Lady Suebee cruises to front-running win in Tranquility Lake

DEL MAR, Calif. – John Sadler had tried Lady Suebee short on the dirt and short on the turf in the six times she had raced for him since he took over as her trainer, but not until Friday at Del Mar did he decide to try and stretch her out, and the horizons certainly widened as a result.

Lady Suebee set a sharp pace, turned back a couple of challenges three furlongs out, and bounded home for a 5 1/2-length victory in the $87,600 Tranquility Lake, a one-mile stakes restricted to older females who had not won a stakes since Feb. 1.

Lady Suebee was stakes-placed three times in those six starts for Sadler, but after a poor try in a turf sprint here earlier in the meet July 20, Sadler decided to stretch her out on the dirt. He also was running out of options, as Lady Suebee had three prior wins, and getting an allowance to go at that level is unrealistic on this circuit.

“She hated the turf the other day,” Sadler said. “It was too hard for her. She’s been hard to place. She doesn’t have a condition.”

With Victor Espinoza up, Lady Suebee ($6.40) sped through the opening quarter-mile in 22.53 seconds with favored Vibrance hounding her, then got a fresh challenge from her Sadler-trained stablemate Yuvetsi after a half-mile in 46.20.

Lady Suebee re-broke. She spurned those bids, was up by three lengths after six furlongs in 1:10.70, and coasted home in 1:37.42 on the fast main track.

Kaydetre, last in the five-horse field early, was along for second, 3 3/4 lengths in front of Zusha, who nosed out Yuvetsi for third. Vibrance faded to last. Six were entered, but Just a Smidge was scratched Friday morning.

Lady Suebee, 4, is a daughter of First Defence who made her first nine starts on the East Coast for trainer Chad Brown. She was purchased by bloodstock agent David Ingordo, on behalf of owners Kosta and Pete Hronis, at the Keeneland November sale for $230,000 and sent west to Sadler. She has earned more than $118,000 this year, including a first prize of $52,560 on Friday.

“We like buying these types,” Sadler said. “Hopefully, we can sell her for a little more than what we paid. I think she can do a little bit of everything. This gives us more races to pick from.”