DEL MAR, Calif. - Talk about a quick return on your investment.

Barely a week after being purchased, Student Council made his first trip to the West Coast and stunned defending champion Lava Man to win the $1 million Pacific Classic by a half-length Sunday at Del Mar.

Sent off as the even-money favorite, Lava Man faded to sixth in front of 35,320, the largest crowd since 2002 and third-largest in the race’s 17-year history.

“I thought he ran a great race,” Lava Man’s trainer Doug O’Neill said. “He just wasn’t good enough. I thought going into the turn he had a big chance. But he ran well.”

Eager to win the Pacific Classic after his Super Frolic finished third last year and fifth in 2005, Ro Parra bought Student Council on Aug. 10 for an undisclosed price from Will Farish, who owns Lane’s End Farm in Versailles, Ky., and bred Student Council.

The horse was then shipped from Saratoga in upstate New York to Del Mar, where trainer Vladimir Cerin gave him a few workouts over the new synthetic Polytrack surface.

“I’m taking credit for not ruining him in the short time I’ve had him,” said Cerin, who thanked Neil Howard for sending him background on Student Council’s training.

At 23-1 odds, Student Council and Richard Migliore covered 1¼ miles in 2:07.29 and paid $48.80, $31.80 and $20.60. The horse’s time was the slowest in race history, although the Classic was being run on Polytrack for the first time.

Lava Man’s time of 2:01.62 last year was the previous slowest.

Awesome Gem returned $12.40 and $8.20, while Hello Sunday was another four lengths back in third and paid $9.40 to show.

Arson Squad was fourth and Big Booster fifth in the field of 12.

Student Council earned an automatic berth in the Breeders’ Cup Classic Oct. 27 at New Jersey’s Monmouth Park as part of the new selection process for horse racing’s richest day.

“Let’s just enjoy this one. You lose so many races, when you win, enjoy it,” Cerin said. “We can certainly make plans.”

The Breeders’ Cup would be another step up for Student Council, who ran 1¼ miles for the first time Sunday in his first Grade 1 race. He earned $600,000.

Parra, a native of Ecuador who works for computer maker Dell in Austin, Texas, wasn’t at Del Mar to hoist the winner’s trophy.

“He was pleased,” said Cerin, who talked to the owner by cell phone.

Student Council was sixth in the early going and moved up to third at the mile mark before holding off Awesome Gem.

“Richard was a master at executing the plan if he had the horse,” Cerin said. “Cerebral isn’t a word often used with jocks, but it goes with this rider.”

It was also a big win for Migliore, the veteran rider who left his family behind in New York to ride in California this year.

“They are all here with me today and this is so sweet,” he said. “I was fortunate to pick up this mount. So fortunate. Turning for home, I was feeling good, but I knew I had Lava Man with me. I couldn’t be sure. But he kept on going. So sweet.”

Lava Man was seeking a sweep of Southern California’s three major races for older horses for a second straight year. He’d already won the Hollywood Gold Cup and Santa Anita Handicap toward the repeat.

But the richest claiming horse in thoroughbred racing history with more than $5 million in earnings couldn’t get it done. Lava Man broke from the No. 1 post under Corey Nakatani, who had him no worse than fourth.

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They steadily moved up until Lava Man was second at the stretch turn, but then he faded and failed to earn a share of the purse.

“He tried hard,” Nakatani said. “But he was struggling a bit out there. He wasn’t really getting the track.”

Lava Man’s groom Noe Garcia was at the race nearly a month after losing his left arm in a car accident on the way to work at Del Mar. Garcia’s van was hit by a drunken driver, who has pleaded not guilty to three felony charges.

A poker tournament held Friday night raised $120,000 minus expenses to help pay for a prosthetic arm and rehabilitation for Garcia.

Lava Man has a known distaste for running outside California, where is 0-for-5.

But Student Council handed him a second defeat in three starts in his home state. Lava Man finished second in the Charles Whittingham Handicap at Hollywood Park in June before winning the Hollywood Gold Cup again on Cushion Track, another brand of synthetic surface.

“Lava Man is a great horse,” Cerin said. “He made a lot of money over a long time, maybe it’s somebody else’s turn.”

Del Mar set a single-day record with a wagering total of $24,642,601, bettering the 2005 Pacific Classic day mark of $24,004,733.

Santa Anita Derby winner Tiago was scratched before the race by trainer John Shirreffs, who simply wanted to look for another race for the 3-year-old. He has yet to decide which it will be.