SAN DIEGO YEAR IN REVIEW : THE TOP 10 SPORTS STORIES : 10 : HE RAN LIKE A MILLION BUCKS

Almost 10 years to the day after Arlington Park near Chicago staged the first $1-million thoroughbred race, Del Mar put on one of its own.

And one of its own won the thing.

John Mabee--chairman of the board of the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club, the track’s governing body--championed the idea of a million-dollar race for several years. He thought it would help Del Mar regain its prominent stature on the thoroughbred circuit.

Finally, the rest of the board and President Joe Harper listened to Mabee and risked $1 million, a significant expenditure for a track with a short, 43-day handle.

The inaugural $1 million Pacific Classic ran Aug. 10.

As for Mabee, the timing couldn’t have been better.

The Mabee-owned entry, Best Pal, won the richest race in Del Mar’s 52 seasons by a length with a dramatic stretch run during which jockey Patrick Valenzuela guided him past the two favorites, Farma Way, who went off at 3-2, and Festin, 4-1.

Best Pal, who went off at just under 5-1, earned $550,000 for the guy who convinced the Del Mar board to put up the money in the first place.

The owner was not surprised.

“I thought he was better coming into this race than the press gave him credit for,” Mabee said.

Best Pal also had a couple advantages over his older foes. Being the only 3-year old in the race, he carried 116 pounds, eight fewer than all other entries. Secondly, Best Pal, who is trained at Golden Eagle Farm near Ramona, was running on his home track, a track on which he had won three consecutive races before entering the Pacific Classic.