Bran expected to make start in Del Mar Mile

DEL MAR, Calif. – At this time of year in recent seasons, Bran, the 6-year-old gelding trained by John Sadler, would have been on a plane for a stakes appearance at Kentucky Downs or being prepared for a turf sprint.

This summer, Bran is thriving in one-mile races, leaving him a contender for Saturday’s Grade 2 Del Mar Mile on turf.

It may be a temporary assignment. A lucrative turf sprint next month is another possibility, Sadler said over the weekend.

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Bran won his 2024 debut with a one-length win in a tough allowance race at a mile on turf at Del Mar on July 21. He rates as a leading candidate for the $300,000 Del Mar Mile along with the stakes winners Du Jour and First Peace.

Bran, owned by Hronis Racing, may not have one-mile races on his schedule for long. The Grade 2 Eddie D Stakes at about 6 1/2 furlongs on the hillside turf course at Santa Anita on Sept. 28 will be worth a record $750,000 this year and is an option, Sadler said.

The Eddie D was worth $203,000 last year. The massive purse hike is part of a promotion by the track’s parent company, 1/ST Racing, to build an early autumn day of major stakes. Combined with music and food promotions, the track hopes to create a day with enhanced attendance that draws attention from a crowd that would not normally attend racing.

Bran was second by a half-length in the 2023 Eddie D, and won the Grade 3 Daytona Stakes on the hillside turf course in 2022.

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