For this year's 25th running of the Grade I TVG Pacific Classic on Saturday, it comes down to one big question: Is there a male in the house who can beat trainer Richard Mandella's super mare Beholder and keep her from becoming the first female to win the $1-million race?
Nine males will take a run at her for the $600,000 first-place check, but there's $200,000 for second and $120,000 for third, certainly not chump change. Just ask trainer John Sadler, who saddled Kettle Corn and You Know I Know, the second- and third-place finishers, respectively, to the record-setting Game On Dude in 2013 when the Bob Baffert horse won the Pacific Classic by a record 8 1/2 lengths.