Pacific Classic not in plans for Catalina Cruiser

DEL MAR, Calif. – With two of the best older runners on the West Coast, trainer John Sadler has a good problem on his hands.

The day after Catalina Cruiser romped in the San Diego on Saturday, Sadler said he was inclined to give the unbeaten colt more time between starts and stick with his original plan to make Accelerate his lone representative in the Aug. 18 Pacific Classic. Both Catalina Cruiser and Accelerate are owned by Kosta and Pete Hronis.

Accelerate worked five furlongs on Sunday morning in 59.60 seconds, which tied for the fastest of 69 works at the distance.

Sadler on Saturday had left open the possibility of running Catalina Cruiser in the Pacific Classic and re-routing Accelerate to the Whitney at Saratoga. But having pondered the situation overnight, he thought running Catalina Cruiser going 1 1/4 miles in the Pacific Classic in his fourth start might be a bit much, so he was inclined to wait with him for something later this summer or fall, perhaps the 1 1/8-mile Awesome Again at Santa Anita at the end of September.

Sadler said the San Diego “couldn’t have gone any better.”

“He’s made a nice progression,” Sadler said of Catalina Cruiser.

Accelerate already owns 1 1/4-mile wins this year in the Santa Anita Handicap and Gold Cup at Santa Anita.

Sadler said the main year-end objectives are the Breeders’ Cup Classic for Accelerate and Dirt Mile for Catalina Cruiser. This year’s Breeders’ Cup is Nov. 2-3 at Churchill Downs.