Lava Man probably has emotion on his side as well

DEL MAR -- With the $1-million Grade I Pacific Classic being run today at Del Mar, the focus will be on Lava Man, the 5-2 morning-line favorite who has won 17 of 40 races, including last year’s Pacific Classic, and has earned nearly $5.2 million.

There will also be a lot of focus on Lava Man’s groom Noe Garcia, who is expected to be at the track. Garcia’s left arm was severed in a car crash July 23 after the van he was driving was hit by a drunk driver.

Doug O’Neill, Lava Man’s trainer, has all but guaranteed Garcia’s presence today. The two reunited -- and embraced -- at Wednesday night’s Pacific Classic draw party at the Lodge at Torrey Pines, and O’Neill said if Garcia didn’t show up today, then neither would Lava Man.

And that’s not going to happen.

Lava Man has a phenomenal streak going. Last year he became the first horse to accomplish a single-season sweep of the “big three” in California racing -- the Santa Anita Handicap, the Hollywood Gold Cup and the Pacific Classic. And he is two-thirds of the way there again.

Lava Man’s jockey during that run has been Corey Nakatani, who will be aboard again today despite suffering a bruised shoulder in a spill Wednesday. Nakatani was thrown from his mount as he headed for the track from the paddock area for that day’s seventh race.

Of the 12 other horses entered in the Pacific Classic, among those expected to give Lava Man a battle are A.P. Xcellent, runner-up in the Gold Cup, and Big Booster, who finished third in that race.

Those looking for a hunch bet might want to consider longshot Salty Humor. The 5-year-old has never raced in a Grade I stakes, nor has he raced at 1 1/4 miles, the distance of the Classic over the new Polytrack surface. And trainer Sean McCarthy, a 44-year-old former exercise rider and current analyst for HRTV, has never had a horse in a race of this magnitude. However, Salty Humor did finish third behind Sun Boat in the San Diego Handicap at Del Mar on July 21, and something that happened at Wednesday night’s draw party may have been an omen.

Everyone there was given a sheet with the entries so they could fill in the post positions as they were drawn. When the No. 7 position was drawn for Salty Humor, Crystal Court, the wife of jockey Jon Court, who will ride the horse today, got excited.

“I had already written down a 7,” she said. “That’s my lucky number.”

After the draw put Lava Man on the rail at No. 1, O’Neill said he would have preferred the No. 7 or 8 position.

It may not mean anything, but stranger things have happened in horse racing.

Maybe an omen for Lava Man was that Nakatani rode Rutherienne to victory in Saturday’s $400,000 Grade I Del Mar Oaks, a 1 1/8 -mile race for 3-year-old fillies on the turf course. It was the third stakes win of the meet for Nakatani, and his 91st at Del Mar. Valbenny, the 2-1 favorite, finished a clear second, and Super Freaky, trained by O’Neill, finished third.

Today’s card also includes the $400,000 Del Mar Mile Handicap and the $300,000 Pat O’Brien ‘Cap.

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larry.stewart@latimes.com

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