ARCADIA, Calif. – This year’s Kentucky Derby is not trainer John Sadler’s first rodeo, only his best. As in, best chance. Rock Your World, the undefeated Santa Anita Derby winner, marks Sadler’s first Kentucky Derby runner in seven years. Four of his previous starters finished off the board, and the California native has not been back since 2014. “I’ve learned you don’t go back without a contender. You want to go back with a good shot,” Sadler said. “I wouldn’t be going just for the trip. I’m going with a better horse.” He is going with one of the best. Rock Your World won his debut in January, wired the Santa Anita Derby in April, and is among the favorites Saturday at Churchill Downs. Owned by brothers Kosta and Pete Hronis and Michael Talla, 3-for-3 Rock Your World came a long way in a short time. Sadler came a long way, too. It just took a while. Sadler, 65, ranks among California’s top trainers based on a career that began with little fanfare in 1978. “I was pretty much a regional trainer, training for Southern California owners,” he said. “You take the horses they give you, and that’s kind of where you start.” His first taste of notoriety came in 1986 when sprint filly Melair upset Snow Chief in the Grade 2 Silver Screen at Hollywood, followed with stakes wins by sprinters Olympic Prospect and Frost Free. Sadler was labeled a “sprint trainer,” a product of his stock. “When you know that’s as far as they can run, it’s not even a conversation – do you stretch them out?” Sadler said. “As I started getting more long-distance horses, you might de-emphasize speed a little in favor of stamina. It’s not hard. It’s just different.” Sadler’s first Grade 1 win, the 2004 Vanity at Hollywood Park, was appropriately with $32,000 claim Victory Encounter. Modest purchases kept the stable humming, but elite prospects remained out of reach. :: Get Kentucky Derby Betting Strategies for exclusive wager recommendations, contender profiles, pedigree analysis, and more Sadler began training for owner Michael Talla in late 2006. They won graded stakes with fillies Crisp, Mona de Momma, and More Chocolate, purchased for auction prices that ranged from $160,000 to $335,000, near the top of the owner’s comfort zone. But during the 2019 Keeneland yearling sale, Sadler was smitten by a gangly Candy Ride yearling and phoned Talla. “John said, ‘I like this colt, but it’s more than we usually pay,’ ” Talla recalled. “I thought – what’s he going to say – a million dollars? He said, ‘I’m going to get [Hronis] to go in with you. I think this horse is special, you should do it.’ What am I going to say – no?” Talla said yes. After all, Sadler was merely following instructions Talla gave 15 years earlier: “I told [Sadler] go to a sale, grab a magnificent horse, train him perfectly, and get us in the Derby. He finally did it.” Good-natured teasing is fun with close associates, but Kosta and Pete Hronis did not know Sadler when they were introduced in 2010. The brothers were simply looking for a horse to claim, and a trainer to train. The first Saturday in May was not a priority. :: DRF's Kenucky Derby Headquarters: Contenders, latest news, past performances, analysis, and more “When we first met John, that was one of his first questions – I guess you want to go to the Derby?” Kosta recalled. His answer was surprising. “I think the Breeders’ Cup is a better ticket,” Kosta replied. “It’s boy-girl, dirt-turf, short-long. That’s an easier goal. To get in [the Derby] was virtually a needle in a haystack.” Hronis and Sadler got lucky together. The $100,000 purchase Lady of Shamrock won two Grade 1s, same as $50,000 claim Iotapa. Private purchase Stellar Wind won six Grade 1s. Accelerate cost $380,000 as a yearling and won the 2018 Breeders’ Cup Classic. The time was right to think Derby. That’s when Sadler and bloodstock adviser David Ingordo found Rock Your World. “The idea was to buy colts that could be [distance] types. I just thought he was a good-looking prospect,” Sadler said. “I liked that the family ran so well in California, top and bottom.” Candy Ride won the 2003 Pacific Classic; the colt’s first three dams were multiple stakes winners. The Hronis brothers do not typically partner up, but it made sense to spread the risk. :: Get DRF Clocker Reports for the Kentucky Derby and Oaks cards to access exclusive insights from morning training “This was going to be an expensive purchase,” Kosta said. “We also got in a couple others. So instead of taking one . . . it’s like buying stock, you don’t have just one stock in your portfolio.” Rock Your World was purchased for $650,000 by the Hronis brothers and Talla. The Hronis brothers also took on partners with Sadler-trained Flightline, the $1 million Tapit colt whose April 24 debut at Santa Anita was crazy. He defeated maidens by more than 13 lengths with a 105 Beyer. The focus is Rock Your World, Sadler’s best Derby chance after off-the-board finishes by Corby (1993), Sidney’s Candy and Line of David (2010), and Candy Boy (2014). “Every time I’ve been there, I’ve been [high] odds,” Sadler said. “I’m feeling pretty positive. A mile and a quarter will be better. [Rock Your World] has a high cruising speed, and he can carry it forever.”