DEL MAR, Calif. — In the paddock at Del Mar racetrack Friday before the $1 million Juvenile Turf Sprint, 18-year big leaguer Rick Sutcliffe and current star Alex Bregman chatted.

Then, Sutcliffe spotted an opening.

The Chicago Cubs broadcaster jokingly hinted to Bregman, who is free agency-bound, that a certain National League team might be in the hunt for a third baseman.

“He’s a great guy,” Bregman said. “I just met him for the first time. We’re going to see what happens (with free agency). I’ve never experienced this process before.”

Baseball gave way to runs of an entirely different sort for the race. The Breeders’ Cup kicked off on Friday, with 14 championships and $30 million on the line across two dirt- and grass-kicking days.

Bregman is co-owner of Governor Sam. Sutcliffe, who lives in Encinitas, waded into Thoroughbred racing for the first time with Pali Kitten.

Friday, the horses bolted from the same gate.

Governor Sam, named after Bregman’s father, led nearly the entire way before being clipped by Magnum Force and Arizona Blaze at the finish.

Pali Kitten, who made the field after a race-week scratch, crossed the line 11th in the 12-horse field.

Now, back to your regularly scheduled baseball programming.

“Some of the nicest people you’ll ever meet are in the horse-racing business,” Sutcliffe said. “So it’s been an absolute blast. It’s like ‘Groundhog Day.’ I feel like my buddy Bill Murray waking up to Sonny and Cher every morning.”

Both players claim connections to San Diego.

Sutcliffe, who used to broadcast Padres games for Channel 4, said late president and CEO Larry Lucchino once asked him about his interest in managing the team.

Lucchino circled back when he led the Red Sox, coaxing Sutcliffe to interview for the manager opening with the team heading into 2004. He declined and Terry Francona led the club to a curse-busting World Series crown.

“My plan was to be a pitching coach or manage in the big leagues,” said Sutcliffe, who just finished his 29th year in broadcasting. “I just never put the microphone down.”

The idea of guiding pitchers intrigued him, though.

“I gave up on the pitching coach thing because (late Padres general manager) Kevin Towers was paying me $15,000 a summer to be the pitching coach. ESPN was paying me more than that for one game on TV. It’s like, ‘What am I doing here?’ “

Bregman’s link stretches back to the Washington Senators, who lured San Diego icon Ted Williams to manage that team.

The man who closed the deal, Stan Bregman, was the general counsel of the team and Alex’s grandfather. Horse namesake Sam Bregman remembers sitting on Williams’ knee in the clubhouse as the baseball stories rolled.

“He used to invite me in for brownies all the time,” Sam said.

In a full-circle moment, Bregman won the All-Star Game’s MVP award named after Williams ... in Washington, D.C.

“It was so meaningful, especially to do it in D.C. where my dad grew up and my grandfather watched so many baseball games,” Alex Bregman said. “It was an incredible experience.

“My grandfather loved two things, baseball and horse racing. So I know he’s pumped that we’re here today.”

Sutcliffe landed in horse racing because of Del Mar.

Twenty-five years ago, he bought a Cardiff townhome from former Padres and Braves slugger Ryan Klesko. He and his wife, Robin, would come to the area to stiff-arm winter.

During fall meets, Sutcliffe would visit the track. He got to know Josh Rubinstein, who is now Del Mar’s president. A couple of years ago, he began to golf with James Cahill.

The San Diegan already was in horse racing.

“I’ve had probably 1,000 people ask me to buy a horse or go in with them to buy a horse,” Sutcliffe said. “I was always, no, no, no, I don’t know anything about it. But I knew Jimmy.”

At an opening day for this year’s summer meet, Cahill popped the question.

“Jimmy said, ‘I got a horse. You want part of it?’ ” Sutcliffe said. “I said, yeah. We got Pali Kitten, not knowing anything about it, never seeing it.”

In the horse’s debut at Del Mar on Aug. 2, he finished fifth. In the next race, Pali Kitten won.

In the Speakeasy Stakes on Oct. 5 at Santa Anita, the sparse four-horse field might have been spooked by a pair of Breeders’ Cup contenders in Smash It and Dreamaway.

Though Pali Kitten trailed as the stretch neared, the Colt roared back to win by a neck.

A Breeders’ Cup dream was born.

“I’m not going to say it’s like winning the World Series, but it was an absolute blast,” said Sutcliffe, rewinding the heart-pounding moment. “(Trainer) Doug (O’Neill) felt like it was good enough, so let’s see if we can get into the Breeders’ Cup.”

Two baseball guys. Two exhilarating magic carpet rides.

For a moment, free agency can wait.

©2024 The San Diego Union-Tribune. Visit sandiegouniontribune.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.