Accelerate © Benoit Photo

An impressive effort in the 28^th running of the TVG Pacific Classic that produced a record 12 ½-length margin of victory propelled Accelerate to honors as Horse of the Meeting and top older Horse for the 2018 summer season in a vote of the media.

Trained by John Sadler for Hronis Racing LLC, Accelerate, a 5-year-old son of Lookin At Lucky, was kept in reserve while stablemate Catalina Cruiser won the Classic prep San Diego Handicap. But when the time came in the $1 million TVG Pacific Classic, signature race of the 79^th summer meeting, Accelerate was turned loose by jockey Joel Rosario and left his closest pursuers in the dust to better the existing margin of victory record in the race of 8 ½ lengths by Game On Dude in 2013.

His first Pacific Classic victory secured, Sadler brought Catalina Cruiser back to win the seven-furlong Grade II Pat O’Brien Stakes and that victory swayed enough voters to gain Catalina Cruiser the top sprinter title by a narrow margin over Ransom the Moon, who won the Grade I Bing Crosby Stakes for the second year in a row.

Accelerate and Catalina Cruiser were the only ones to receive Horse of the Meeting votes with Accelerate the solid choice.

Bellafina, who defeated a stellar field in the Del Mar Debutante to take top 2-year-old filly honors, was the only unanimous vote getter in the nine categories. The others missed unanimity by four votes or less.

Catapult, another Sadler trainee, gave the conditioner a third meeting champion, taking home top grass horse honors with Grade II victories in the Eddie Read Stakes and Del Mar Mile.

Eclipse Award-winning Unique Bella threw a shoe during the running of the Grade I Clement L. Hirsch Stakes but prevailed by a half-length anyway to be voted the top older Female.

It only took one Del Mar appearance, after last racing in the East, for the winners in the top 3-year-old categories. Fatale Bere erased the memory of an ill-fated trip to New York to win the Grade I Del Mar Oaks and be voted top 3-year-old filly. Trainer Mark Casse sent Ride a Comet on a cross-country journey from Saratoga, N.Y., to win the Del Mar Derby and be voted top 3-year-old.   

A victory in the closing day Grade I Del Mar Futurity, a record 14^th for trainer Bob Baffert, put Game Winner in with the honored group as top 2-Year-old.