Pacific Classic the Key to NTRA Series on Fox

The National Thoroughbred Racing Assn. announced Thursday a television-driven series of races that could be worth millions of bonus dollars next year, but will be worth nothing in bonuses if the leading horses don’t finish fifth or better in the Pacific Classic at Del Mar in August.

Called “NTRA Champions on Fox,” the series of 11 races will pay a $5-million bonus if a horse wins five of them--the Donn Handicap at Gulfstream Park, the Santa Anita Handicap, the Hollywood Gold Cup, the Whitney Handicap at Saratoga and the Pacific Classic.

“A pretty tall order,” conceded Tim Smith, commissioner of the NTRA. It would be herculean for a horse to just run in all five of those Grade I races. Since the first Pacific Classic in 1991, no horse has won even the Santa Anita Handicap and the Del Mar race in the same year.

Lesser bonuses include a $1-million reward for a horse that wins three of the five top races and the Pacific Classic; and a $500,000 bonus for winning two of the races plus the Del Mar race.

Additionally, points will be awarded horses that finish in the first three positions in all 11 races. Each point is worth $5,000, providing the horse runs no worse than fifth in the Pacific Classic. Wins in the Donn, the Big ‘Cap, the Gold Cup, the Whitney and the Pacific Classic are worth 20 points apiece. Finishing first in the other six races would be worth either 10 or six points per win.

Asked why the Del Mar race carries such weight, Smith said: “We didn’t want a horse locking up the point-total title early and then skipping the last race.”

The series’ big-five races will be televised by the Fox Network. The other six will be carried by Fox Sports Net, the network’s cable outlet. The other races in the series are the Oaklawn Handicap; the Metropolitan and the Suburban Handicaps at Belmont Park; the Massachusetts Handicap at Suffolk Downs; the Stephen Foster Handicap at Churchill Downs; and the Iselin Handicap at Monmouth Park. The series starts with the Donn Handicap on Jan. 30 and ends with the Pacific Classic on Aug. 29.