DEL MAR, Calif. - Katonah, the maiden claimer last fall who became a stakes winner this summer, was pronounced ready for Saturday’s Grade 1 Pacific Classic at Del Mar after officially working six furlongs in 1:12 from the gate on Sunday. Trainer Doug O’Neill said the exercise was a five-furlong workout in 58.60 seconds. Katonah galloped out seven furlongs in 1:25.60, O’Neill said. O’Neill said he needed to see a positive work from the 4-year-old Katonah to consider the gelding for his graded stakes debut in the $1 million Pacific Classic at 1 1/4 miles. Katonah missed “a few days” of training earlier this month with a bruised foot, O’Neill said recently. “He worked like a train,” O’Neill said. “The work was going to tell us. He recovered quickly. He’s fit and ready.” :: Get Del Mar Clocker Reports straight from the morning workouts at the track. Available every race day.  Owned by Ron Arakelian III, Katonah is part of a projected 10 in the Pacific Classic, California’s richest annual Thoroughbred race. Katonah has won 4 of 7 starts and earned $194,660 since he was claimed for $50,000 from a maiden race at Del Mar last November. Katonah has won his last two starts, an allowance race at a mile at Santa Anita on May 27, and his stakes debut in the $152,000 Pleasanton Mile at a mile and 70 yards at the Alameda County Fair in Northern California on July 9. Katonah closed from eighth of 10 in the Pleasanton Mile to win by 3 1/4 lengths. The Pacific Classic became a focus immediately after that race. The Pacific Classic will be Katonah’s longest race. He is one of five expected runners racing at 1 1/4 miles for the first time. The distance will be new for the highly regarded 3-year-olds Geaux Rocket Ride and Arabian Knight, who were first and third in the Grade 1 Haskell Invitational for 3-year-olds at 1 1/8 miles at Monmouth Park in New Jersey on July 22; and Skinner, who was second in the Los Alamitos Derby at 1 1/8 miles on July 9. This will be their first starts against older horses. Slow Down Andy, a three-time stakes winner trained by O’Neill, will start at 1 1/4 miles for the first time. Other probable starters who have raced at 1 1/4 miles or farther in their careers are the older horses Defunded and Piroli, who were first and second in the Grade 1 Hollywood Gold Cup at 1 1/4 miles at Santa Anita on May 29; Stilleto Boy, the winner of the Grade 1 Santa Anita Handicap in March; Senor Buscador, who won the Grade 2 San Diego Handicap at 1 1/16 miles by 1 1/4 lengths over Slow Down Andy on July 29; and Tripoli, who won the 2021 Pacific Classic. Order and Law, who won the Grade 3 Cougar II Stakes at 1 1/2 miles on July 23, is under consideration. Tripoli, owned by Hronis Racing and trained by John Sadler, was fifth by 3 1/2 lengths in the San Diego. A 6-year-old horse, Tripoli is winless in 10 starts in stakes since the 2021 Pacific Classic, but did win an allowance race at Golden Gate Fields in March. Sadler has won four of the last five runnings of the Pacific Classic, including in 2022 with eventual Horse of the Year Flightline, who won by a record margin of 19 1/4 lengths. Flightline, who finished his six-race career undefeated, was co-owned by Hronis and retired to stud last year. For Hronis, Sadler won the 2018 Pacific Classic with Accelerate and the 2019 running with Higher Power. Tripoli was beaten a half-length for third in the San Diego Handicap on July 29 after a wide trip and traffic issues. Tiago Pereira rode Tripoli that day and has the mount on Saturday. “Tiago thought he had a rough trip,” Sadler said. “With a better trip, he could have been second. “He’s trained well since and this is his favorite track. There is not a standout” in the race. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.