Full Serrano off until Del Mar after unlucky Oaklawn Mile

Full Serrano, winner of the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile in 2024, is unlikely to race again until the Del Mar summer meeting after finishing a troubled fourth in the Grade 3 Oaklawn Mile in Arkansas on Saturday.

The 2-1 second choice in a field of seven, Full Serrano stumbled at the start of the $500,000 Oaklawn Mile, breaking three or four lengths behind the field. Full Serrano raced wide throughout the race and finished 3 3/4 lengths behind 9-5 favorite Nu What’s New.

Without the troubled start, “he would have won,” trainer John Sadler said. “It was one of those deals.”

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Owned by Hronis Racing, Full Serrano will be pointed for the Grade 2 San Diego Handicap at 1 1/16 miles on July 18, opening weekend of the meeting.

“The idea is to have him ready for Del Mar,” Sadler said.

Another summertime option at Del Mar is the Grade 1 Pacific Classic at 1 1/4 miles on Aug. 22. Full Serrano was second by a half-length in the $1 million Pacific Classic in 2024.

Full Serrano, a 7-year-old Argentine-bred horse, won the BC Dirt Mile at Del Mar in 2024 and was fifth in the race last November.

Sadler has another notable South American in his stable in the 5-year-old Chilean-bred horse The Goat, a winner of three consecutive Group 1 races on dirt in Chile in the final months of 2024.

The Goat, who has yet to start in the United States, has had five workouts at Santa Anita since late February, including a half-mile in 47.60 seconds.

“Hopefully, he’s ready at the end of April,” Sadler said. “He wants a middle or longer distance” race.

The Goat’s Group 1 wins ranged from a mile to 1 3/8 miles.

Sadler slyly admitted there will be pressure involved with The Goat’s career, considering his name is a slang acronym for greatest of all time.

“It’s a heavy name,” Sadler said.

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