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Californians are deeply frustrated with the length of the November ballot, which includes 14 statewide propositions, and gloomy about the direction of the state and the nation, according to a Public Policy Institute of California poll published Tuesday night.

They “are feeling very pessimistic,” said Mark Baldassare, PPIC’s statewide survey director. “You know that comes out not just in the questions we ask about the economy, but generally about the direction of the state and the nation. This just indicates the level of negativity that people have going into this final stage before people cast their ballots this November.”

More than half of the state’s likely voters believe that California is headed in the wrong direction, and 73% predict sour economic times in the state next year. Less than a quarter of likely voters believe the nation is headed in the right direction.

President Trump has an approval rating of 27% of likely voters, but that’s better than Congress, which has a 16% approval rating. Majorities do not have confidence in either major political party’s ability to solve problems.

Ballots will begin arriving in 23.2 million voters’ mailboxes in a little over two weeks. Nearly 80% of likely voters are frustrated by the length of the ballot, which includes 14 propositions as well as statewide, congressional and local elections. This a rare consensus among Democratic, Republican and independent voters.

“This year, there are more propositions on the ballot than we’ve seen for a decade,” Baldassare said. “Overwhelming majorities of Californians say that there are too many propositions on the ballot, too many things for them to decide. And many Californians feel that the wording of ballot initiatives makes it very hard for them to understand what happens if one passes.”

The proposal to tax the assets of billionaires to make up for federal government healthcare cuts, Proposition 40, has a slim lead in the poll, with 52% of likely voters saying they support the one-time 5% levy.

However, there are two ballot measures, Propositions 41 and 42, that would nullify the wealth tax if one is approved and gets more votes than Proposition 40. Narrow majorities support both of these proposals, creating a quandary for wealth tax supporters: ensuring their proposal receives the support of a majority of voters while also tamping down support for the competing efforts.

Findings about the proposal to require showing government-issued identification to vote and the governor’s race show less competitive contests that break along predictable partisan lines in a state where registered Democratic voters outnumber Republicans nearly 2 to 1.

The voter ID measure is opposed by 55% of likely voters. In the race to succeed termed-out Gov. Gavin Newsom, 60% of likely voters support Democrat Xavier Becerra, and 38% support Republican Steve Hilton. The other 2% were undecided or do not plan to vote on the race.

The poll of 1,745 adult Californians was conducted Sept. 4-10, and has a margin of error of about 3 percentage points in either direction, and 3.8 percentage points among the 1,103 likely voters.

One of the more remarkable streaks in the history of this nearly century-old racetrack is still alive.

It’s just not the one most people expected.

Gold Phoenix’s bid to join Kelso as the only horses to win the same major stakes race in North America in five straight years ended Saturday evening when the 8-year-old gelding finished fourth behind Test Score and two others in the $300,000 Del Mar Handicap.

“Got beat, I think less than a length, and got stopped there at the top of the lane,” trainer Phil D’Amato said. “That’s grass racing.”

More specifically, it’s grass racing at Del Mar against Graham Motion, the East Coast trainer who in recent years has been more successful here than a margarita concession stand.

Test Score was the eighth horse Motion has sent to Del Mar for a summer stakes race since 2022 — and the eighth to win.

“It’s crazy,” said assistant trainer Alice Clapham, who accompanied Test Score on his trip west. “It’s one of those things you just pinch yourself. You know it’s going to stop at some point but you just go along for the ride.”

Gold Phoenix’s owners know the feeling.

They never expected their gelding to win this race four straight times, an unprecedented feat at Del Mar, but each year since 2022 he found a way, prevailing three times by less than half a length and once by 1¼ lengths.

This time the 11-10 favorite found himself on the wrong side of a five-horse photo finish. He nosed out Mondego but was a head behind Atomic Age, who was half a length behind Atitlan, who was a neck behind Test Score. The winner, a son of Lookin at Lucky who is half Gold Phoenix’s age, paid $7.20 as the 13-5 second choice.

While disappointed, Gold Phoenix’s connections weren’t about to ask for condolences.

“We’re so grateful for everything that he has done, for all of us and the partners,” said Gary Fenton, managing partner of Little Red Feather Racing Stable. “He’s just a really, really special horse and today changes nothing.”

Said Billy Koch, Little Red Feather’s other managing partner: “It just didn’t work out the way we needed it to work out. He tries, though, every time. Can’t say anything but be proud of him.”

Koch said he had a feeling during the race that another win could be problematic. Gold Phoenix was near the back of the pack in the field of 11 until the far turn, when jockey Hector Berrios began urging him. The jockey had to hold him up just a bit as they came around the corner, though he had a clear run once he shifted toward the rail.

Test Score also rallied from behind but had a little smoother journey under Juan Hernandez and outdid the other closers.

“[Berrios] took a chance to go up in there,” D’Amato said. “It got a little tight but once he got through, he battled and we just got outrun.”

The final time of 2 minutes 14.76 seconds for 1-3/8 miles was the fastest since Gold Phoenix’s initial win (2:14.51). As part of the Breeders’ Cup Challenge Series, Test Score earned a fees-paid berth in the $5-million Breeders’ Cup Turf on Oct. 31 at Keeneland.

