DEL MAR : Championship Series May End

The American Championship Racing Series, which has given horse racing much-needed television coverage in the past two years, might be facing its final Sunday when Del Mar runs the $1-million Pacific Classic.

“We’re fighting for our lives,” said Barry Weisbord, president of the championship series, after seven horses were entered Thursday for the race. Weisbord had been expected to announce the schedule for next year’s series this week. Asked about the future of the races on Thursday, he said: “What we’ll do I’ll comment on this weekend.”

Weisbord sounded like a man preparing a resignation speech. Despite the benefits of having 15 of the 19 series races on national television, Weisbord has rankled enough of racing’s elite to jeopardize the program.

Dick Duchossois, the owner of Arlington International Racecourse, joined the series last year, then dropped out before his race was run; Charles Cella, the owner of Oaklawn Park, feuded publicly with Weisbord the week of his race this spring and later said he was quitting the series, and Santa Anita, whose Santa Anita Handicap was one of the jewels of the series, apparently won’t be participating next year.

Weisbord, saying he had no choice, altered this year’s nine-race schedule after the series was well under way, antagonizing horsemen. When Rockingham Park didn’t have the money to run the $500,000 New England Classic, Weisbord said that television commitments forced him to substitute the Suburban Handicap at Belmont Park. Strike The Gold’s second-place finish in that race gave him seven points, enough to clinch the championship series’ $750,000 first-place bonus. Strike The Gold has 30 points to Best Pal’s 23, and neither horse is running in the Pacific Classic, which Best Pal won a year ago.

Asked Thursday about Del Mar’s further participation in the championship series, track President Joe Harper said:

“We haven’t shut the door on it. We’ve had some meetings about it, and we’ll have to see what the end product looks like. When we joined, it was just for a two-year deal, with the last race in the series being in New York the first year and our race being the last race this year.”

There have been reports that the championship series’ budget tripled in the second year.

“We’ve put 15 races on network television without spending one nickel of advertising,” Weisbord said. “Our administrative expenses for two years have been $2 million. But the public has seen some great races. I’ll take the blame if I deserve it. But if you bat .340, you lead the league. If you win 10 football games, you get into the playoffs. And if you win just half of your hockey games, you make the playoffs.

“Well, I think we’ve won a lot more than half of our games. I don’t know how you can be controversial when you put the best races in front of the public. Racing has never done this, and it’s been our own fault. I’m not saying that this project has been perfect. But I don’t think you can review these races and not say that the game is a whole lot better than what it was.”

The first seven horses--Strike The Gold, Best Pal, Out Of Place, Pleasant Tap, Twilight Agenda, Sea Cadet and Sultry Song--are missing from the Pacific Classic, but Weisbord does not apologize for the field. “We have Paseana, who could be horse of the year,” he said. “This is the first time she’ll be seen on national television.”

Paseana, who will carry 119 pounds, five less than the others, was made the 9-5 favorite Thursday, and her chances increased when Another Review, the 5-2 third choice, drew the inside post for the 1 1/4-mile race.

Another Review, who has won four of his last five starts, may have won the San Diego Handicap from the inside on Aug. 8, but before that he was a horse with no fondness for getting dirt kicked in his face. In the Hollywood Gold Cup on June 27, Another Review was boxed in early and ran third, suffering his only loss during the hot spell.

Paseana, who will be ridden by Chris McCarron as she bids for an eighth consecutive victory, will be next to Another Review and Laffit Pincay in the starting gate. Missionary Ridge, who is 30-1, drew No. 3, with Kent Desormeaux riding. The rest of the lineup is Defensive Play, jockey David Flores, at 6-1; Jolie’s Halo, Edgar Prado, 2-1; Reign Road, Gary Stevens, 20-1, and Claret, Eddie Delahoussaye, 15-1.

Three of the starters--Paseana, Jolie’s Halo and Claret--have been supplemented into the race at $30,000 apiece. First place is worth $550,000, with the next four spots paying $200,000, $150,000, $75,000 and $25,000. Jolie’s Halo, winner of the Iselin Handicap at Monmouth Park, the previous championship series race, could finish third in the point standings and earn a bonus of $225,000 if he wins Sunday.

A win by Defensive Play--unlikely in that he has won only one of nine starts this year--would tie him with Best Pal for second place in the point standings.

“Defensive Play has (finished close) every race,” said the 5-year-old’s trainer, Bobby Frankel. “Maybe one race he’ll find himself.”

Frankel is not as generous with his other starter, Missionary Ridge, who is one for eight this year. “I don’t think he’ll win,” he said. “But if he just finishes third or fourth, it’s like winning a $100,000 race.”

Horse Racing Notes

Post time for the first race Sunday is 1 p.m., with the Pacific Classic the fourth race on the card. . . . Paseana will be the first female to run in an American Championship Racing Series race. . . . Paseana is six for six this year and Jolie’s Halo is two for two, but the combined record of the other horses is nine for 35. . . . The $175,000 Del Mar Oaks also will be run Sunday, with Pleasant Stage, last year’s Eclipse Award winner among 2-year-old fillies, trying to break a six-race losing streak.

The $300,000 Del Mar Derby, at 1 1/8 miles on grass, will be run Saturday, with Blacksburg trying to win his third stake of the meeting. The 12-horse field, in post-position order: L’Honorable, May I Inquire, Blacksburg, Appealtothechief, Free At Last, River Majesty, Daros, Siberian Summer, Fax News, Major Impact, Smiling And Dancin, and Royal Torrent. Free At Last and Appealtothechief will run as an entry.

One of the nine opponents for Strike The Gold in Saturday’s $250,000 Whitney Handicap at Saratoga is Devil His Due, a 3-year-old who ran second to Thunder Rumble last Saturday in the Travers at Saratoga. Devil His Due will carry 108 pounds, 12 fewer than the top-weighted Strike The Gold. At 115 pounds is Sultry Song, the Hollywood Gold Cup winner. Chief Honcho is closest to Strike The Gold in the weights, with 116 pounds.