Sadler barn keeps rolling at Del Mar

DEL MAR, Calif. – The 2019 Del Mar summer meeting does not end until Labor Day and already it has been a milestone season for trainer John Sadler.

Sadler’s stable, backed largely by Pete and Kosta Hronis, has won eight stakes, enough to surpass the late Hall of Famer Charlie Whittingham for third place on the track’s all-time list with 75 wins. Bob Baffert leads all trainers with 130 stakes wins, while Ron McAnally is second with 77.

Sadler may catch McAnally before the meeting ends.

The stable has three stakes runners on Labor Day weekend – Inspiressa in Saturday’s Grade 1 Del Mar Debutante for 2-year-old fillies at seven furlongs, Nolo Contesto in Sunday’s Grade 2 Del Mar Derby for 3-year-olds at 1 1/8 miles on turf, and Encoder in Sunday’s $100,000 Del Mar Juvenile Turf for 2-year-olds at a mile.

Hronis Racing owns those three runners, as well as Sadler’s most recent stakes winner – Catalina Cruiser in the Grade 2 Pat O’Brien Stakes at seven furlongs on Saturday. Catalina Cruiser ($3) won the Pat O’Brien Stakes for the second consecutive year, but had to catch a stubborn Giant Expectations to win by a head after a thrilling stretch run.

Catalina Cruiser earned a fees-paid berth to the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile at Santa Anita on Nov. 2, a race the Hronis family and Sadler particularly want to win. Catalina Cruiser has won 7 of 8 starts. His only loss was a sixth as the 9-10 favorite in the 2018 BC Dirt Mile at Churchill Downs.

The BC Dirt Mile may be Catalina Cruiser’s next start. The Grade 1 Awesome Again Stakes at 1 1/8 miles at Santa Anita on Sept. 28 is highly unlikely. Sadler and Hronis Racing already have Higher Power for the race. Higher Power won the $1 million Pacific Classic at Del Mar on Aug. 17.

Catalina Cruiser did not start between the 2018 Pat O’Brien and the BC Dirt Mile at Churchill Downs, and the same schedule could be followed this year.

“We don’t have a race for him here,” Sadler said of the Southern California circuit. “We’ll leave it for now.”

In the build-up to the Breeders’ Cup, Sadler has plans for several other runners in stakes in California and Kentucky.

Ollie’s Candy, who won the Grade 1 Clement Hirsch Stakes at Del Mar on July 28, is scheduled to run in the Grade 1 Zenyatta Stakes for fillies and mares at 1 1/16 miles at Santa Anita on Sept. 29. Selcourt, a three-time stakes winner, may start in the Grade 3 LA Woman Stakes at 6 1/2 furlongs on Oct. 5 in her first start since March.

Flagstaff and Lady Suebee are candidates for stakes at Keeneland. Flagstaff, the quick winner of an allowance race with a $62,500 claiming option on Aug. 18, may run in the Grade 2 Phoenix Stakes going six furlongs at Keeneland on Oct. 4. The stable has Cistron pointing for the Grade 1 Santa Anita Sprint Championship on Oct. 5.

Lady Suebee, who won the Tranquility Lake Stakes for fillies and mares last Friday, may run in the Grade 1 Spinster Stakes at Keeneland on Oct. 6. Lady Suebee was Sadler’s 74th career stakes win at Del Mar, which briefly put him in a tie with the legendary Whittingham.