Arrogate all but a lock as he takes on four in the San Diego Handicap at Del Mar

Mike Smith, the Hall of Fame jockey, spent part of Friday at the beach with his dog. Most expect he’ll have another day at the beach Saturday afternoon, only this time with a slightly more well-known four-legged animal.

Arrogate, the world’s richest race horse, not only is ready to headline today’s $300,000 Grade II San Diego Handicap at Del Mar, but pretty much everybody, from his handlers to those racing against him, expect the 1-5 morning line favorite to have an easy time of it.

It’s easy to understand why. A winner of seven consecutive races, Arrogate has reached the stratosphere of his sport based on breathtaking performances in his last four outings. He took the Travers Stakes in August at Saratoga by a smashing 13½ lengths. He then took down powerhouse California Chrome, putting him away by a half-length, to win November’s Breeders’ Cup Classic at Santa Anita.

He has upped the ante this year, winning the world’s richest horse race, the $12-million Pegasus World Cup, in January, and following that in March with a come-from-behind triumph in the $10-million Dubai World Cup. Just like that, Arrogate has earned $17,084,600, more than any North American race horse in history.

Peter Miller, who will saddle the 12-1 long shot El Huerfano in the 11/16-mile San Diego, put it this way: “If we run second, it’s a win.”

Only three other horses will take on Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert’s top-rated thoroughbred: Accelerate (8-1), Donworth (10-1) and Cat Burglar (10-1), who also is trained by Baffert. The Keith Desormeaux-trained Dalmore dropped out Friday, opting to race here Sunday in the Wickerr Stakes.

Accelerate, ridden by California Chrome’s former jockey Victor Espinoza, is the only competitor in the field (and one of two horses ever) who has finished ahead of Arrogate, slipping into second place, a neck ahead of him last April in Arrogate’s first race.

Smith was not aboard that day, but has had the best view of Arrogate’s last four high-stakes wins. He had little difficulty pin-pointing what makes the 4-year-old son of Unbridled’s Song so special.

“He seems to have a tremendous lung capacity,” Smith said. “As a race develops, he gets stronger. It’s really amazing because he just keeps going faster and faster. He never seems to get tired.”

What possibly could go wrong?

Plenty, in a sport that has been producing upsets for more than 100 years, including a horse by the very name Upset handing the great Man o’ War his only defeat in 1919 at Saratoga. The seemingly invincible Cigar, who had won a record 16 straight races, was beaten at Del Mar in 1996 by long shot Dare and Go.

Angle Light over Secretariat. … J.O. Tobin getting the better of Seattle Slew. … Tonalist ending California Chrome’s Triple Crown dream in 2014. And, on a smaller scale, even Arrogate himself surprising Chrome last November.

“One great thing about this sport is that they’re not machines,” said Donworth’s trainer Doug O’Neill, who knows a thing or two about great horses, having trained two Kentucky Derby winners in this decade. “As much as Arrogate looks unbeatable, they all are beatable. If he’s not feeling it (today) and we are, we’ll shock the world.”

To that end, Smith worries somewhat about Arrogate coming out of the gate. He has had to overcome slow starts to win both of his big races this year, particularly in Dubai.

“It hasn’t hurt him so far, but you don’t want to give anybody a head start,” Smith said. “Hopefully all goes well.”

It should. But don’t tell that to Baffert. A visitor wished him good luck earlier this week, then reneged on the well wishes, noting that Arrogate was all but a lock.

“Don’t take that back,” Baffert said. “In horse racing, you always want to have good luck, no matter what.”