Collected.
Calm, cool, and collected – that's what jockey Martin Garcia and his mount Collected had to be as they neared the wire in the $1 million TVG Pacific Classic at Del Mar. That's because superhorse Arrogate was roaring down the stretch with dead aim on them.
"I could feel a big animal coming behind me," Garcia said. "(It was like) when you are in a little car and you can feel a big car coming. I could feel it, and I was praying I could hit the wire first."
The pair kept it together, giving Collected his first Grade 1 win – and allowing Garcia a huge sigh of relief with the half-length victory over the richest horse in the world.
Collected nabbed the early lead in the Pacific Classic, while Accelerate (upset winner over Arrogate in the San Diego Handicap) stayed close and Arrogate settled in third. They stayed in that formation through the first three-quarters of the mile and a quarter race, before Collected started to pull away. Arrogate found his best stride in the last furlong and came with a rush, but couldn't get there in time. Bob Baffert trains both Collected and Arrogate, who has earnings over $17 million.
Collected has not only out run his breeding as a son of City Zip, who was best known as a sprinter, but has also proven to be quite the bargain as a $150,000 purchase at the 2014 Keeneland September Yearling sale. To date, he has earned $1,260,500.
Collected is a perfect four-for-four this season, and a winner of eight of his 11 lifetime starts. After breaking his maiden first out at Santa Anita, every start has been in stakes company. The Pacific Classic victory secured the colt a spot in the starting gate for the Breeders' Cup Classic as a part of the Breeders' Cup Challenge Series.