Fenton said the plan is to give Gold Phoenix another shot in that race, in which he’s finished fourth twice, fifth and 10th and earned $640,000 — about 25% of his career earnings of $2.6 million.

He won’t be the only Little Red Feather horse at Keeneland. Just a half-hour before Gold Phoenix’s race, Iron Man Cal pulled off an 8-1 upset in another Grade 2 race, the $250,000 Pat O’Brien. That win, in 1:22.02 for seven furlongs under Joel Rosario, guaranteed the 4-year-old gelding a berth in the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile.

DEL MAR — Bill Mott was nearly 2,500 miles from Del Mar on Saturday night, but if you listened closely as the field raced down the backstretch in the $1 million Pacific Classic, you probably could hear the Hall of Fame trainer scream.

Thirty years ago, Mott brought Cigar to this same track for this same race, hoping his superstar horse would set the modern-day North American record for consecutive victories. But Cigar, at odds of 1-10, got caught up in a speed duel and wound up losing to a 39-1 long shot named Dare and Go.

Now it seemed like it might be happening again.

Knightsbridge went off at odds of 11-10 instead of Cigar’s 1-10 and he wasn’t racing for history, but the race took on an eerie similarity as the favorite dueled head-and-head with Full Serrano for much of the 1¼ miles. And they were going fast — not quite as fast as Cigar but close enough (1 minute, 10.02 seconds to 1:09.29) for some anguish.

“I thought maybe they were going a little too fast down the backside,” Mott told Del Mar publicity by phone from Saratoga Springs, N.Y.

He had no way of knowing, but so did his jockey.

“I was a little worried we were going a little too fast,” Junior Alvarado said.

As it turned out, neither man had reason to worry. Knightsbridge had a short lead as the two horses passed the mile marker, and when they straightened out in the stretch, the race was over. He continued on, Full Serrano weakened, and the others were too far back.

The final time was 2:02.28, with Original Sin 6¼ lengths behind in second and Full Serrano third. Om N Joy, the first filly to try the Pacific Classic in a decade, finished fourth, followed by Hit Show, Malarchuk, Forged Steel, British Isles, Navajo Warrior, Subsanador and Finger, a Japanese 3-year-old.

With the victory, worth $4.20 to his backers and $600,000 to owners Godolphin, Knightsbridge earned an automatic berth in the Breeders’ Cup Classic on Oct. 31 at Keeneland. But whether he runs in that race or the Dirt Mile will be a decision for Mott and Godolphin, who also have Sovereignty, last year’s horse of the year and the top-ranked horse in the Breeders’ Cup’s initial poll for Classic contenders.

“They’re two different horses,” said Alvarado, who rides both. “It’s nearly impossible to [compare]. This horse carries a lot of speed. The other horse has a hell of a turn of foot coming for home … from the half-mile all the way to the wire, very strong at a mile and a quarter. I don’t recall having such a strong finisher like Sovereignty. So it’s going to be interesting. We got time just to decide what we’re going to do next.”

The idea that Knightsbridge would even be under consideration for the 1¼-mile Classic would have been unthinkable until last month; his first 10 career races were all around one turn at either seven furlongs or a mile. But Mott decided to try him at 1⅛ miles in the Monmouth Cup on July 18 at Monmouth Park, and the 5-year-old son of Nyquist won by 10¼ lengths in a time that earned him the fastest Beyer Speed Figure of the year (122).

With the West Coast handicap division weakened, Mott figured it was a good time to try the Pacific Classic again. He had won the race in 2008 with Go Between and enjoyed other successes here, including last year’s Breeders’ Cup Distaff with Scylla, but he also had to scratch Sovereignty from last year’s Breeders’ Cup Classic when the horse got sick.

Now he has another positive memory — his second win in Del Mar’s signature race, which has been won by only two other trainers not based in California, Todd Pletcher (Fierceness last year) and Dale Romans (Dullahan in 2012).

“It was quite impressive,” Mott said. “They went quick, but gosh he had something to finish with.”

The victory completed a Grade 1 sweep Saturday for Alvarado, who one race earlier captured the $300,000 Del Mar Oaks aboard Tam Tam ($7.40) for trainer Philip Bauer.

How did he plan to celebrate?

“We’re going to celebrate it going back to New York tonight on the red-eye flight,” he said, smiling.

In the other Breeders’ Cup Challenge race here Saturday, the 5-year-old gelding Sorrento Sky ($16), ridden by Umberto Rispoli for trainer Phil D’Amato, earned a spot in the Turf Sprint by capturing the $200,000 Green Flash Handicap by a length over No Nay Hudson. D’Amato and Rispoli also won the $300,000 Del Mar Mile with King of Gosford ($12.40).

The crowd of 15,187 was a 13% increase from last year. The mutuel handle of $29.14 million was the second highest in Del Mar history outside of the Breeders’ Cup, surpassed only by $36.02 million in 2021 when there was a Pick 6 carryover and mandatory payout.