said, referring to Lava Man winning the Hollywood Gold Cup by 8 3/4 lengths in 2005 but only a nose last month. ``I would have been a little more worried about him last year.'' Johnson also disparaged as ``not that strong'' the California horses Lava Man beat in the Big `Cap and Gold Cup. ``Hopefully, the East Coast form's a little stronger, which I think it is,'' Johnson said. The lineup for the 1 1/4-mile Pacific Classic: 1. Top This and That, Jose Valdivia Jr. riding, 20-1 odds; 2. Lava Man, Corey Nakatani; 3. Preachinatthebar, Victor Espinoza, 12-1; 4. Giacomo, Mike Smith; 5. Magnum, Alex Solis, 5-1; 6. Perfect Drift, Mark Guidry; 7. Super Frolic Frolic - A Prolog system in Common Lisp. ftp://ftp.cs.utah.edu/pub/frolic.tar.Z. , Jon Court, 8-1; 8. Good Reward, Garrett Gomez, 10-1. heymodesti(AT_SIGN)aol.com (818) 713-3616 |
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