Time Is Probably Not Right for Victory Gallop Trip

With each passing day, it seems less likely that Victory Gallop will come here for the $1-million Pacific Classic on Aug. 29.

The 4-year-old’s trip west has been delayed twice, he apparently coughed again Thursday morning and trainer Elliott Walden isn’t about to put him on an airplane if anything is amiss. Victory Gallop had been scheduled to work this morning.

“We’ll have to see how that cough goes,” Walden said. “I’m not sure when we are going to breeze him. If we don’t get him to breeze in the next couple of days, then I’m very concerned about making the [Pacific Classic].”

Successful in the Whitney and Stephen Foster Handicaps in his last two starts, Victory Gallop was expected to head a field that would also include Real Quiet, the Hollywood Gold Cup winner; Mazel Trick, who was impressive winning the San Diego Handicap last weekend, and possibly General Challenge, the Santa Anita Derby winner.

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Ladies Din pulled off an extremely rare feat last year when he swept the Oceanside Stakes, La Jolla Handicap and Del Mar Derby, Del Mar’s three-race grass series for 3-year-olds.

Domination and Mula Gula, who won divisions of the opening-day Oceanside, have a chance to match Ladies Din in 1999, since both are expected to start in Sunday’s La Jolla Handicap at 1 1/16 miles.

They are expected to have as many as eight opponents, among them Cliquot, who hasn’t run since winning the Snow Chief Stakes at Hollywood Park on May 1 and who has never run on turf; Cinema Handicap winner Fighting Falcon, and Zanetti, who won the Toronto Cup Handicap on the turf at Woodbine near Toronto last month.

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Christmas Boy, who rolled to victory in the Bing Crosby Breeders’ Cup Handicap on July 25, will try for a sweep of the meet’s sprint stakes in the $150,000 Pat O’Brien Handicap on Saturday.

Christmas Boy was among nine entered Thursday morning for the seven-furlong O’Brien.

The rest of the field, from the inside out: Sun Bull, Young At Heart, Bet On Sunshine, Early Pioneer, Son Of A Pistol, Big Jag, Regal Thunder and Lakota Brave.

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Jockey Laffit Pincay Jr. moved closer to Bill Shoemaker’s all-time record for victories when he won twice Thursday.

Pincay, 52, won the third with longshot Cookin Vickie ($43.40), then came back in the next race to score with even-money favorite Spirited Carly. He now has 8,773 wins, leaving him 60 behind Shoemaker’s mark of 8,833. And he stands at an even 900 at Del Mar.

Chris McCarron also had a pair of winners, taking the second with Ready Eddie and the eighth with Boss Ego.

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Green Jewel, who suffered a broken bone in her left rear leg early in Wednesday’s Palomar Handicap, had to be euthanized. The 5-year-old gray mare, who was owned by Laura Recachina, had seven victories in 25 starts and earnings of $416,922. . . . Rhapsody Serenade, who was pulled up in Thursday’s fourth race, suffered a slab fracture of her right front knee. There is a possibility the 3-year-old Summing filly will be saved. . . . In the eighth race Wednesday, odds-on favorite Fabulous Concept ran the slowest final quarter-mile by a winner in memory. After going six furlongs in 1:09 4/5, Fabulous Concept’s time for the mile was 1:38 4/5, meaning he ran the final two furlongs in a harness-like 29 seconds.

An upset of Skip Away in last year’s $1-million Jockey Club Gold Cup was Wagon Limit’s claim to fame and it also turned out to be the horse’s final race. A 5-year-old son of Conquistador Cielo, Wagon Limit was injured in that race, comeback attempts have been unsuccessful and the decision to retire him has finally been made. Owned by Joseph Shields, Wagon Limit won six of 20 starts and banked more than $992,000. . . . Trainer Bob Baffert will run his first horse in West Virginia when American Spirit goes in Saturday’s $250,000 West Virginia Derby at Mountaineer Park. Willie Martinez will ride American Spirit in a field where the probable favorite is Ohio Derby winner Stellar Brush.

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Trainer Pat Byrne has settled a lawsuit that charged owner Frank Stronach with fraud and breach of contract. Byrne will receive most of the $84,000 in unpaid training fees he sought from Stronach, Lexington (Ky.) lawyer Laura D’Angelo said.