Pacific Classic at Del Mar

“The horses that run at Del Mar in late August…”

The Pacific Classic — the West Coast's signature Grade I stakes race — runs August 22, 2026 at Del Mar Thoroughbred Club, with a $1.25 million purse and the best horses on the coast competing on one of the most beautiful tracks in American racing.

Del Mar on Pacific Classic day is Del Mar at its best. The crowd dresses for it. The energy is different from a regular Saturday card — you feel it in the paddock before the first race, in the bar by the second, in the infield when the big horses walk to the gate. The Pacific Classic has been run here since 1991, and the names on the past performers list are names that matter in racing. Watching it in person, at that rail, in that track, is the experience.

Del Mar opens at 12:30 PM for Pacific Classic day. Gates off Jimmy Durante Boulevard. Grandstand, turf club, and paddock box options — the infield is the move for the atmosphere, the turf club for the view. This is the one race day on the Del Mar calendar that sells completely differently from the rest of the meet.