Del Mar, CA -- (Sports Network) - Well Armed went wire-to-wire Saturday in winning the $300,000 San Diego Handicap at Del Mar. The win in the 1 1/16 mile race gives Well Armed an automatic spot in the 2008 Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile as part of the "Win and You're In" program.

Ridden by Aaron Gryder, Well Armed took the lead shortly after the start and the led the 10 horse field into the clubhouse turn and up the backstretch. Running in second was Global Hunter with Surf Cat and Tall Texan vying for third.

Well Armed, sent off as the 8-5 favorite, continued on the lead through the turn for home and into the stretch. The five-year-old gelding maintained his lead through the stretch and was never seriously challenged.

"I was very confident with him today," said Gryder. "I rode him that way. He's a free-flowing horse with a big stride and he was running easy with his ears pricked. It wasn't a matter of giving him a breather, he had a breather all the way. A horse like this makes my job easy. He got freshened the right way (since his March 29 start in Dubai) and I was confident he'd come back running. I don't know what they'll do with him next. That's not my job. I'm just happy I get to get on board one like him."

Rallying down the stretch was the 4-1 third choice Surf Cat to finish second, 1 1/4 lengths behind the winner, with Mostacolli Mort advancing into third and Mr Napper Tandy finishing fourth.

Well Armed set a stakes record of 1:41.57 for the 67th running of the San Diego Handicap on Del Mar's synthetic track.

Rounding out the order of finish was Rebellion, Global Hunter, Tall Texan, You Got Me Rocking, Magnum and Racketeer.

The San Diego also serves as the local prep for the $1 million Pacific Classic on Sunday, August 24. Not entered in the San Diego was 2007 Pacific Classic winner Student Council who is training at Saratoga. The six-year-old, however, is expected to be at Del Mar on August 24.

Well Armed, trained by Eoin Harty for WinStar Farms, was making his first start since his third-place result behind Curlin in the Dubai World Cup in March. Earlier this year the five-year-old gelding defeated Heatseeker in the San Antonio Handicap at Santa Anita and was second in the San Pasqual behind Zappa and ahead of Heatseeker.

"I'm glad he made his move on the turn instead of waiting for the quarter pole." noted Harty. "That was the key to the victory. Full credit goes to Aaron (Gryder) for that. I began to feel better at that point when he opened up. I wasn't all that comfortable with things before that even though he was in the lead and looking good."

The San Diego victory was worth $180,000 to bring Well Armed's career earnings to just over $1 million. The gelding has five wins in 17 career starts.

Well Armed returned $5.40, $3.60 and $2.80. Surf Cat paid $4.40 and $3.40, and Mostacolli Mort paid $4.60 to show.