Longshot upstages Lava Man at Del Mar

DEL MAR -- The big story coming into Sunday’s $1-million Pacific Classic was Lava Man, but another pretty good one emerged after longshot Student Council won the signature race of the Del Mar meet in front of a crowd of 35,320.

For one thing, Student Council, who had never won in graded-stakes company, paid $48.80 to win while Lava Man finished out of the money.

For another, the horse was bought only eight days earlier by Rosendo “Ro” Parra of Austin, Texas, for the sole purpose of running in the Pacific Classic.

The victory also proved to Richard Migliore, Student Council’s 43-year-old jockey, that he made the right decision last year to ride in Southern California after years on the New York-Florida circuit.

And, the victory put a smile on the face of trainer Vladimir Cerin. On Feb. 1, his wife Kellie died after an accidental fall during a family vacation in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico.

Cerin inherited Student Council from trainer Neil Howard after Parra purchased the horse and shipped him west from Saratoga. He arrived at Del Mar on Tuesday.

Parra, a native of Ecuador, is an executive with Dell Computers, and stayed home to be with his family on Sunday.

“He is a family man first, a horse owner second,” Cerin said.

Cerin said he talked to Parra by phone after the race.

Asked about the owner’s reaction, Cerin, with a smile, said, “He was upset we didn’t win by more. No, just kidding. He was pleased.”

Cerin did not say what Parra paid for the horse, nor would he say whether the horse would run in the Breeders’ Cup Classic Oct. 27 at Monmouth Park.

“Let’s enjoy this one,” Cerin said. “We’ll watch the horse in the next couple of days and then we may begin making plans.”

He said the horse’s next race may be the Goodwood Handicap on Sept. 29 during the Oak Tree meeting at Santa Anita.

“Or we could just train up to the Breeders’ Cup,” he added.

As part of a new Breeders’ Cup Challenge series, Student Council, who covered the 1 1/4 -mile Polytrack course in 2:07.29, earned an automatic bid into the Classic. But there is still the matter of a $125,000 entry fee.

Awesome Gem finished second in the Pacific Classic, half a length behind. Hello Sunday ran third and Lava Man was sixth.

The field was reduced to 12 when Santa Anita Derby winner Tiago was scratched by trainer John Shirreffs in the morning after he conferred with owners Jerry and Ann Moss. Shirreffs said he was looking for another race for the 3-year-old colt but didn’t know what race it might be.

On a day when a Del Mar single-day betting record was set with a handle of $24,642,601, there were two supporting features.

One was the $400,000 Del Mar mile, a Grade II run on the turf as the day’s seventh race. The Pacific Classic was the eighth race.

New Zealand-bred Crossing the Line, ridden by Garrett Gomez, won the Del Mar Mile, while favored Out of Control, like Lava Man, finished sixth on the turf course.

Steered to the outside in the upper stretch, Crossing the Line won by three-quarters of a length in a near course-record time of 1:32.59. Three Valleys set the mark of 1:32.21 two summers ago.

Crossing the Line also automatically qualified for the Breeders’ Cup as part of the challenge, but trainer John Sadler also was noncommittal. One problem is Crossing the Line’s owners would have to come up with a $300,000 supplemental fee since the horse was not nominated for the Breeders’ Cup.

Sadler said Crossing the Line’s next race probably would be the Oak Tree Mile, Oct. 7 at Santa Anita.

The other supporting feature Sunday was the Grade II $300,000 Pat O’Brien Handicap, won by Greg’s Gold, a 6-year-old California-bred gelding trained by David Hofmans.

Greg’s Gold, ridden by Victor Espinoza, stalked pace-setting Bordonaro, ridden by Migliore, until the top of the stretch, where he opened a clear advantage. Even-money favorite Surf Cat mounted a challenge, but Greg’s Gold responded and pulled away to win the seven-furlong sprint.

Greg’s Gold earned an automatic bid into the Breeders’ Cup Sprint at Monmouth Park on Oct. 27. And there’s no question Hofmans plans to run him.

Hofmans said the horse, owned by Bill Boswell, will run once before that, either in the Ancient Title Handicap at Oak Tree on Oct. 7 or the Phoenix Stakes, the day before at Keeneland.

Both of those races are also among the 24 that are part of the Breeders’ Cup Challenge series.

larry.stewart@latimes.com