Sadler to run Sword Zorro in La Jolla; Rock Your World will await Del Mar Derby
Sword Zorro, winner of the Singletary Stakes at Santa Anita in April, will be trainer John Sadler’s lone starter in Sunday’s Grade 3 La Jolla Handicap for 3-year-olds on turf at Del Mar.
Sadler said on Wednesday that Rock Your World, the winner of the Santa Anita Derby in April, will be held out of the $150,000 La Jolla Handicap in favor of the Grade 2 Del Mar Derby on Sept. 4.
“He’s doing beautifully,” Sadler said. “We’re going to wait for a little more spacing for the Del Mar Derby.”
Rock Your World, owned by Hronis Racing and Michael Talla, has not raced since a sixth-place finish in the Grade 1 Belmont Stakes on June 5. After the win in the Santa Anita Derby, Rock Your World was 17th in a troubled trip in the Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs on May 1.
Sunday, Rock Your World worked on turf, but a heavy fog prevented Sadler, and other observers, from fully following the exercise. A fog bank rolled in from the ocean moments before the turf workout session began and dissipated shortly after those workouts were completed.
“I was not happy that I couldn’t see him go,” Sadler said.
Sword Zorro, owned by Yuesheng Zhang, won his first stakes in the one-mile Singletary and followed with a second-place finish to La Jolla Handicap contender Hudson Ridge in the Cinema Stakes at 1 1/8 miles on turf at Santa Anita on May 23.