Del Mar: Journalism looks right at home for San Diego Handicap

Last year at this time Journalism was preparing for the Haskell (G1) at Monmouth Park. He had been the only horse to run in all three jewels of the Triple Crown, finishing second in the Kentucky Derby, first in the Preakness Stakes and second again to Sovereignty in the Belmont Stakes. He would go on to win the Haskell in dramatic fashion, surging late to run down very game Gosger. That’s why he was the odds-on favorite to win the Pacific Classic (G1) six weeks later. He would come up short that day, finishing second to Fierceness in Del Mar’s marquee race. Click here for Del Mar entries and results . Journalism would run one more time at Del Mar, running fourth in the Breeders’ Cup Classic in the fall. The 4-year-old son of Curlin returns to the seaside oval Saturday when he will be the even-money program favorite taking on six rivals in the Grade 2, $300,000 San Diego Handicap , a 1 1/16-mile local prep for the Pacific Classic. “It’s nice to have a home game for him,” trainer Michael McCarthy said, “instead of having to put him on a plane.” McCarthy has run Journalism twice this year, both times outside of California. He finished third behind White Abarrio and Sovereignty in the Oaklawn Handicap (G2) in Arkansas, and he posted another third-place finish in the Met Mile (G1) at Saratoga on Belmont Stakes day. “He’s a very impressive, physical specimen,” McCarthy said. “He’s a bigger, stronger horse this year.” Journalism, whose owners are led by Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners, will have Umberto Rispoli back in the saddle and a top impost of 125 pounds. Rispoli rode the colt all through 2025 until the Breeders’ Cup. That was where he was replaced by José Ortiz, who had been his regular rider since. They will have to contend with another Breeders’ Cup winner in the San Diego. Full Serrano returns to where he took the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile in 2024. A couple of months before, he was nailed late by long shot Mixto in the Pacific Classic. “This is one of his favorite tracks,” Full Serrano’s trainer John Sadler said. “He’s won two races and has two seconds here, so we’re looking forward to that. We think that’s going to be fun.” Full Serrano, an Argentina-bred 7-year-old, won an allowance race by seven lengths at Del Mar last summer but then finished a disappointing fifth in his defense of his Dirt Mile crown. He also has run twice in 2026, posting a third-place finish in the Pegasus World Cup Invitational (G1) at Gulfstream Park in January and running fourth in the Oaklawn Mile (G3) in March. Sadler has won the San Diego five times and comes into the summer meet in second place on the career list of stakes wins by trainers at Del Mar with 93. He also sends out The Goat, a Chile-bred 5-year-old who made his U.S. debut in May, finishing fourth in the Triple Bend (G3) at Santa Anita. “This is his second race out of Chile, where he was a champion,” Sadler said. “He hadn’t run in a year, so we’re anxious to give him a shot.” Trainer Phil D’Amato also has a pair of entries in the San Diego. Shea Brennan is coming off of a win in the $100,000 Bertrando at Los Alamitos in his 4-year-old debut last month. “We didn’t expect him to show the kind of speed he did,” D’Amato said. “But he did it the right way and finished with some in reserve.” The California-bred son of Tough Sunday is owned by Nick Alexander. He broke his maiden at Del Mar in 2024 and ran second in last year’s $150,000 Real Good Deal Stakes. “He likes this Del Mar surface,” D’Amato said. “I think second off the bench he’ll be primed and ready to run his best race. He’s going to need to be with some nice horses in there.” One of whom is his stablemate, Iron Man Cal, a 4-year-old son of Collected who missed winning the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf by a neck at Del Mar in 2024. He ran second in last year’s Oceanside Stakes and has been keeping allowance company in 2026. “We’re going to try something new here on the dirt,” D’Amato said. “He trains really well on the dirt, but you never know if these grass horses in the afternoon will take to it like they do in the morning. He has been training with some of my better horses like Shea Brennan and Stronghold and doing as well as them. That’s why we’re taking a shot.” Mirahmadi, the runner-up in both the 2023 Del Mar Futurity and last year’s edition of the San Diego, has not raced since. He makes his 5-year-old debut Saturday, going with blinkers off. Mc Vay is out of the Peter Eurton barn and ran third last out in the Gold Cup (G2). This is the 85th running of the San Diego Handicap. It goes off as the eighth of 11 races. The scheduled post time is 8:40 p.m. EDT. 2026 San Diego Handicap G2 No. Silks Horse / Sire Rating Trainer / Jockey Last Start / Next Start ML 1 Mc Vay Constitution 6.91 Peter Eurton Hector I. Berrios 3rd (119), 2026 Hollywood Gold Cup G2 15-1 Last Race 3rd (119), 2026 Hollywood Gold Cup G2 2 Mirahmadi Into Mischief 6.85 Bob Baffert Juan J. Hernandez 2nd (119), 2025 San Diego Handicap G2 6-1 Last Race 2nd (119), 2025 San Diego Handicap G2 3 Shea Brennan Tough Sunday 4.79 Philip D’Amato Armando Ayuso 1st (124), Bertrando S. 12-1 Last Race 1st (124), Bertrando S. 4 Iron Man Cal Collected 6.28 Philip D’Amato Antonio Fresu 1st (119), SA AOC (06/07/2026-R8) 10-1 Last Race 1st (119), SA AOC (06/07/2026-R8) 5 Journalism Curlin 7.92 Michael W. McCarthy Umberto Rispoli 3rd (121), 2026 Metropolitan G1 2026 Pacific Classic G1 1-1 Last Race Next Race 3rd (121), 2026 Metropolitan G1 2026 Pacific Classic G1 6 Full Serrano Full Mast 7.82 John W. Sadler Joel Rosario 4th (110), 2026 Oaklawn Mile G3 7-2 Last Race 4th (110), 2026 Oaklawn Mile G3 7 The Goat Midshipman 0.00 John W. Sadler Emisael Jaramillo 4th , 2026 Triple Bend G3 6-1 Last Race 4th , 2026 Triple Bend G3 Race Video ×